A Systemic Transformation?

A system is a combination of a lot of all-s; all the people, all ideas, all their behaviours, all their inter-relationships, all their inter-dependencies, all processes and all boundary conditions. The number of permutations and/or combinations of these factors would amount to infinity. Furthermore, in a world as dynamic and inter dependent as it is today, these factors would also change and evolve ever so often. Think about any “system” - education, agriculture, health, transportation, infrastructure, etc. Every one of them would have all of these factors (maybe even more?) playing on them. So how does one transform a system? Is it possible at all? How can one firstly, grasp the entirety of a system?

With all of these questions, I entered my office a couple of weeks ago in New Delhi. There was an eerie silence but that was probably because nobody wakes up at 7am on a cold winter morning and lands up at their offices. As I passed time catching up on the latest of Koffee with Karan, a thought struck me. How can a system improve at scale if everything in that system can never be “upgraded” at the same time? Take for example, health. Right from what the size of a syringe being used in the operation room is, till the promotion criteria is for a nurse, everything at the moment is under question by someone or the other. One can only fathom a paradigm shift in this situation because every action will have a consequence, some desirable, some not as much. That’s just how the world works. At a mammoth level such as a state or country, this would only get more complex. Where would one even get all the resources from to do this? Money for instance, health is not the only thing the government pays for. How much % of GDP is “good enough” for health? What about other sectors? Similarly, people, processes, tools etc. The list of requirements is endless. Do we wait for every requirement to be met before any change can be brought about? If not, then how can one expect a "systemic transformation"?

“More than 80% of students attending government schools in Haryana are at grade level now” beamed a slide on the “skin coloured” wall (as I would’ve called it when I was in school) in the office sometime before lunch time. More than 80% of the state had been declared “Saksham”, grade level competent. Bleh! The team members took turns in explaining how every teacher, block education officer, DIET principals, district education officer, block resource person, deputy commissioner, additional deputy commissioner, director general of school education (basically all government officials directly or indirectly linked to schools) has been involved in this massive movement to bring every student up to their grade levels. Just about four years ago, these schools had less than 40% of the students at grade level (based on 3^rd party assessments) and now more than 80% were (also based on 3^rd party assessments). The team showed many photographs, data points, graphs to provide a deeper understanding of what the state did to achieve this feat.

All I could think of though, how does it matter? That kid in school X of district Y is not better off in any way in this world than he/she was last year. Many of my own kids back in Hyderabad and Bengaluru had reached grade level in a year (with great difficulty) and some of them had slipped back again the very next year. What had really changed in their lives? Similarly, 80% of these kids, what has really changed for them?

I went back to my room later that night happy about the achievement of the state but also doubtful whether it was leading to anything better in the lives of those children, permanently. Transformation is when something changes permanently. Had something changed permanently? When a “system” consists of infinite number of factors and one can never have infinite resources and time to upgrade each of them (and mind you Haryana had none) how was this feat an achievement, let alone a systemic reform as the state would claim?

Ting! My phone flashed up a Facebook notification. One that I hadn’t even enabled. How does one shut these off anyway? The ones which say, “XYZ posted a photo”. I mean, I’m not interested. Anyway, this was an acquaintance from school who had posted a random photo with an even random comment against certain ethnic groups in the country (yeah, those kind of photos!). Very weirdly, it got me thinking. What is the difference in both of our education? We had grown up in similar circumstances, studied in the same school, some of our other friends had gone on to do different things, and some to do nothing, quite literally. Many of them to this day blame the “system” (an abstract concept in their heads) for not providing the right opportunities to realize their true potential. Someone is from an economically weaker section who had to drop off midway in his education to support his family. Another was from a conservative family who had to get married at a young age thus putting a full stop on her career. These are stories that I’m sure many of us hear. Then again, there are those who have risen against all odds in the same system. One is a lead actress in the movies, another a high flying DJ, yet another is out there protecting wildlife… all products of the same “system”.

Thinking on this further, like all things important are thought of, on the toilet seat, I realized, it probably was their behaviour! At some point in their life, their behaviour would have gone through a transformation (permanent change). And that making all the difference. The system may be a combination of infinite number of factors which are beyond one's control but a person's behaviour is completely under theirs. So a shift in behaviour was able to bring them up in their lives. Of course, the ideal condition is that the “system” enables everyone to rise up in their lives but it is a task to create a “system” that for an infinite period of time, responds to infinite number of needs and factors. What Haryana has done, is moved the needle on that behaviour of every person in its system.

The state has been able to tackle a pivotal issue in their journey towards quality education, the behaviour of the people influencing it. What was a distant dream a few years ago, is now a reality for almost a lakh teachers who form the bedrock of this reform. They have been pulled out their slumber to create and witness the magic of their own hands. Yes, one can always question the reform from an academic standpoint. It was only for Hindi and Math, the assessment was for 3^rd, 5^th and 7^th grades only etc. But what everyone can agree upon is that the teacher is now aware of his/her role, despite the systemic challenges posed. What no one can disagree on is the fact that every person in this “system” today knows what quality education means (yes, it is an evolving concept but that’s the point) and how it was achieved by them. Come tomorrow, they will do it all over again given a new definition of quality. Sampla block of Rohtak district stands testimony to it. It was declared Saksham+ while the entire state was becoming “just Saksham”. (Saksham+ is when at least 80% of the students in a block achieve grade level competency in Hindi, Math and English, while Saksham is just the first two).

A systemic transformation is not when the entire system has changes permanently. Why? Because infinite number of factors cannot all change at once, something always gets left behind (that is what infinity is). But what can definitely build a momentum towards systemic change is a behavioural shift of its people which is permanent. It might be premature but I believe that Haryana has made that jump for its kids. The system today, has changed its behaviour and from this point onwards, it will only move forward addressing other systemic challenges – teacher training, budget, secondary education, teacher recruitment, parent engagement, community involvement so on and so forth. And that, is a systemic transformation!

But, hadn’t my friends and I changed the behaviours of some of those parents, teachers and kids too when we were teachers? Then what is systemic transformation?