What Entails Quality of Education in India? Unpacking the Quality Conundrum

Abstract

The term ‘quality’ has remained an elusive concept in the educational discourse due to its broad nature, thus leading to varied interpretations. This diverse understanding of quality is due to different approaches which interpret ‘quality’ in different ways. These approaches themselves have underpinnings in different theories concerning the role of education in the society. On one hand, education is viewed as a catalyst in upward social and economic mobility while on the other hand, it is viewed as a socially conservative force perpetuating the existing social inequalities. The present paper investigates different approaches that have played a critical role and influenced the way ‘quality’ is understood within the domain of school education. It then situates the quality debate in the Indian context and highlights the criticality of both tangible and tacit aspects of quality to gain a holistic understanding of the term instead of being confined only to a few quantifiable parameters.