A 1990-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, has earned deep admiration with his passion for education and public policy. An alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Stony Brook University, and the National Defence College, Kumar brings expertise in education, health, and strategic studies.
Excerpts:
S Lalitha: You’re deeply passionate about girls’ education. Since taking charge, what key steps have you taken to bring girls from remote areas into the education system?
Things have definitely improved over the years. Education of girls may have been an issue in the 90s or the beginning of the century. But today’s data indicate that they are equally represented in schools. If I look at the gender parity index across all levels, for a foundational, for preparatory, middle and the secondary, the gross gender parity index is more than one. As you climb up, it gets a little better. Lately, a worrying factor is the boys’ dropout rate in secondary school education is higher than that of the girls. It indicates that the girls have finally arrived.
Currently, the problem is that if 100 children take admission in Class one, by the time they reach Class 12, only 58 remains. Forty-two children drop out on the way which includes the girls as well. As I earlier said, boys drop out a little more. Bringing girls in our educational system is not a challenge. The challenge is actually in some of these schools where you have to pay a bit.
If you look at the CBSE schools, they have pretty instructive figures. There are two types of CBSE schools—one which is run by the government and the other managed by the private institutions. While the girls outnumber boys in government CBSE schools, it is just the other way round in private schools, that too with a larger margin. This sends out a message for society that we need to invest a little more in educating girl child.
S Lalitha: Are all the states facing a similar situation?
By and large, yes. There might be some variations, but overall, I think there is no issue in any of the states per se.
Jayanth Jacob: But this is an interesting analysis that in private CBSE schools boys outnumber girls?
Basically people who are financially sound prefer to send their wards to private schools. So why does this disparity exist? That’s a societal issue which needs to be addressed. A large number of things, perhaps, happen because we are not aware of it. But if pointed out, then we do take corrective measures. If this forms a part of public discourse, I’m sure things would improve.
Three years back, when we looked at the figures of Kendriya Vidyalayas, there was a difference of one lakh between the boys and girls. We then decided to sensitise the KV administration and explained to the principals that when it comes to admissions, both boys and girls are equally important for us. Fortunately, the difference has reduced to 40,000.
Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty: What progress has been made in implementing the Supreme Court’s July 2025 directive for a uniform Mental Health Policy and mechanisms to address harassment, ragging, and discrimination in educational institutions?
We have to file a unified affidavit in the court. But the larger issue is that the Supreme Court is concerned about the suicides. A break-up of the nationwide figures in terms of age and state reveals that half the suicides in the country are reported from five states—Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. We need to analyse what is causing these states to report almost half of the suicides. Contrary to my earlier belief that these crimes take place in industrialised or unorganised areas, I realised that MP is an outlier. So something else is leading to it. Here comes the role of sociologists and perhaps the economists.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur: So, what role do you see for AI in this context?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its presence felt in all aspects of human life. Everyone is talking about AI and its future impact, especially in the repetitive jobs. Not aware to what extent, but I assume that it is already a part of our lives. We need to study to know more about it and use it to improve our lives. So, we are working toward making AI a part of the school curriculum. To begin with, we will include it in Class 3 syllabus. CBSE is already working on it.
Jitendra Choubey: India’s skilling system faces structural gaps compared to Europe, where students can pursue vocational paths early. Could early vocational training here help reduce school dropouts?
I would agree with you. That is the precisely the reason why the NEP lays a lot of emphasis on skilling. For a large number of children, employment is a must. If you see, the policy envisages that by 2030, every child should at least complete his schooling. So Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for secondary education should be 100% by 2030. And the GER for higher education by 2035 is envisaged to be 50%. If 100 children pass Class 12, and only 50 opt for higher education, what are the other 50 going to go? They are going to go into the labour market.
And you need basic skills to be able to do well. So it’s important that we get this right. In the initial learning, the policy envisages that it is best when you study in your mother tongue. Initial learning in the mother tongue or the local language is significant because imagine a child going to a school where the teacher is speaking in a language which is different from what is being spoken at home.
How would you understand that? But there is a great demand for English in the country. And the larger question I want to leave behind is that do you want to learn English as a medium of instruction or do you want to learn English as a subject? So NEP says that eventually children should learn three languages. You start in your local language, and this is where you pick up things.
Santwana Bhattacharya: There’s a strong parental aspiration to send children to English-medium schools, even among economically weaker sections. Countries like Germany and Japan are promoting English as a link language to attract global talent, including Indian students. How do you strike a balance between promoting education in Indian languages and meeting this growing demand for English proficiency?
Larger question is can you start learning in your local language or mother tongue? And then once you are proficient in one language, it becomes easier to pick up a second language. Subsequently, you can learn a third language or maybe fourth and even fifth. I mean, multilingualism always offers you better way of understanding and looking at things. My father went to school in the 1940s. He learnt the English alphabet in Class 8. But he went on to do engineering and wrote as good English as I do. So, a large number of people who are very comfortable with English did not start learning it as a medium of instruction. They learned a language and then they picked up English. And this is the point we are trying to raise, that you learn English because that’s an international language. Knowing it gives you an edge, but building it on a base of another language you are comfortable in, gives you better cognitive power. It also makes learning English easier.
Santwana Bhattacharya: The NEP has completed five years now. Where do we stand in its implementation, and what key outcomes have emerged so far?
We are still transitioning. I’m glad that you mentioned this because the shifts which are able to see is the success of Nipun Bharat Mission, which is a foundational literacy. There’s some satisfaction because this time in the national achievement survey reports we found out that children who are in class 3, have shown an appreciable jump over the previous years. And part of the reason is because of the NEP the messaging has been clearer. As to what Foundational Literacy and Numeracy is, and also it has come with greater targeting of resources. Under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, we are providing `500 per child. So, the focus has been on good messaging as well as resource augmentation. Both these things have worked together. The other thing is that the new books, which are being brought out by NCERT, they look at education differently because our assessment patterns need to change.
What you learn, how you learn, why you learn to a large extent is dependent on the way you’re going to be assessed. We all know that in India, there is a tremendous amount of emphasis on learning by rote. Because that’s the way we test it. So I think now NEP is talking about experiential learning, and developing a critical faculty.
