Education system in india

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to present my votes of thanks to all those guidepost who really acted as lightening pillars to enlighten our way throughout this project that has led to successful and satisfactory completion of this study. I am highly thankful to Mr. Pankaj Jain for her active support, valuable time and advice, whole-hearted guidance, sincere cooperation and pains-taking involvement during the study and in completing the assignment of preparing the said paper within the time stipulated. Without the active participation of our teachers it would have been extremely difficult for me to prepare the project in a time bound framework.

HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIA

Indian education history is very rich and motivating. In the ancient days, gurus and scholars impart education orally, but after the development of letters, it took the form of writing. Palm leaves and barks of trees were used for teaching, and this in turn helped in spreading of the written literature. Temples and community centres often took the role of school. When Buddhism spread in India, education become available to everyone and this was the time when some world famous educational institutions were established like Nalanda, Vikramshila and Takshashila. History has taken particular care to give Nalanda University, which flourished from the fifth to 13th century AD, full credit for its brilliance. This university had around 10,000 resident students and teachers on its roll at one time. These students included Chinese, Sri Lankan, Korean and other international scholars. It was in the 11th century that the Muslims recognized elementary and secondary schools. This led to the forming of few universities too at cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Allahabad. Medieval period saw excellent interaction between Indian and Islamic customs in all fields of knowledge like theology, religion, philosophy, fine arts, painting, architecture, arithmetic, medicine and astronomy. Later, when British arrived in India, English education came into being with the help of the European missionaries. Since then, Western education gained advances in the country. With hundreds of universities and thousands of colleges affiliated to them, India has positioned itself happily as a country that provides superiority higher education to its people in specific and to the world in general.

PRESENT EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA

The present education system in India mainly comprises of-

1. primary education,
2. secondary education,
3. senior secondary education and
4. higher education

Elementary education consists of eight years of education. Each of secondary and senior secondary education consists of two years of education. Higher education in India starts after passing the higher secondary education or the 12th standard. Depending on the stream(Arts,Commerce or Science). Doing graduation in India can take three to five years. Post graduate courses are generally of two to three years of duration. After completing post graduation, scope for doing research in various educational institutes also remains open. The growing receiving of distance learning courses and growth of the open university system is also causative a lot in the democratization of higher education in india.

WORLD CLASS HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES IN INDIA:

There are quite a good number of educational institutes in India that can compete with the best educational institutes of the world and made India recognizable in the International Education. Some of them are as follows-

Ø The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),

Ø Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs),

Ø Indian Institutes of Science, National Law Schools,

Ø Jawaharlal Nehru University are some such institutes.

FACILITIES OF EDUCATION TO MARGINALIZED IN INDIA:

As education is the means for bringing socio- economic transformation in a society, various measures are being taken to enhance the access of teaching to the marginalized sections of the society. One such measure is the introduction of the reservation system in the institutes of higher education. Under the present law:-

(1) 7.5% seats in the higher educational institutes are reserved for the

scheduled tribes,

(2) 15% for scheduled castes and 27% for the non creamy layers of the

Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

PRESENT SCENARIO OF INDIAN EDUCATION :

Soon after independence in 1947, making education available to all had become a priority for the government. As discrimination on the basis of caste and gender has been a major hurdle in the healthy development of the Indian society, it also restricted the educational development of the nation as a whole. The 86th constitutional amendment has also made elementary

education a fundamental right for the children between the age group- 6 to 14. According to the 2001 census:-

Ø The total literacy rate in India is 65.38% .

Ø The female literacy rate is only 54.16%

The gap between rural and urban literacy rate is also very significant in India. This is evident from the fact that only 59.4% of rural population are literate as against 80. 3% urban

population according to the 2001 census

PUBLIC PRIMARY EDUCATION IN INDIA- AN

OVERVIEW:

Early childhood education in India is subject to two extreme but contrary deficiencies. On the one hand, millions of young children in lower income groups, especially rural and girl children, comprising nearly 40% of first grade entrants never complete primary school. Even among those who do, poorly qualified teachers, very high student-teacher ratios, inadequate teaching materials and out- moded teaching methods result in a low quality of education that often imparts little or no real learning. It is not uncommon for students completing six years of primary schooling in village public schools to lack even rudimentary reading and writing skills.

