When Gen Alpha Asked Questions, the Government Locked the School Gates
When Gen Alpha Asked Questions, the
Government Locked the School Gates
An Opinion
Something very revealing is happening in Rajasthan. Just as
CJP and young volunteers began talking about examining government schools the
condition of their buildings, teacher availability, infrastructure, and the
quality of education being delivered the Rajasthan government imposed new
restrictions on outsiders entering government schools and on photography,
videography, and interviews without permission. The government calls it
protection of students. I see a much simpler question: if these schools are
functioning properly, why should a government fear people seeing them? I have
also heard reports that the direction originated with the BJP's central
leadership. If that is correct, the issue becomes larger than Rajasthan; it
becomes a question about how this government responds when young people decide
to verify its claims for themselves.
Now compare that with what I have been hearing from
Karnataka. There, under a Congress government, the Chief Minister has
reportedly directed CCTV monitoring in classrooms, canteens, and other places
where children study, eat, and participate in school activities, giving parents
greater visibility into what their children experience. The contrast, to me,
could not be clearer. One philosophy says: let parents see. The other appears
to say: ask us before you look. Children's privacy must certainly be protected,
but protecting children is entirely different from protecting governments from
scrutiny.
Then look at what has happened to public education itself.
India had about 11.07 lakh government schools in 2014–15; by 2024–25 that
number had fallen to roughly 10.13 lakh a decline of about 94,000 government
schools while the number of private schools increased. That does not prove that
every closure was ideologically motivated, but nearly one lakh fewer government
schools is too large a change to dismiss without asking where India's education
system is heading. If government schools contract while private education
expands, poor families have the most to lose.
The spending trend makes that question even more important.
In 2012–13, Union government expenditure on education represented roughly 4.7%
of total Union expenditure. Recent central spending on education is around 2.4%–2.6%
of total government expenditure. (CBGA India) Yes, the number of rupees
allocated today is higher ₹1.39 lakh crore for the Ministry of Education in
2026–27 but twelve years of inflation, economic growth, population needs, and
the enormous depreciation of the rupee matter when judging what those rupees
actually represent. (Press Information Bureau)
The rupee was around ₹55 to a dollar in early 2013; today it is around ₹95.60.
(Exchange Rates UK) So
simply announcing a larger nominal number does not answer the larger question: has
education remained as important a national priority?
To me, these developments begin to reveal a philosophy. I
increasingly see an RSS-BJP view of education that places too much emphasis on
obedience, hierarchy, culture, and respect for authority, and too little
emphasis on questioning authority. We see the same contradiction in political
speech. The government complains that public discourse has become filthy and
that certain words are unacceptable, yet BJP leaders, ministers and MPs have
themselves repeatedly used extremely harsh language against their political
opponents. Inside Parliament, where language should be held to the highest
standard, opposition expressions are frequently challenged as
“unparliamentary,” while political insults from those in power have hardly been
absent. When acceptable speech begins to depend upon who is speaking and whom
they are criticizing, civility becomes an excuse for controlling dissent.
That is why Rajasthan matters. Gen Z has already challenged
the government over examinations, paper leaks, employment and accountability.
Now Gen Alpha is beginning to ask an even simpler question: what is actually
happening inside our schools? They want to see the classrooms. They want to
know whether teachers are present. They want to see the toilets, laboratories,
libraries, food, infrastructure and conditions in which children are expected
to learn. This generation has cameras and social media. A broken classroom no
longer has to remain hidden behind a government report. An empty teacher's
chair can be shown to millions of people within hours.
That is precisely what education should produce: young people
who ask questions. Science does not advance through obedience. Technology does
not advance by teaching children to respect authority without questioning it.
Every scientific breakthrough begins with somebody asking whether the accepted
explanation might be wrong. A government that wants obedient students may find
them easier to govern, but a nation that wants scientists, engineers, doctors,
entrepreneurs and innovators needs children who are difficult to silence.
This is why I believe the decline of government schools, the
reduced share of central expenditure devoted to education, the increasing
importance of private education, attempts to control political speech, and now
restrictions surrounding scrutiny of schools should not automatically be viewed
as completely unrelated events. Together, they raise a legitimate question
about the direction in which the RSS and the Modi government want to take
India's education system.
India does not need children who are taught to bow before
power. It needs children educated enough to question it. Gen Alpha has started
doing exactly that. Locking the school gates will not stop them. It will only
make them more determined to find out what is behind those gates.
Go, Gen Alpha.
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