I live in Surat, in the state of Gujarat, in India. I was born in the early 80's and like a lot of Indians of the time and even today, my parents laid a lot of stress on education. A good education, becoming an engineer or a doctor was the main aim of everyone at that time.

Education in India is affordable. There are many scholarships available from government and non-government sources. Some people bare the cost of educating a child on their own free will. They would pay the child's fees or pay for their textbooks or uniforms or sometimes, bare the entire cost.

If children want to learn, teachers go out of the way to teach them. I have seen many examples of this, but none hit me so hard as the one that I saw on a street. The roads that I take on my way to work have four schools, one of which is a government run. In January or February of this year, I noticed a teacher teaching to a group of kids. This, on the footpath outside the school, in the evening, between seven and eight. This is a time when most if not all people make their way back home after a full day of work. But there was this teacher, teaching to these children. The children had their books. They were in uniform, and they belonged to the not-so-privileged section of the society. The dedication of the teacher hit me, hard. It made me feel ashamed. I saw, some days, these kids would eat meals that they received, at the end of the day’s lessons.

When I told this to my wife, who happens to be professor in a B.Ed. college. She informed me, that there are certain non-government organisations that teach these children. The kids learn basic language, mathematics and science. The N.G.O.s and the teachers join hands to teach the kids. There is a rule for government run schools. The faculty must go to the slum dwelling parents and convince them to send their kids to school . The government even provides food under the mid-day meal scheme to these kids.

This lead me to wonder about these kids future. Basic education does make children into good people. But the main concern of the slum dwellers it money. If these kids go to school, complete their  education, get into college and get a degree or a diploma, what then? The colleges produce more graduates than public and private sectors can produce jobs. Meaning these kids will be hunting for jobs. Much like the kids from middle and upper middle class families. Education is a long term investment. When kids become able to contribute to the society, things would change, for better or for worse.

This leads me to think if the education that we provide these kids will help. We could teach them vocational skills which they can monetize.  This help the kids contribute to the family. This will also address a shortage of labor problem. They can learn skills like welding, plumbing or auto repair. They will find employment and thus will contribute towards building the nation. The manufacturing industry will get a boost, which in turn will boost the economy.

In the end, the type of education that we provide is what assumes importance.