50% of India’s children don’t have access to quality education after primary school: development economist Amir Ullah Khan

Development economist Amir Ullah Khan speaks at HIE online test launch to discuss India's biggest challenge: access to education for the underprivileged.

The biggest challenge to India, apart from healthcare, is access to education and the privileged do not understand that getting an education is not easy, said development economist Amir Ullah Khan.

Mr. Khan was speaking at the Giasuddin Babukhan Charitable Trust’s Hyderabad Institute of Excellence (HIE) online test launch. The trust provides successful students from underprivileged backgrounds with full scholarships and competitive examination coaching with accommodation. The annual intake is 125 and the scholarships run into upwards of ₹4.5 crore each year.

“About 50% of India’s children have no access to quality education after primary school,” Mr. Khan, who was also member of the G. Sudhir Committee, said and pointed out that 90% do not have access to postgraduate courses.

Mr. Khan explained the socio-economic conditions of the underprivileged are such that several members of the family live in a single room, without proper access to utilities. Therefore, education is not easy for them. Urging the privileged to adopt a more empathetic approach, he said one should be wary of snobbery.

According to Javeed Hood, a trustee, students from HIE have secured seats in IIT, NIT and medicine over the past nine years and many were pursuing higher education in foreign colleges and universities.