Amitabh Kant, India’s Current G20 Sherpa, in a panel hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), enumerated the importance of data-driven strategies, transparency, and leveraging technology to achieve long-term success. One shortcoming he highlighted in the Indian education system and public sectors is that problems arise from poor governance, not a lack of resources.
Amitabh primarily remarked upon the coordination between central and state governments, which is crucial to avoiding duplication and inefficiencies in data management. And also how systems should be harmonized to allow seamless data flow. Here are some of his key insights from his talk.
The root of many challenges in education and other public sectors is not a lack of resources but a failure of governance. The primary issue lies in not being clear about the outcomes one wants to achieve and focusing too heavily on financial allocations. The real solution lies in using data to track progress, hold stakeholders accountable, and improve overall performance.
The "Ease of Doing Business" initiative and the "Aspirational Districts Program" in India demonstrated how real-time data can transform performance. By making this data public and holding districts accountable for their progress, significant improvements were made. Public transparency, coupled with the power of technology and artificial intelligence, can drive progress in education by ensuring that teachers, students, and parents are constantly aware of learning outcomes. Regular assessments, tracked through AI, would provide valuable insights on whether students are improving, thereby creating a sense of urgency and accountability.
India's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program, the largest of its kind in the world, caters to 80 million children. However, the program's current structure leaves much to be desired, as each worker is responsible for a broad range of duties, from preschool education to nutrition counseling, leading to inefficiencies.
For example, a solution based on evidence from a randomized control trial conducted in Tamil Nadu, the study found that adding an extra worker focused solely on preschool education led to significant improvements in both learning outcomes and malnutrition rates. This minor addition could be one of India's most cost-effective and impactful investments to improve education, health, and female labor force participation, especially in rural areas.
While both levels of government play crucial roles in improving public services, there is often a lack of coordination that leads to inefficiencies. For instance, central data systems are important, but they often fail to align with state-level schemes. This mismatch forces frontline workers to duplicate their efforts, entering data into multiple systems, which wastes time and resources.
To resolve this, the central and state systems should be harmonized through the use of APIs, enabling data to flow seamlessly between systems without unnecessary duplication. Additionally, he stressed the need for product thinking in technology implementation. Too often, large-scale government tech projects are procured without proper process re-engineering, resulting in white elephant projects that are either underutilized or fail to deliver on their potential.
The overarching theme is finding the right balance between scale and local customization in public services. It is unanimously agreed that functions that benefit from economies of scale, such as data collection and analysis, should be handled at the national level. However, functions that require local customization, such as education curricula or health interventions, should be managed at the state or local level.
Building architectures that can leverage the scale of national initiatives while allowing for localized customization is key to creating effective, efficient public systems. While this requires careful thought and detailed planning, the potential benefits are significant.
Ultimately, there is no single solution or "silver bullet" to improve education outcomes or public services more broadly. It is imperative that we need a systems view—understanding the interconnectedness of data, governance, technology, and personnel in driving meaningful change. By focusing on first principles, leveraging technology, and harmonizing central and state initiatives, it is possible to create a more effective public education system in India. This comprehensive approach, while complex, is not impossible to implement and can lead to significant improvements in the long run.
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