Revision summary
Private English and weak government tracks sort children by class. Credentials and coaching convert money into apparent merit. Caste networks and gender ideology shape who uses the school. Reservation and public colleges still open a limited ladder. The quote is a fair critique of the present system, not of schooling as such.
Model answer
Introduction
- The statement is largely true for India’s present education system, with a limit: schooling also remains the main legal ladder. The system sorts children by class, caste, and English more than it equalises them.
Body
How education widens disparity
- Dual tracks: high-fee private English schools and under-resourced government schools produce two childhoods. NEP 2020 names this gap even as it promises a common foundation.
- Credential inflation means degrees rise while informal jobs absorb most youth, so the poor pay for certificates that the market discounts.
- Caste and urban networks convert the same marksheet into different internships. Untouchability’s modern form is the closed campus group.
- Gender and Seed-and-Earth kinship still pull girls out or into ‘safe’ courses, so household ideology uses the school.
- Coaching markets and English gatekeeping, which Yogendra Singh would call heterogenetic capital, reward those who already have it.
The other side of the comment
- Reservation, scholarships, and public universities did create a first-generation elite, visible in BAMCEF professionals and BSP’s educated cadre.
- Literacy and midday meals expanded the floor. Disparity grew mainly at the top and in quality, not only by denying entry altogether.
- Ambedkar treated education as annihilation-of-caste equipment. The betrayal is unequal provision, not the idea of school.
Sociological comment
- Beteille’s disharmonic order is clear: equality is the creed of the textbook; hierarchy is the map of who owns the good school.
- Desai would add that education under capitalism supplies skilled cheap labour and legitimates inequality as merit.
Verdict on the quote
- Agree that the present system has increased socio-economic disparities through quality gaps and market credentials.
- Do not conclude that closing schools would equalise. Equalising the system is the democratic task.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD ED[Education system] --> T[Two-track quality] T --> D[Wider disparity] R[Reservation public university] --> M[Limited mobility] ED --> MER[Merit ideology]
Conclusion
The present education system has contributed to disparity by running two qualities of childhood and selling merit as a mask. It has also produced some mobility for reserved and first-generation students. The comment holds as a critique of structure, not as a brief against education.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Discuss recent trends in the structure of migration .
Next question in the 2022 paper (Q7). View answer →
-
Would ending reservation reduce disparity?
It would likely restore older caste closure in campuses. The quote targets quality dualism more than quotas.
-
Is NEP a cure?
It is a design. Without teachers, public finance and an end to predatory fees, disparity can continue.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2025 · Q6(c) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Which measures would you suggest for preventing caste conflicts in India ? Justify your argument -
2025 · Q8(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
Is it possible to have sustainable development in India? Cite major environmental issues and suggest a few measures to achieve the sustainability -
2024 · Q6(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
What is sustainable development? How can sustainability be achieved in India where livelihood needs conflict with environmental protection? -
2024 · Q7(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
To what extent have the legal provisions been effective in curbing violence against women in India? Give your argument -
2023 · Q5(a) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Citing some case studies, expand the concept of Development-induced Displacement? -
2020 · Q5(d) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
How does the New Education Policy, 2020 aim to eradicate disparities in the system of education in India? -
2019 · Q1(d) · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Write a note on Ghurye's conception of caste in India -
2019 · Q8(b) · Sociology GS 2 · 20 marks
What is POSH Act? "Identification of tormentor by women at workplace does not come easily even today". Examine the statement with substantive examples from India
More from this paper
Q1(a) · UPSC Mains 2022 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Elaborate on M.N. Srinivas's structural functionalist approach to the study of Indian society.
Perspectives on the study of Indian society
Srinivas replaced a book view of India with a field view from villages such as Rampura. Structure is observed groups; function is how custom holds them together. Dominant caste and Sanskritization explain local power and mobility inside caste. Westernization and politics add new resources without erasing the village system. Conflict theorists say the method underplays class.
Q1(b) · UPSC Mains 2022 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Do you agree that the agrarian class structure in India is changing ?Justify your answer with illustrations.
Social Classes in India
Intermediary landlordism declined after land reform. A commercial rich-peasant layer grew in Green Revolution regions. Labour is more migrant and informal, as COVID reverse flows showed. Caste-land overlap and landlessness persist. The structure is changing, not ending.
Q1(c) · UPSC Mains 2022 · Sociology GS 2 · 10 marks
Elucidate the challenges of integration for tribal communities in india.
Tribal communities in India
Ghurye’s assimilation and Elwin’s protection still frame the debate. Nehruvian integration promised partnership; projects often meant loss of land. Schedules, PESA and the Forest Rights Act are the legal path. Displacement, language loss and a thin elite are the main social risks. Integration must be citizenship with resources, not cultural wipe-out.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.