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Education in India

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Education in India
Educational oversight
HRD Minister
 Ministry of HRD
Arjun Singh
National education budget
• Discretionary
• Mandatory 		Rs.18,337 crore (2005-06)
?
?
Primary language(s) of education English, Other regional languages
Literacy (2001)
• Men
• Women 		64.8 %
75.3 %
53.7 %
Enrollment1 (2001-02)
• Primary (I-V)
• Mid/Upper Prim. (VI-VIII)
• Higher Secondary (IX-X) 		189.2 million
113.9 million
44.8 million
30.5 million


1. doesn't include kindergarten enrollment

India has been a major seat of learning for centuries, if not millennia. Its current state presents a much varied picture. While the country has some of the best Universities (ISB, IITs, NITs, IISc, IIMs, AIIMS) in the world, it is also dealing with challenges in its primary education and strives to reach 100% literacy. Universal Compulsory Primary Education, with its challenges of keeping poor children in school and maintaining quality of education in rural areas, has been difficult to achieve and (Kerala is the only Indian state to reach this goal so far). All levels of education, from primary to higher education, are overseen by Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School Education and Literacy, and heavily subsidized by the Indian government, though there is a move to make higher education partially self-financing.

Structure

The system is divided into preprimary, primary, middle, secondary (or high school), and higher levels. Preprimary is usually composed of Lower Kindergarten and Higher Kindergarten, where primary reading and writing skills are developed. Primary school includes children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through five. Middle school pupils aged eleven through fourteen are organized into classes six through eight, and high school students ages fourteen through eighteen are enrolled in classes nine through twelve. Higher Education in India provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes technical schools (such as the Indian Institutes of Technology), colleges, and universities.

In India, the main types of schools are those controlled by:

Elementary Education

Primary school in the remote Kanji village of the Kargil district.

During the eighth five-year plan, the target of "universalizing" elementary education was divided into three broad parameters: Universal Access, Universal Retention and Universal Achievement i.e., making education accessible to children, making sure that they continue education and finally, achieving goals. As a result of education programs, by the end of 2000, 94% of India's rural population had primary schools within one km and 84% had upper primary schools within 3 km. Special efforts have made to enroll SC/ST and girls. The enrollment in primary and upper-primary schools has gone up considerably since the first five-year plan. So has the number of primary and upper-primary schools. In 1950-51, only 3.1 million students had enrolled for primary education. In 1997-98, this figure was 39.5 million. The number of primary and upper-primary schools was 0.223 million in 1950-51. This figure was 0.775 million in 1996-97.

In 2002/2003, an estimated 82% of children in the age group of 6-14 were enrolled in school. The Government of India aims to increase this to 100% by the end of the decade. To achieve this the Government launched Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The strategies adopted by the Government to check drop-out rate are:

Non-graduation market

This is a chart of non-graduation market of India as per Census 2001.

Educational level Holders
Total 502,994,684
Unclassified 97,756
Non-technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree 386,146
Technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree 3,666,680
Higher Secondary, Intermediate, Pre-university or Senior Secondary 37,816,215
Matriculation or Secondary 79,229,721
Middle 90,226,846
Primary 146,740,047
Below Primary 144,831,273

Each major Indian city and town has plenty of government-funded high schools catering to the working classes, who form the majority of the population. Government high schools are sometimes English medium schools (this is often true in large cities) but students are usually taught in the regional language. These institutions are heavily subsidised. Study materials (such as textbooks, notebooks and stationary) are sometime but not always subsidised. Government schools follow the state curriculum.

There are also a number of private schools providing secondary education. These schools usually either follow the national curriculum or provide an international qualification. Many top secondary schools offer an alternative international qualification, such as the IB program or A Levels.

Higher Education

Higher education in India has evolved in distinct and divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. and funded by the state governments. However, there are 18 important universities called Central Universities, which are maintained by the Union Government. The increased funding of the central universities give them an advantage over state competitors.

The private sector is strong in Indian higher education. The Indian Institutes of Technology were placed 50th in the world by Times Higher World University Rankings although they did not appear in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities. The National Law School, Bangalore is highly regarded, with some of its students being awarded Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences is consistently rated the top medical school in the country[citation needed]. Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the top management institutes in India. [citation needed]

Accreditation

Accreditation for universities in India are required by law unless it was created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, the government notes "these fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award ‘degree’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes."[1] The University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,

"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree."[2]

Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission[3]:

Graduation market

This is a chart of graduation market of India as per Census 2001.

