Part 1 of 19 in Why Schools are Broken: and How to Fix ThemPart 2 →
This preface examines why Indian schooling often produces low learning, costly credentials, and young people who lack skills and confidence. It is written for Indian parents, teachers, and young people who want better ways to grow up and learn.
- Paul Goodman argued that compulsory schooling can serve institutional needs instead of education.
- India has near-universal enrolment, but learning outcomes remain very low.
- Coaching classes and credential inflation have created additional pressures for students and families.
- The book examines practical alternatives using Indian stories, constraints, and artificial intelligence.
- The chapters are published for parents, edupreneurs, and educators to discuss, adapt, and build upon.
This book is written for Indian parents who sense that something is deeply wrong with the way their children are being schooled, for teachers who feel trapped in a system that does not allow real teaching, and for young people who have spent years in classrooms learning little that they value.
In 1964, the American social critic Paul Goodman published Compulsory Miseducation. He argued that society was forcing too much schooling on too many young people for too long, and that this schooling often served purposes other than education: keeping adolescents off the labour market, sorting them for employers, and training them to fit institutional needs. Many students, especially the poor, were simply wasting precious years.
Sixty years later, Goodman’s diagnosis fits India with uncomfortable precision. We have expanded schooling dramatically. Enrolment is near universal. Yet learning outcomes remain shockingly low. Coaching classes have become a parallel compulsory system. Credential inflation has turned degrees into expensive tickets that no longer guarantee jobs. And millions of young Indians leave school neither skilled nor confident.
This book takes Goodman’s core insights and re-examines them through Indian eyes, Indian stories, and Indian constraints. It does not romanticise the past. It asks a practical question: how can communities, parents and young people themselves create better ways of growing up and learning, especially now that artificial intelligence makes personalised, high-quality teaching available at near-zero marginal cost?
The chapters that follow are meant to be read and discussed. Use them, adapt them, and build upon them. My hope is that they will help you trust yourself more, and the institutional system less.
Dr. Aniruddha Malpani
Mumbai, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Who is this book written for?
It is written for Indian parents, teachers, and young people who feel that schooling is not providing meaningful learning.
What problems with Indian schooling does the preface identify?
It identifies low learning outcomes, compulsory coaching classes, expensive credentials that do not guarantee jobs, and young people leaving school without skills or confidence.
What did Paul Goodman argue about compulsory schooling?
He argued that society was forcing too much schooling on too many young people for too long, often to keep adolescents off the labour market, sort them for employers, and fit institutional needs.
How does the book propose to examine schooling in India?
It re-examines Goodman’s ideas through Indian stories and constraints, and asks how communities, parents, and young people can create better ways of learning, including with artificial intelligence.