India’s Exam Worriers Become Democracy Warriors by Rohan Sandhu
Generations of students in India have resigned themselves to the idea that the education system is primarily a sorting mechanism, which rewards compliance. But as recent protests showed, the system’s rigidity, together with insufficient rewards in the form of good jobs, has rendered this approach untenable.
CAMBRIDGE—A reckoning has just played out on the streets of New Delhi and other major Indian cities. Tens of thousands of young Indians rose up against an education system that is failing them, ultimately securing the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan—a powerful symbolic victory. But the message of the protests is more profound: the socioeconomic compact between India’s youth and its political leadership has collapsed.
