Equal Education Campaign: Towards a Better India

Come the month of June, and a new fervour fills schools and homes alike. School admissions, uniforms, books, bags—everything creates an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation. Young toddlers begin their journey into the world of education, while those already in school move to the next class in their academic life.

As schools reopen and a new academic session begins, the streets themselves become symbols of hope for the nation—children dressed in uniforms, carrying bags full of books, walking towards their schools. They are not merely carrying the hopes of their parents; they carry the hopes of the entire country, for they are the future of our nation. But unfortunately, for most of them, the hopeful part of the story ends the moment they enter their schools.

Schools, which should become the greatest unifying force in society, provide the best level playing field, and ensure equal opportunities for every child to grow, often end up becoming centres of division, disparity, and injustice in the form of inequality.

Education in our country has increasingly become a commodity. Parents are compelled to buy a seat in a school for their children. Schools today carry price tags, much like shirts in a shop. A parent may wish to buy the best shirt for their child, but ultimately, they can only buy what they can afford.

As a result, the urban rich buy the best “shirt” for their children, the middle class manages decent clothing, while the poor, unable to afford even that, are left to see their children in rags. In the same manner, education today is being bought and sold as a market commodity. The facilities, quality of education, information, exposure, and opportunities available to a child depend largely upon the purchasing power of her or his parents. The poor are therefore left with little choice, and their children are compelled to attend government schools, which, thanks to the Constitution, are expected to provide free education.

However, for most children, this free admission comes at a very heavy cost—the cost of the absence of basic facilities, poor quality education, lack of information, and limited opportunities. These educational institutions, instead of becoming instruments of equality by providing equal opportunities to all children, often become among the most potent instruments of inequality in our times.

This inequality amounts to injustice against children. It pushes socially and economically disadvantaged communities into even deeper disadvantage. This injustice has now reached a level where it challenges our very claim to being a civilized society. A society that cannot provide equal opportunities to all its children cannot truly claim to be civilized.

This sorrowful state of affairs often leads to despair and allegations against governments. However, we know that merely blaming governments or losing hope cannot change the situation. Only sincere and coordinated efforts by all stakeholders in school education can bring meaningful change.

It is with this objective that Dignified India has decided to take the initiative—to bring about change through coordinated efforts by all stakeholders—through the Equal Education Campaign. Dignified India began these efforts in 2025 and has already completed most of the preparatory work.

Beginning June 2026, our members will stand at the forefront of this mission. Every member will become a champion of change by ensuring that at least one school in her or his neighbourhood possesses all basic facilities and provides high-quality education, information, and opportunities to every child studying there.

Every member of Dignified India is expected to undertake the following activities in this regard:

• Select one government school in her/his neighbourhood;
• Talk to friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances in the neighbourhood, colony, apartment, or mohalla, and motivate them to join the effort;
• Form a small team of willing and motivated individuals from the neighbourhood;
• Meet and interact with teachers in the selected school regarding equal education and discuss how you can work together to improve the school;
• Meet and interact with parents of students studying in the school and motivate them to join the effort for securing a better future for their children;
• Form an Equal Education Team (EET) for the school, consisting of teachers, parents, and volunteers from the neighbourhood;
• Assist the school in forming the School Management Committee (SMC);
• Try to become a member of the SMC in order to play an active role in improving the school;
• Assist the SMC in preparing the School Development Plan (SDP);
• Follow up and ensure implementation of activities identified in the SDP;
• Organize supportive activities in the school through the SMC, such as educational and career guidance workshops, soft-skills and communication workshops, quiz and essay-writing competitions, arts workshops, sports activities, cultural programmes, reading sessions, etc.;
• Provide subject-specific teaching modules, both digital and otherwise, to improve learning outcomes;
• Organize value-module activities in the school;
• Organize Peaceable Assemblies in the school or at any other convenient place;
• Inform print and electronic media about the work being done and seek their support in building public awareness and support for school improvement;
• Share success stories on social media with a view to generating awareness and wider public support;
• Organize parents’ get-togethers to inform them about improvements in the school and to listen to their concerns;
• Undertake all such additional activities as may be required to bring about the planned improvements in the school.

Since the launch of the Equal Education Campaign in 2025, Dignified India has successfully created a robust support system for running and managing this nationwide movement. We have developed training modules and informational pamphlets for members, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders. To impart value education, value modules have been developed. Subject specific high quality teaching content is being curated/created and will be available to be used by schools in next few months. The Equal Education Register has been designed and printed. It contains details of all provisions under the Right to Education Act, various school development activities, possible financial sources for undertaking such activities, potential implementing agencies, formats for listing school development activities for individual schools, spaces for recording meetings of Equal Education Teams (EETs), and mechanisms for tracking the progress of efforts undertaken. A dedicated website has also been designed and made operational for dissemination of information and for mobilizing public support for the campaign. In addition, a robust IT tool is currently being developed to track the progress of each and every school taken up under the campaign.

Such strong organizational support, combined with the sincere efforts of our members, has the potential to transform the entire school education landscape of our country. Every member of Dignified India has the opportunity to become a champion of change—to play a decisive role in improving the lives of hundreds of children and their families.

We are confident that all our members, inspired by their commitment to social transformation, will take this first necessary step towards transforming education in India. It is now time to step out of our comfort zones and engage with the people in our neighbourhoods, motivating them to become part of this noble cause. It is time to go to the ground, meet parents, and build relationships of friendship, trust, and cooperation with them.

It is time to do what we have been waiting to do for all these years—to stand with the people and march together towards our goal of social transformation. And while we do so, there should be no doubt about our success. There is no failure in such an endeavour. If we work with commitment, sincerity, and perseverance, we are bound to succeed in creating a better future for millions of children and in paving the way towards a great civic nation.

Samaan Shekhar
Coordinator
Samaan Shiksha Jansamiti