Degree Holders
Total 37,670,147
Post-graduate degree other than technical degree 6,949,707
Graduate degree other than technical degree 25,666,044
Engineering and technology 2,588,405
Teaching 1,547,671
Medicine 768,964
Agriculture and dairying 100,126
Veterinary 26,642
Other 22,588

History

Up to the 17th century

The first millennium and the few centuries preceding it saw the flourishing of higher education at Nalanda, Takshila, Ujjain, & Vikramshila Universities. Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine were among the subjects taught and each university specialized in a particular field of study. Takshila specialized in the study of medicine, while Ujjain laid emphasis on astronomy. Nalanda, being the biggest centre, handled all branches of knowledge, and housed up to 10,000 students at its peak.

Education under British Rule

British records show that indigenous education was widespread in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The schools were attended by students representative of all classes of society.

The current system of education, with its western style and content, was introduced & funded by the British in the 19th century, following recommendations by Macaulay. Traditional structures were not recognized by the British govt and have been on the decline since. Gandhi is said to have described the traditional educational system as a beautiful tree that was destroyed during the British rule.

After Independence

After independence, education became the responsibility of the states. The Central Government's only obligation was to co-ordinate in technical and higher education and specify standards. This continued till 1976, when the education became a joint responsibility of the state and the Centre.

Education Commission

The Education Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr.D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman, University Grants Commission, began its task on October 2,1964. It consisted of sixteen members, eleven being Indians and five foreign experts. In addition, the Commission had the benefit of discussion with a number of internationally known consultants in the educational as well as scientific field.

After 1976

In 1976, education was made a joint responsibility of the states and the Centre, through a constitutional amendment. The center is represented by Ministry of Human Resource Development's Department of Education and together with the states, it is jointly responsible for the formulation of education policy and planning.

NPE 1986 and revised PoA 1992 envisioned that free and compulsory education should be provided for all children up to 14 years of age before the commencement of 21st century. Government of India made a commitment that by 2000, 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be spent on education, out of which half would be spent on the Primary education.

In November 1998, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced setting up of Vidya Vahini Network to link up universities, UGC and CSIR.

Recent developments

The Indian Education System is generally marks-based. However, some experiments have been made to do away with the marks-based system which has lead to cases of depression and suicides among students. In 2005, the Kerala government introduced a grades-based system in the hope that it will help students to move away from the cut-throat competition and rote-learning and will be able to focus on creative aspects and personality development as well.

Expenditure on Education in India

The Government expenditure on Education has greatly increased since the First five-year plan. The Government of India has highly subsidized higher education. Nearly 97% of the Central Government expenditure on elementary education goes towards the payment of teachers' salaries.

File:Indian Education Five Year Plan Expenditure.png

Initiatives

Non-Formal Education

In 1979-80, the Government of India, Department of Education launched a program of Non-Formal Education (NFE) for children of 6-14 years age group, who cannot join regular schools. These children include school drop-outs, working children, children from areas without easy access to schools etc. The initial focus of the scheme was on ten educationally backward states. Later, it was extended to urban slums, hilly, tribal and desert areas in other states as well. The program is now functional in 25 states/UTs. 100% assistance is given to voluntary organizations for running NFE centers.

Bal Bhavans

Bal Bhavans centers, which are operational all over India, aim to enhance creative and sports skills of children in the age group 5-16 years. There are various State and District Bal Bhavans, which conduct programs in fine-arts, aeromodeling, computer-education, sports, martial arts, performing arts etc. They are also equipped with libraries with books for children. New Delhi alone has 52 Bal Bhavan centers. The National Bal Bhavan is an autonomous institution under the Department of Education. It provides general guidance, training facility and transfer of information to State and District Bal Bhavans situated all over India.

Distance education

India has a large number of Distance education programmes in Undergraduate and Post-Graduate levels. The trend was started originally by private institutions that offered distance education at certificate and diploma level. By 1985 many of the larger Universities recognized the need and potential of distance education in a poor and populous country like India and launched degree level programs through distance education. The trend caught up, and today many prestigious Indian Universities offer distance programs. Indira Gandhi National University, one of the largest in student enrolment, has only distance programs with numerous local centers that offer supplementary contact classes.