PRIVATE PRIMARY EDUCATION IN INDIA- AN OVERVIEW:

Cildren attending urban schools, especially middle and upper class children in private schools, are subjected to extreme competitive pressures from a very early age to acquire basic language skills and memorize vast amounts of information in order to qualify for admission into the best schools. Parents and teachers exert intense pressure on young children to acquire academic skills at an age when children should be given freedom and encouraged to learn as a natural outcome of their curiosity, playfulness and eagerness to experiment. Necessary steps should be taken to avoid unnecessary pressure for childrens.

GOVERNANCE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION:

Schemes undertaken by the government:

Ø State-wise Allocation of Central Government’s Share Made

Ø Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in India (2006-2007)

State-wise Amount Spent on Elementary Education from Component of Prambhik Shiksha Kosh in India (2006-2007 and 31.10.2007) State-wise Targets and Achievements under Sarva Shiksha Abhiayan (SSA) in India (2002-2007) Selected State-wise Number of Additional Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) Sanctioned in India (As on 01.02.2006)

Funds Released to North Eastern States under CentrallySponsored Schemes for Operation Blackboard and Non Formal Education in India (1997-1998 to 2000-2001) Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources under Centrally Sponsored Schemes for Elementary Education for North Eastern States in India (1999-2000 and 2000-2001 Progress Recorded under Shiksha Karmi Project in India (upto september2001)

Efforts are also being taken to improve the access to higher education among the women of India by setting up various ecational institutes exclusively for them or eserving seats in the already existing institutes.

Development so far:-

Under SSA,

Ø 1.47 lakh primary schools have been opened across the country,

Ø 1.23 lakh primary schools have been upgraded to have upper primary classes.

Ø 9.86 lakh teachers have been recruited,

Ø children are provided free textbooks,

Ø teachers are provided periodic in-service training,

Ø Mid-day meal is provided to all children in classes 1-8 in

Ø Government and Government aided schools.

GOVERNANCE OF SCHOOL EDUCATION

The National Council Of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the legal body for governing the curriculam matters for school education in India. The NCERT provides support and technical assistance to a number of schools in India and give guidance to many educational policies in India. Different Indian curriculam bodies governing school Education in India are as follows:-

1. The State Government Board
2. The Central Board Of Secondary Education ( CBSE ) Board
3. The Council For The Indian School Certificate Examinations ( CISCE) Board
4. The Indian Certificate Of Secondary Education ( ICSE ) Board
5. The National Institute Of Open Schooling ( NIOS ) Board

GOVERNANCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

In order to develop the higher education system, the government had established the

University Grants Commission in 1953(UGC) . The primary role of UGC has been to regulate the standard and spread of higher education in India. There has been a marked progress in the expansion of higher education if we look at the increase of higher educational institutes in India. The higher education system in India comprise of more than17000 colleges, 20 central universities, 217 State Universities, 106 Deemed to Universities and 13 institutes of Natioanl importance. Under the Indian constitution, various minority groups can also set up their own educational institutes. This number will soon inflate as the setting up of30 more central universities, 8 new IITs, 7 IIMs and 5 new Indian Institutes of science are now proposed.

PESTLE ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION

P – POLITICAL ANALYSIS –

SCHOOL LEVEL –

Schools being privatised (like the NHS) A government initiative creates the risk that the school may fail to deliver the policy or be diverted away from local priorities etc.Changes tothe skills required to be a teacher/ tutor Changes to curriculum with short lead times Requirement to be self managing Requirement to be self financing

HIGHER LEVEL-

Funding allocations to Universities and level of priority given to HE/ science.Funding allocations within the University. RAE 2008 process and its suggested replacements.University league tables and rankings. “In vogue” research disciplines. Institutional policies on IPR and open access. Publisher lobbying and the DTI. EC position on research dissemination. Pressure for global dissemination of resources including redressing the balance between information poor and information rich. Competitor institutions. Research peaks. Future of the White Rose consortium and regional cooperation in HE. What happens to work when researchers move institutions?

E – ECONOMICAL ANALYSIS-

SCHOOL LEVEL-

Central or local government funding decisions may affect school/ establishment finances

Closure of a local industry may affect fund raising plans etc. Ability of parents to raise funds for optional activities The need to run breakfast/ after schools clubs Ability to invest savings/ surpluses Cost of providing resources:

Ø Staff – teaching & support

Ø Basics – books/ paper

Ø Technology solutions laptops etc

Interest rates Shortages of materials on national/ international markets Over provision of school places in the area resulting in competition from neighbouring schools The risk of highly valued, key staff moving on to more „up and coming schools/ academies.

