The Asia Society Guide to
Health and Education NGOs in India

Education NGOs in India

All South Asian governments today recognize basic education as a fundamental right, essential to overall human and national development. However, there are still millions of children who do not attend school, and a significant percentage drop out before completing their primary education. The improvement in South Asian literacy rate is far below policymakers' expectations. Poverty is considered by most to be the primary impediment to education; its effects are more serious with respect to women and low-caste groups.

Developing countries cannot wait for poverty to be eliminated in order to improve education. Establishing quality educational systems is an important prerequisite for economic development. Within the context of liberal economic reforms, government allocations to institutions of learning are reduced and international donors are not very enthusiastic about assisting NGOs interested in primary education.

NGO leaders note that education alone will not change society, particularly the social and power structure, which tend to be the source of more deeply rooted problems. They pointed out that the largely educated middle class is at the forefront of the escalating fundamentalism and nationalism that lead to social tensions and conflicts in South Asia. The current education system tends to recount a nation's history and culture in a manner that is detrimental to women and other South Asian minority groups. These trends pose serious challenges to NGOs, which believe that any substantial investment in basic education will likely come from the state rather than the private sector.