**2.8 Social and scientific education**

Knowledge of science and rational practice of scientific thinking are essential components of a fully functioning democracy. Scientific and rational education is an essential tool for solving problems like communalism, fundamentalism, and nation-building. Scientific education is not the national priority it needs to be; even state and local governments are not yet delivering high-quality, critical learning experiences in equal measure to all students from elementary school through higher education. The Covid-19 pandemic is at a time when India is confronting communal hate, social injustice, and economic inequality that must end. Science in society and in the schools must be for all, not only for reasons of fairness and equity but also so that a democratic society can deal with the problems that confront it.

Science is one of the key disciplines that teach people how to ground decisionmaking in evidence. Farmers are India's greatest citizen scientists. Indian farmers are among the best scientist in the country. Farmers are always experimenting with what works best in individual fields, how to rotate crops, what seed variety to use and what tillage, pest management, and irrigation practices work best, and under what conditions. Social diversity in the educational centers not only expands the availability to solve social justice challenges ([22], pp. 9–10)*.*
