By: Niyati Handa, Co-founder and Director, Eklavya Early Years
Education must be recognised as an essential national infrastructure of equal magnitude to roads, bridges, hospitals, water, and electricity. It constitutes the backbone of a nation’s progress and democratic strength. Without well-rounded human development anchored in values, civic responsibility, curiosity, and independent thinking, a society stagnates not merely in its economy. It also falters in its political culture, social cohesion, and moral imagination. Human beings are not just part of the workforce; they are citizens. When education fails to cultivate critical thinking or social conscience, the result is a population unable to distinguish right from wrong or act for the collective good.
Viewing education as infrastructure in Indian schools requires the same level of attention in planning, investment, policy design and cultural prioritisation as given to physical infrastructure. It must be consistent, long-term, robust and systematic. Without this paradigm, educational institutions remain treated as discretionary services rather than the foundation of the nation’s well-being.
Nurturing values, critical thinking, citizenship
One of the imperatives of this infrastructure concept is that education must nurture not only technical skills but also moral and civic capacities. Institutions that are built on value-based learning, instil responsibility, ethical behaviour and moral principles, shaping the guiding framework for both curriculum and teaching. Curiosity, awareness of others, and the ability to see beyond one’s self-interest are essential. Without these, the school turns into a factory for test scores, rather than institutions that nurture responsible citizens.
Moreover, education must be joyful and thoughtful, guiding independent, capable individuals instead of passive learners. A school’s role is not just to teach facts but to foster the formation of character, inquiry and civic virtue. After all, a well-educated society is one that can discuss ideas respectfully, defend rights, and support democratic institutions.
Synchronising home and school for effective learning/ Building the child’s primary ecosystem with home and school
A child’s first and most enduring learning environment is the home. Parents, grandparents, and household elders are the primordial teachers. Family-school synergy must become standard practice, not an optional effort.
Institutions such as Eklavya Early Years School, Bengaluru, exemplify how collaboration between families and schools ensures consistency of values, behaviours, and expectations. This philosophy translates into structured, ongoing collaboration between home and school. It takes shape through workshops, home visits, regular parent-teacher consultations, and open communication forums so that children receive the same messages in both environments. Without it, conflicting norms or priorities lead to confusion, disengagement, and fragmentation of purpose.
Communities as co-creators
Apart from the immediate family, the broader community also plays an indispensable role. Community involvement in education can serve as a powerful catalyst for enhancing school governance, deepening transparency, and thus, improving the learning environment for students. Staff and workers recruited from surrounding neighbourhoods, such as non-teaching personnel (e.g. housekeeping, drivers), should be provided with opportunities for educational upliftment as well as for professional development. This not only benefits the staff but also their families and future generations, creating a transformative societal impact.
In addition, the students need to internalise the principle of reciprocity; to learn from society and return to it. Programs such as the Kharikamai Initiative at institutions like Eklavya Early Years School, Bengaluru, allow children to contribute, whether it is through service, local causes, environmental work, or participatory projects, that help instil a sense of purpose. The relationship between schools and their communities must go both ways: the community should support the school, and the school needs to support the community.
Technology that complements, not controls learning/ Building thoughtful connections between tech and teaching
Technology must be incorporated carefully. It cannot be a gimmick or a status symbol. The presence of digital devices or smart boards in every room is not a guarantee of improved learning. Instead, technology should serve pedagogical goals: facilitating research, access to knowledge, fostering digital literacy, but always under the supervision of skilled educators.
Digital literacy must also include awareness of risks, like distortion of truth, privacy concerns, and unfiltered social media threats. Schools should cultivate discernment in students about what technology does and does not do. Children should not be tethered to screens, as overexposure to screens or substituting face-to-face interaction with virtual interaction weakens the relational, emotional, and experiential dimensions of learning. Children actually benefit most from substantial ‘close-to-nature’ experiences in early years, such as free play, hands-on exploration, and learning through the senses. This, in turn, helps them develop curiosity and creativity naturally.
From policy to practice: bridging gaps in infrastructure
Despite advances, India’s school infrastructure remains uneven. As of 2024–25, approximately 64.7 % of schools had computers, leaving over a third without any. While 93.6% of schools have electricity, many still lack internet connectivity.
These discrepancies hinder tech-enabled infrastructure from being equally accessible across all schools. And, lacking equal access to devices, the internet, and stable electricity, widens educational disparity where rural, remote, and socio-economically marginalised regions suffer the most. This denies the promise of the demographic dividend if large segments of the youth remain disconnected from digital and civic literacies. This, in turn, prevents the nation from completely realising its potential for economic growth, innovation, and social progress.
Four pillars of transformative schooling
To realise the vision of transforming Indian schools into centres of excellence, a unified approach is essential. This approach should encompass:
● Equitable policies backed by adequate funding
Government policy must institutionalise education as infrastructure. Budgets must reflect that capital expenditure on school buildings, sanitation, safe drinking water, libraries, laboratories, digital devices, internet, and teacher training must be uncompromising.
● Capacity building for educators
Teachers must be perceived as mentors of intellectual and moral growth. Recruitment, training, compensation and welfare of educators must improve dramatically. Professional development should span training in value-based education, digital pedagogy, and assessment for character and civic learning.
● Systemic integration of families & communities
Schools should encourage active participation from parents, alumni, and local organisations in school activities. Community voices must also be included in school governance, like co-designing of initiatives, collaborative projects, and participatory decision-making platforms.
● Balancing technology with responsible use
Digital infrastructure must be equitably deployed but pedagogically justified. Blended learning models, project-based learning, and online research tools are valuable when combined with experiential, nature-based and in-person learning. Ethical education on responsible digital use supports the well-being of students.
Toward a national vision
India’s ongoing National Education Policy (NEP) and similar reforms already gesture toward this integrated infrastructure concept: universal access, foundational learning, experiential learning, multi-stream secondary education, tech-integration, inclusion of early childhood care, etc. However, ambition must be matched by implementation integrity. The vision demands alignment across stakeholders – state and central governments, local bodies, civil society, educators, families, communities, and students themselves.
Final reflection
The future of Indian schools lies in a shared vision that breaks traditional boundaries. When values, critical thinking and joy are central; when families are co-nurturers; when communities co-design; when technology is neither enemy nor idol but a tool; then educational institutions become the conduit through which a democracy breathes. As we move forward, it is imperative to recognise that education is not just a sector but the very cornerstone of a thriving, inclusive, and progressive society.
