At a time when the discussion of India becoming the world’s most populous country is hot, this important question is also being discussed that in the midst of the current situation, will India be able to benefit from population-related benefits? Now, after four years, the Annual Survey Report on the Status of Education (ASER) has made this question even more relevant. ASER reveals the quality of school education in India every year. Since the schools remained closed for more than two years due to the corona pandemic, the organization that prepared this report was also unable to give its full assessment. In 2022 he extensively studied the quality of school education. The latest reports have revealed encouraging information that school attendance has returned to normal post-pandemic. School enrollment rates have been rising even before the pandemic. But this report has also revealed the details of the loss of education during the epidemic. For example, it was a common finding that more than half of the children could not read the text properly two grades below their class. The mathematical situation is even worse.
A surprising fact has emerged that the students of government schools outperform those of private schools, while children from relatively affluent families generally study in private schools. However, this aspect raises the question, how will India be able to take advantage of its young population for its development with such education? Significantly, this is when the world is entering fourth-generation industrialization. That is, when artificial intelligence, quantum computing and robotics will become a major source of economic growth. Of what use will weak learning prove at such a time? This is a very serious question. If India really wants to reap the demographic dividend, it must grapple with this question. Otherwise, striving to become an economic powerhouse with only a large young population will turn out to be just an illusion.