India's education system is like a naturally talented, malnourished child�€”capable of great things if given the proper support. India's natural advantage is its pool of manpower. But with masses of children crammed into classrooms where unmotivated and under-trained teachers greet them, if any teacher at all, the potential of this manpower is stunted. Especially at the primary and secondary school levels, India�€™s education system is plagued with teacher absenteeism, extremely high student-teacher ratios, and an over-emphasis on rote learning. India needs both more teachers and a different approach to learning.

A proposal: If India were to gather all its �€œtoppers�€ into a �€œteach for a year�€ program, it could amass a substantial pool of educational talent to fill the increasing deficit of teachers. In other words, India should use its cream (of the crop students) to nourish the underdeveloped education of its massive millions. Those students advantaged with the best educational experience India has to offer (think IITs and IIMs) should be enlisted into the army of teachers necessary to inject effective learning into its classrooms.

Now India's brightest students, of course, may not be India's best teachers. But they are, we can say, those most capable of being trained. And so the teacher training program, a four week crash course retreat, will be critical in shaping the transformational force these young teachers are capable of delivering. The teaching methods must depart from the traditional rote style of learning most Indian students encounter. And, just as importantly, the teachers should learn how to create group learning experiences and impart a sense of economy and sustainability.

India�€™s chances of thriving face increasingly steep challenges posed by rapid population growth and scarcer natural resources. As the country becomes more and more crowded, Indians will have to become better at working with (as opposed to only amongst) others and at conserving natural resources like water. These skills are best developed at a young age in a primary school curriculum.

The attitude of working within a group needs to replace the prevailing attitude of individual achievement, �€œsurvival of the fittest�€, which is epitomized by class rankings. The ability to work within a group, to communicate one's grievances, and to compromise after listening to the grievances of others will be the building blocks upon which India strengthens the largest democracy in the world. Effective democracy depends on constructive communication. So this army of young teachers should be taught how to facilitate team-building exercises and group projects, which emphasize group learning over knowledge of any particular subject matter.

These young teachers also need to impart a sensibility of sustainability and conservation towards the environment and natural resources. This can be achieved through simple activities that children as young as four years old can participate in. For instance, employing a technique from permaculture practices, banana and papaya circles should be planted and fed by the waste water from the hand and dish washing following the midday meal. The wastewater is channeled into a vessel, which a pipe takes to empty into a nearby four foot ditch filled with natural mulch (composed of dead leaves and other decaying vegetation). The circle of banana and papaya trees planted surrounding this ditch draw in the waste water. This is just one example of many similar types of projects that teachers can use to demonstrate how to create benefit through frugality.

Even if you write-off this proposal as idealistic and unfeasible, take away from it the idea that India has to "go big" in addressing its education problem. It is its education system that will determine India's poise to meet future challenges. So bettering this education system must be a national priority to which India devotes its most talented human resources.