The sparse one-storey building that houses a government-run primary school for girls in Faridabad looks fresh at first glance, but it hides a series of serious problems. The surrounding road is littered with potholes filled with stagnant water, the interior plaster is flaking from the ceiling, and half the toilets are unusable and full of trash. Four of the nine classrooms are abandoned, and the building’s roof leaks during monsoon rains, leaving students without a safe place to learn.
India allocates only 4.1% of its gross domestic product to education – the minimum threshold recommended by UNESCO – while countries such as France, Germany and the United States spend more than 5% of their GDP. The National Education Policy 2020 cites an ideal target of 6%, but the reality on the ground remains stark. From 2014‑15 to 2024‑25, 94,000 government schools have closed across the country, partly due to mergers and a rising preference for private institutions.
The plight of rural schools is a focus of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s recent #FixTheSchool campaign, a satirical group that gained worldwide attention after a chain‑linked protest in Delhi that forced Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to step down. The movement originally began amid a scandal involving leaked medical entrance papers and the tragic suicides of students. Now it concentrates on improving infrastructure and addressing shortages of teachers and staff in public schools.
“Children in villages do not have equal opportunities and end up in farms or low‑wage labour,” says CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke. “That is why we are demanding better schools.” Students across India have taken to social media, using videos of leaking roofs, dirty toilets and uncomfortable classroom conditions to press local authorities. In Raigad, Maharashtra, a viral video of students mockingly commenting on the damaged road led to rapid repairs by local officials. In Uttar Pradesh, students demanded a road to their school through a short‑film that circulated widely, prompting government action.
Teachers in rural schools are often re‑allocated to non‑educational tasks, such as voter‑list revisions and census work. In one school in Faridabad, only six out of 40 teachers remained to instruct 910 students while 30 were assigned to election duties. This overload hampers learning and further dilutes the quality of education the government promises. Private schools, which are more expensive, are increasingly favored by families from more affluent backgrounds, widening the gap between children who can afford private education and those who cannot.
While the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government have not yet addressed the CJP’s demands, the movement has sparked a wave of activism. Students are using smartphones to record and share evidence of poor conditions, which has forced some authorities to act. The campaign’s reach, amplified by the 26‑million followers of the CJP on Instagram, signals a shift in how educational reform is contested in India, turning local grievances into a national movement.