Education for special sections of society

Women

Under Non-Formal Education programme, about 40% of the centers in states and 10% of the centers in UTs are exclusively for girls. As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centers were catering to about 7.42 million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for girls.

In engineering, medical and other colleges, 30% of the seats have been reserved for women.

SC/STs and OBCs

The Government has reserved seats for SC/STs in all areas of education. Special scholarships and other incentives are provided for SC/ST candidates. Many State Governments have completely waived fees for SC/ST students. The IITs have a special coaching program for the SC/ST candidates who fail in the entrance exams marginally. Seats have been reserved for candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes as well.

Criticism of Indian Education System

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning. Emphasis is laid on passing exams with high percentage. Few institutes give importance to developing personality and creativity among students. Recently, the country has seen a rise in instances of student suicides due to low marks and failures, especially in metropolitan cities like Mumbai.

The expenditure spent on schools is generally very little compared to the admission fees of the students, which is in many cases not all they have to pay: the cost for the school uniform, school buses, books, miscellaneous materials supplied to students (notes, other paper), school picnic, etc. are not included in the fees. Also, items supplied by the school such as textbooks are sometimes given at a price that is higher than the retail price, even though such items are ordered in bulk.

The presence of a number of education boards (SSC, ICSE, CBSE, IB) leads to non-uniformity. A large number of SSC (State board) students complain that their ICSE and CBSE counterparts are given higher percentages, which gives them an unfair advantage during college admissions. Most colleges though account for these differences during admissions. Generally, ICSE and CBSE certificates are more sought after than SSC certificates, as they are nation wide boards. The syllabi prescribed by the various boards are accused of being archaic and some textbooks (mostly ones written for the SSC) contain many errors (add link).

The boards are recently trying to improve quality of education by increasing percentage of practical and project marks. However, critics say even this is memorized by students (or even plagiarized). This is attributed to pressure from parents who are eager to see high scores more than overall development.

Many people also criticize the caste, language and religion-based reservations in education system. Many allege that only creamy layer of the weaker castes get the benefit of reservations and that forged caste certificates abound. Educational institutions also can seek religious minority (non-Hindu) or linguistic minority status. In such institutions, 50% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to a particular religion or having particular mother-tongue(s). For example, many colleges run by the Jesuits and Salesians have 50% seats reserved for Roman Catholics. In case of languages, an institution can declare itself linguistic minority only in states in which the language is not official language. For example, an engineering college can declare itself as linguistic-minority (Hindi) institution in the state of Maharashtra (where official state language is Marathi), but not in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh (where the official state language is Hindi). These reservations are said to be a cause of heartbreak among many. Many students with poor marks manage to get creamy admissions, while meritorious students are left out. Critics say that such reservations may eventually create rifts in the society.

The general corruption prevalent in India is also an issue in the Education system. Engineering, medical and other lucrative seats are sometimes sold for high prices and ridden with nepotism and power-play.

Student politics is also a major issue, as many institutions are run by politicians.

Ragging used to be a major problem in colleges, but tough rules and regulations have curbed it. Some state governments have made ragging a criminal offence.

Chronology of main events

  • 1935: Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) set up.
  • 1976: Education made a joint responsibility of the states and the Centre.
  • 1986: National Policy on Education (NPE) and Programme of Action (PoA)
  • 1992: Revised National Policy on Education (NPE) and Programme of Action (PoA)
  • December 17, 1998: The Assam Government enacts a law making ragging in educational institutions a criminal offence.
  • November 1998: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announces setting up of Vidya Vahini Network to link up universities, UGC and CSIR.
  • September 2006: Education Reforms In India

See also

Further reading

  • The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Education in the Eighteenth Century by Dharampal (Biblia Impex, Delhi, 1983) [4] [5]
  • Marie Lall, The Challenges for India's Education System, Chatham House: London, 2005 (ASP BP 05/03) accessed at [6] August 30, 2006
  • Meenakshi Jain et al. (2003) History in the New NCERT Textbooks Fallacies in the IHC Report, National Council of Educational Research and Training, ISBN 81-7450-227-0 [7]
  • Rosser, Yvette. Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (2003) University of Texas at Austin.
  • Shourie, Arun. Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud New Delhi, 1998.
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