Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said he has "serious problems" in the way the country's education system is set up and said it undervalues several professions while highlighting a few. Talking to IIT-Madras students, Gandhi said he felt the Indian education system doesn’t allow children’s imagination to thrive.
I believe it is one of the foremost responsibilities of any government to guarantee quality education to its people. This cannot be achieved through privatisation and financial incentives.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 4, 2025
We need to spend a lot more money on education and strengthening government institutions. pic.twitter.com/tBkZxj6NmN
"I don't think our education system allows the imagination of our children to thrive. You might not agree with me, I think it is a very restrictive, top-down system... It is very narrow," Gandhi told students from IIT-Madras who visited him in Delhi. The Congress leader said the education system should allow kids to do what they want and allow them to experience and do multiple things.
Sharing his experience from the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said children told him they wanted to become a lawyer, doctor, engineer or an army soldier when he asked them about their dream jobs.
"It can't be that there are only five things to do in this country. But that's what our system is pushing," PTI reported quoting Gandhi. “The country's education system measures success only if one becomes an engineer or a doctor, or joins the IAS/IPS or get into the forces, which is just one or two per cent of our population and 90 per cent of our population is never going to do this,” the opposition leader said.
Gandhi said, "Our education system disregards many things, it undervalues many professions and overvalues these four or five professions. So those are the types of things that I would like to change," PTI reported.
Gandhi also said government needs to spend more for education in the country. “I believe it is one of the foremost responsibilities of any government to guarantee quality education to its people. This cannot be achieved through privatisation and financial incentives,” Gandhi said sharing a video of the interaction on X.
"I have said this many times that the best institutions in our country are government institutions, yours being one of them. I argue for much more money being spent in education by governments," Gandhi told the students.
Congress vs BJP
Responding to a student’s question on the difference between the two national parties, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, highlighting the differences in economic policies of the parties, Gandhi said while his party believes in equitable distribution of resources, the BJP believes in trickle-down effect.
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Gandhi said the Congress and UPA generally believe that the resources should be distributed more fairly and growth should be wider and inclusive, PTI reported. The BJP is more aggressive on growth, he said. "They believe in what in economic terms is 'trickle-down'. On the social front, we feel that the more harmonious society is, the less people are fighting, the better it is for the country,” Gandhi said. "On the international relations front, there are probably some differences with regard to the way we relate to other countries but it will be similar," he added.
