Improvement in the Indian Education system – the first-time voters’ demand

India: With the impending results of the longest election in the country's history, from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to constitute the 16th LokSabha fast approaching, an unanswered question rings in the minds of the citizens of the country. Where is education in India headed?

The reasons for this are attributed to many unaddressed issues such as lack of infrastructure, funds, non-regulated educational set ups. Another important factor lies in the lack of trust in the minds of Indian students when it comes to state run educational institutes. Commenting on this, N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research Pvt. Ltd., publishers of India’s Most Trusted Educational Institutes 2014 (MTEI 2014), stated, “The remarkable turn out of the General Elections, goes to show that the youth today are aware and want to see improvements, and are willing to reach out and fulfill their civic duties, and now wish to see the result of their effort. Among the most compelling question in the minds of the youth is whether a new government improve the state of education in India? This sector is one of the largest social sector development programs, with the highest degree of penetration in a geographical space as compared to any other activity under the management and control of the government.With 700 universities and more than 35,000 affiliated colleges enrolling more than 20 million students, it remains to be seen what change in government can do for the trust of the education segment as a whole”.

Chandramouli explained that the first-time voter, almost 100 million in the recent elections, was extremely aware about the acute need of a better system of education as he/she had a personal experience of the same.

“Article 41 of the Constitution provides that ‘All the citizens have equal right to education’' making education a responsibility of the state, which endeavors to provide for the free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years. This however is yet to be realized as nearly 25% of the citizens are not literate and many among the literate may not be gainfully employed either due to the deficit between the skill set required and the training provided”, Chandramouli added.

The first time voters share in 24 states that completed polls is as follows: Odisha (2.64 per cent), Kerala (1.75 per cent), Haryana (2.23 per cent), Delhi (1.88 per cent), Goa (2.22 per cent), Chandigarh (3.12 per cent), Lakshadweep (4.27 per cent), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1.11 per cent), Maharashtra (1.36 per cent), Chhattisgarh (4.94 per cent), Jharkhand(9.03 per cent), M.P (3.24 per cent), Rajasthan (3.29 per cent), Tamil Nadu (3.23 per cent), Puducherry (2.64 per cent), Karnataka (1.80 per cent) and six North-eastern states.

About TRA

TRA, a Comniscient Group company, is an actionable insights and brand intelligence company dedicated to understanding and analyzing stakeholder behavior through two globally acclaimed, proprietary matrices of Brand Trust and Brand Attractiveness. TRA provides Competitive Intelligence Reports mined from its 11 million data-points on brand intangibles of 19000 brands, and also undertakes custom-made studies for brands. TRA is the publisher of The Brand Trust Report and India's Most Attractive Brands. The Brand Trust Report and India's Most Attractive Brands started the research fieldwork for this unique study in education, India’s Most Trusted Educational Institutes, 2014 in study in July 2014. The report now is close to its completion.