Rahul Gandhi calls for rebuilding of entire education system

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday called for a complete overhaul of India's education system, saying it should provide children with a safe, stress-free environment and ensure that parents' sacrifices are rewarded rather than ending in grief.

Sharing a video from Friday's 'Chhatron ki Goonj' rally in Dehradun on X, Gandhi referred to Rajesh Kumar, the father of Riya Kumari, who died by suicide after the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination in May amid allegations of a paper leak. He said every student represented a family whose future had been shattered and stressed the need to rebuild the education system from the ground up, The New Indian Express reported.

At the rally, Gandhi said educational institutions should remain free from the influence of political parties and organisations. He also called for political consensus on tackling examination paper leaks, saying it was a collective responsibility.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged that the entire education system, from top to bottom, had become complicit in paper leaks, affecting nearly 7.5 crore students. He claimed the network extended from coaching centres, examination centres, paper setters, translators, transporters and vendors to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Union Education Ministry.

Gandhi further alleged that paper leak cases were increasing because of a corrupt system and claimed that those responsible had largely escaped punishment.

He also argued that the existing examination system was outdated and resembled a 19th-century model that needed to be modernised. According to Gandhi, the current framework was examiner-centric, government-centric and testing-centric, whereas it should instead be student-centric and more flexible.

He suggested creating a secure question bank and using technology to generate randomised question papers, similar to systems used in examinations such as the GMAT, to improve the integrity of the testing process.