HIGHER LEVEL-

Overall funding allocations to Universities from government and from Research . Councils.Use of short term contracts for researchers. VAT on electronic publications. Publisher business model and the possible impact of open access.. Cost of data storage. Cost of digital preservation actions and/or services. Priority given to outward facing technical services in a Financially Restricted environment. Journal subscription model may be in transition; libraries universities may worry they are paying for the same thing three times. Repository services are unlikely to be income generating or, only indirectly. Student debt may make a research career less attractive.

S – SOCIAL ANALYSIS –

SCHOOL LEVEL-

Decline in birth rate, reflecting national trends. Local population changes (increasing/ decreasing numbers) . Demographic changes may affect likely pupil rolls or the nature

of pupils needse.g. pupils with English as a second language etc. Closure of local firms providing employment Inability to attract staff. Social networking – blogs, facebook, twitter

Changes to qualifications expected. Integration with local community. Integration of students with special needs. parental preference – an increase in „parent power has allowed. parents more freedom of choice over their child s school. the risk of highly valued, key staff moving on to more up-and- coming establishments. Information is accessible to staff anywhere in the world via the Internet. Staff were not given enough training or access to effectively change their habits and how they expected information to be made available.

HIGHER LEVEL-

Widening participation. Increased student to staff ratios.. Use of short term contracts for researchers. Commodification of HE; emphasis on HE for monetary gain. Possible lack of lecturers and researchers in the future. Public attitudes towards science and scientific knowledge; demand for scientific information. Globalisation of science; possibly more democratic access to dissemination mechanishs.

T – TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS –

SCHOOL LEVEL-

Changes to standards/ equipment required. Risk of selecting the wrong technology at times of change (i.e. windows -v- open source).New computer viruses may affect school/ college operations, Disturbing/ illegal images on the internet may affect ICT security measures etc.Move from paper based books to e-book readers. Computer hardware being out of date.Computer software being out of date. Time to manage IT systems.

HIGHER LEVEL-

Widespread availability of internet access – including developing countries. Development of GRID computing. Development of virtual learning environments and virtual research Environments. Generation of increasingly complex digital objects during research. Development of common interoperability standards. Development of metadata standards. Urgent need for digital preservation protocols. Need for and cost of data storage. Massive proliferation of email. Developing scientific disciplines; new potential for research. Increased expectations of end users re quality and manner of data delivery. Increasing level of skills needed, particularly programming, to be classed as a “techie”. Anyone can be a publisher: different publishing models. Possible new models for peer review. Local IT development priorities.

LITERACY RATE IN INDIA –

As per 2001 Census, the overall literacy rate of India is 65.38%.

The male literacy rate is 75.96% and female literacy rate is 54.28%.

Ranking of States and Union Territories by Literacy Rate

States literacy rate male literacy rate female literacy rate

Kerala 90.92 94.20 87.86

Mizoram 88.49 90.69 86.13

Lakshadweep (U.T.) 87.52 93.15 81.56

Goa 82.32 88.88 75.51

Delhi (U.T.) 81.82 87.37 75.00

Chandigarh (U.T.) 81.76 85.65 76.65

Pondicherry (U. T.) 81.49 88.89 74.13

(U.T.) 81.18 86.07 75.29

Daman & Diu (U.T.) 81.09 88.40 70.37

Maharashtra 77.27 86.27 67.51

Himachal Pradesh 77.13 86.02 68.08

Tripura 73.66 81.47 65.41

Tamil Nadu 73.47 82.33 64.55

Uttaranchal 72.28 84.01 60.26

Gujarat 69.97 80.50 58.60

Punjab 69.95 75.63 63.55

Sikkim 69.68 76.73 61.46

West Bengal 69.22 77.58 60.22

Manipur 68.87 77.87 59.70

Haryana 68.59 79.25 56.31

Nagaland 67.11 71.77 61.92

Karnataka 67.04 76.29 57.45

Chhatisgarh 65.18 77.86 52.40

This table shows the literacy rate of various state in india.

EDUCATIONAL TARGETS OF 11 th YEAR PLAN

1. Reduce dropout rates of children from elementary school from 52.2% in 2003-2004 to 20% by 2011-2012
2. Develop minimum standard of educational attainment in elementary school, and by regular testing moniter effectiveness of education to ensure quality.
3. Increase literacy rate for people of age seven years or more to 85%
4. Lower genger gap in literacy to 10 percentage point
5. Increase the percentage of each cohort going to higher higher education from the present 10% to 15% by the end of the eleventh plan.