From Enrolment to Engagement: Bridging India’s Learning Gap
- June 26, 2025, 4:04 p.m.
Despite acquiring near-universal enrolment in primary education, India faces persistent challenges in assuring learning outcomes and strengthening school leadership, according to a report released by Unesco's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) 2024 to 2025 on Wednesday (05.06.2025). The problem is not limited to the country, as the report noted that 73% of children are not able to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10 in developing countries.
This becomes a major indicator of learning poverty that reflects the gap between proper learning and schooling. The report highlights the under-representation of women in leadership roles, especially in schools, legislatures and education ministries. It also mentions India’s landmark legislation of 2023, reserving 1/3 of seats in state assemblies for women and in the Lok Sabha, citing it as evidence of the political will to enhance gender representation in public life.
On the other side, advanced economies have institutionalised to grant more autonomy to school heads and leadership training. Even India’s neighbours, such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, have established structured reforms in decentralised governance, principal recruitment and training. However, India continues to struggle with a lack of pre-service training, non-standardised recruitment, heavy administrative burden and limited instructional support for school leaders.
Based on the report, only 63% of countries have opened competitive school leader recruitment processes globally. The process differs throughout all states in the country. Many hire Principals according to administrative credentials or seniority rather than instructional ability or demonstrated leadership. As an outcome, more Principals are misguided to manage an inclusive environment and to push academic improvement.
A gap in leadership training is another cause for concern, as India needs school leaders to have teaching experience or no formal leadership training before appointment. Even in high-income countries, less than half of the Principals get such training before the appointment, and this proportion is much lower in countries like India. Only 31% of countries have formal induction policies for new school leaders, and India does not have a national framework for this purpose.
Administrative overload further hampers school leadership, and a survey shows that Principals in 14 middle-income countries spend 68% of their time on usual management tasks. Principals are bogged down similarly by duties like exam administration, infrastructure oversight, mid-day meal coordination and data reporting, reducing their focus on teacher mentoring and academic leadership. Gender disparity in leadership remains stark as well.
Director Manos Antininis, speaking on India’s GEM report, says that Women account for 45% of teachers and school Principals for 35%. They are under-represented in leadership roles in higher education, as well as ensuring the voices of women are equally heard in school leadership and making decisions has become important to a more equitable and inclusive society. Just 5% of 189 institutions of national significance in India had women as directors or vice-chancellors, and 2% as registrars in 2021.
Despite evidence linking female leadership to better social and educational outcomes. Reservations for women in village councils led to raised investment in significant areas such as education and water. A study found that in 2 election cycles, the gender gap in parental inspirations dropped by 20% and the education gap was removed. The report also advises moving beyond top-down leadership to shared models including communities, parents, students and teachers.
83% of countries need parental involvement in school management globally, and 62% mandate community participation. The country’s School Management Committee is mandated under the RTE Act and often exists on paper instead of being an active body with state-level differentiation in effectiveness.
While India implements NEP 2020, which envisions child-centric and holistic education, the GEM report forces investment in fair, structured and inclusive school leadership. Steps such as gender-sensitive hiring, principal training, clearer leadership and induction support roles could assist India in bridging the persistent learning gaps.
