Dr. Shruti Shankar Gaur

I am always asked, “You do not believe in categorization. You voice your opinion against the formal education system that standardizes humans. How come you are advocating equity and equality in #education?”

I have a simple answer to that. But before I respond to it, let us first delve into the contextual meaning of #equity and #equality in #education. And I will confirm to you if I am an equity person or an equality one.

Equity 

There are equal outcomes, meaning that all learners will have the same learning outcomes – whether that’s knowledge, skills and abilities – which may require different materials or support for some than others. 

Equality 

There are equal inputs, for example: the same number of textbooks, uniforms, teachers or hours of instruction, provided to learners. 

I believe education is an important tool for social advancement, economic development, social cohesion, and peace. Today is not the time to remain illiterate. As an uneducated person, one is even more prone to exploitation, exclusion, and marginalization. ‘Education for all’ is an important policy rigorously pursued by #UNESCO and followed by the nation states. 

The first measure that is undertaken includes the equal availability and accessibility of educational facilities to all learners. That is equality—‘equal opportunities for all’. I strongly believe we can only prosper into diverse beings showcasing our unique imprint to the world after we have been provided equal educational opportunities. It means equal resources, equal opportunities, and equal access.

What happens when we provide equal educational opportunities to all? Does everyone actually receive an equal education? Let us zoom in. a) A child born into a rich family and a poor family, both are entitled to education. b) Education is accessible to both: female and male child. c) Similarly, a child from a rural area as well as an urban area have equal educational opportunities.

The picture looks rosy, doesn’t it? It’s a win-win situation. However, the reality is far from it. a) A child from rich background has access to the best facilities, while a child from the rural background goes to the neighborhood village school with poor infrastructure. b) Despite education accessibility, the dropout rate among girls has been higher than boys. c) Similarly, a significant disparity is visible among children from rural and urban areas. It’s a no brainer that urban children are more exposed and aware. Thus, despite equal educational opportunities, disparity overtakes the educational goal.

At this point, equity comes into play. The identification of differences is the basis for equity. Differences can be social (like gender), economic, or regional. Equity works towards eliminating the disparities that causes marginalization. Thus, equity customizes education. Equity in education means providing every learner with an education as per their needs. 

Every child is unique and has unique needs. Thus, it becomes important to provide education that meets the educational needs of the child. For example: a child from a rural area might need computer literacy and internet access to increase exposure and awareness so as to match the exposure of a child from an urban area. Similarly, a child with learning disability needs more repetition and exercises to be at par with his/her counterpart.

Circling back to the first question: Yes, I voice my opinion against the ‘FACTORY MODEL’ of education. Yes, I am not a big fan of the current education system, that was created to create workers. Having said that, I am a big fan of education as it is a significant starter for life. What sort of education? That can be debated and discussed, but until we restructure the education system, we will have to work through this one. One cannot tell our children to abandon education. That will be more dangerous.

Thus, equality in education creates the base on which equity can be built so as to minimize or remove #marginalization and #discrimination eventually leading to #inclusion and #belongingness.

Stay tuned as I share my vision for education and ways in which inclusion and belongingness can be nurtured with education as a tool in the future articles.