How can you have research without basic education?

A survey of 56 countries by a think tank in the US finds that there is virtually no innovation from India. The figures are dismal. India, which means the government, spends $1,248 per school student, less than Colombia and Vietnam. We are in the bottom six in government funding of university research, behind South Africa and Brazil. Funding of university research is just $12 per capita and we have only 17 universities in the top 800 in the world. When it comes to published research articles we have almost none. Tiny countries like Israel, Denmark and Switzerland are way up there. Of course, research costs money and India is a poor country but why are Mexico, Ukraine and South Africa ahead of us in publications? The rot starts in primary schools. Teachers spend their time supervising the cooking of midday meals in government schools,especially after teachers were arrested when 23 children died of pesticide poisoning in a school in Bihar. Naturally, children, especially in rural areas, come to school to eat and learn very little because teachers are busy cooking. It is not surprising that they learn virtually nothing. Imagine paying huge salaries to teachers who are busy cooking. If children have learnt nothing in school they are unlikely to learn very much in college, which is why 80% of engineering graduates are not fit to be employed. A college degree serves to makes a person more eligible in getting a sweeper's job and those with PhD degrees apply for jobs as peons. The reason is that government jobs pay regular salaries, there is no danger of being sacked for poor performance and there are no other takers for people with useless degrees. The government controls all higher education through the University Grants Commission which gives great powers to politicians and civil servants. Mediocrity is an asset. Last year only 246 MBBS seats, out of a total of 600, in Delhi were in the general category, which means purely on merit, the rest being reserved for various other categories, who received admission with much less marks. Professors are promoted according to seniority and not appointed directly, as in the west, based on research publications. So, while people of Indian origin in the US are known for their research work professors in India get appointed on plagiarism. Because of poor standards wealthy Indians send their children to the US for higher education and donate to US universities, rather than to Indian ones. US universities boast of billions of dollars in endowments. A previous minister made it a rule that all donations to educational institutions must go through his ministry. Naturally no one donated. Those in power benefit from the system. Why should they change it?