DRIVING THE CHANGE: Towards the Sustainable Development Goal of Education

A Royal Rescript issued in 1817 by Rani Gouri Parvati Bayi, queen of Travancore (Kerala), proclaimed that the state would defray the entire cost of education. She envisioned that only free and universal education would enable her state to overcome backwardness and empower its people to contribute to the state’s advancement.

To uphold the continued relevance of that spirit, the Institute of Social Sciences. New Delhi, commemorated the bicentenary of the Royal Rescript in 2017. This volume consolidates a selection of contributions from educational experts, academics and scholars, which were presented at the commemoration.

Given India’s commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. the collection of papers attempts to deconstruct conventional approaches to understanding education that largely measure success on the basis of quantitative outputs rather than qualitative outcomes. It discusses the underlying forces that have continued to perpetuate inter-generational inequalities in the provision and attainment of education, especially amongst the low income and marginalized populations.

The papers analyze aspects of equity and quality in primary, secondary and tertiary education including vocational, drawing attention to key drivers of change, namely effective governance. accountability in public policy, the power of building progressive partnerships and alliances and importantly. the cumulative benefits of forging multi-sectoral linkages. The volume seeks to provoke reflection on the critical dimensions that can drive qualitative progress towards reducing educational inequalities and instituting sustainable changes in the quality of educational services and that of students learning. It starkly reminds us of the need to move from pronouncements to actions that will ensure the right to education for all. to empower and harness equitably, the rich potential of an educated population.

Anjana Mangalagiri is an educationist and Senior Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. She was Chief of UNICEF’s Education Programme in various countries and formerly. Fellow at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi. She has worked extensively in the areas of educational policy. planning. development and institutional reforms.