EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF INDIA

India’s improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to its economic development.  Much of the progress made, especially in school education and scientific research through higher education, has been credited to various public institutions. After the Independence, India viewed education as an effective tool for bringing social change through community development. According to the 2011 Census, every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write with understanding in any language is said to be literate. Based on this criterion, the 2011 survey holds the National Literacy Rate to be around 74.07%. The youth literacy rate, measured within the age group of 15 to 24, is 81.1% (84.4% among males and 74.4% among females), while 86% of boys and 72% of girls are literate in the 10-19 age group.

The Indian Education System

The structure of Indian Education System is as follows:

  • Pre-school: Education at this level is not compulsory. The Montessori system is especially popular at the pre-school level
  • Private playschools: Catering for children between the ages of 18 months and three years.
  • Kindergarten: This is divided into lower kindergarten (for three- to four-year-olds) and upper kindergarten (for four- to five-year-olds)
  • Primary school: First to fifth standard/class/grade (for six- to ten-year-olds)
  • Middle school: Fifth to eighth standard/class/grade (for 11- to 14-year-olds)
  • Secondary school: Ninth and tenth standard/class/grade (for 14- to 16-year-olds)
  • Higher Secondary or Pre-university: 11th and 12th standard/class/grade (for 16- to 17-year-olds). This is when students choose an academic area on which to focus
  • Undergraduate:  BA / B.Sc / B.Com / BBA is a three-years degree. Specialised courses such as medicine and engineering can be longer
  • Postgraduate: Two-years degree programme (MA, M.Sc, M.Com, M.Lib etc).

School Education

The school system in India has four levels: lower primary (age 6 to 10), upper primary (age between 11 and 12), high (age 13 to 15) and higher secondary (age between 17 and 18). The lower primary school is divided into five “standards”, upper primary school into two, high school into three and higher secondary into two. Students have to learn a common curriculum largely (except for regional changes in mother tongue) till the end of high school. There is some amount of specialization possible at the higher secondary level. Students throughout the country have to learn three languages (namely, English, Hindi and their mother tongue) except in regions where Hindi is the mother tongue and in some streams.

Types of Schools

  • Public/government schools: Most schools in India are funded and run by the government. However, the public education system faces serious challenges including a lack of adequate infrastructure, insufficient funding, a shortage of staff and scarce facilities
  • Private schools: Since many government schools do not provide adequate education, Indian parents aspire to send their children to a private school. Some expats choose to send their children to private Indian schools
  • International schools: There are International schools in all major cities. They are attended by expat and Indian children
  • National open schools: Provide education up to the higher secondary level for children whose schooling has been interrupted and have been unable to complete formal education
  • Special-needs schools: Provide non-formal education and vocational training to children with disabilities

There are mainly three streams in School Education in India. Two of these are coordinated at the National level, of which one is under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and was originally meant for children of central government employees who are periodically transferred and may have to move to any place in the country. A number of “central schools” have been established for the purpose in all main urban areas in the country, and they follow a common schedule so that a student going from one school to another on a particular day will hardly see any difference in what is being taught. One subject (Social Studies, consisting of History, Geography and Civics) is always taught in Hindi, and other subjects in English.

As per the Annual Status of Education Report 2012, 96.5% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school. This is the Fourth Annual Survey to report enrollment above 96%. Another report from 2013 stated that there were 229 million students enrolled in different accredited urban and rural schools of India, from Class I to XII, representing an increase of 2.3 million students over 2002 total enrollment, and a 19% increase in girl’s enrollment. While quantitatively India is inching closer to universal education, the quality of its education has been questioned particularly in its government run school system. Every States of India have introduced their own tests and education assessment system to identify and improve such schools.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the apex body for curriculum related matters for school education in India. The NCERT provides support and technical assistance to a number of schools in India and oversees many aspects of enforcement of education policies. Other curriculum bodies governing school education system are: The State Government Boards (State Board of Secondary Education), Central Board of Secondary Education, Council of Indian School Certificate Examination, National Institute of Open Schooling, International Schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Programme and/or the Cambridge International Examinations, Islamic Madrasah schools and Autonomous Schools. In addition, National University of Educational Planning and Administration and National Council for Teacher Education are responsible for the management of the education system and teacher accreditation.

Indian Higher Education System

India has the third largest Higher Education system in the World, next to China and the United States. Before Independence, access to higher education was very limited and elitist, with enrollment of less than a million students in 500 Colleges and 20 Universities. Since Independence, the growth has been very impressive. India now possesses a highly developed higher education system that offers facility of education and training in almost all the aspects of human creative and intellectual endeavors. According to Dr. Abdul Salam, Vice-Chancellor, University of Calicut, there are 33,000 plus colleges in India with around 17 million students. Out of these, 86% of students are in under graduates, 12% in postgraduates, 1% each in Research and Diploma courses. 58% of our students are female and maximum students learn Arts (42%). There are 8 lakh teachers in India and there were 11,161 PhDs in 2009-2010. 13.6% of Indian public expenditure and 3.77% of GDP is spent on higher education. The mission of higher education is to achieve access, equality, justice, quality, employability, inclusiveness and to create a knowledge society/ economy. Last year, India was the only BRICS nation that did not have a single university among the top 200 on the Quacquarelli Symonds list-the most reputed global rankings of institutes for higher education.

According to a report of UGC, in the past 60 years, the number of Universities in India has grown 30 folds to 634 in 2011, while the numbers of colleges are 33,023, averaging 55 colleges per University. This is leading to huge pressure on the university administration in managing these institutions. The 11th Five Year Plan of India (2007-2012) suggested an overhaul of the higher education system through a number of new measures such as linking of research and teaching, development of faculty members, development of physical infrastructures of the universities and colleges, revamping of curricula and application of technologies in education. The draft document of the 12th Five Year Plan proposes to increase investment on higher education to 25% of all Government education spending, or 1.5% of GDP from the current 18% and 1.12% respectively. An increase of 0.38% of GDP means an additional allocation of about Rs. 25,000 crore to higher education for the Centre and the States together.

In June, 2005, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was set up to prepare a blue print for the reform of higher educational institutions which specialize in knowledge production. The NKC had mandate of five key objectives: building excellence in educational system of the country, promotion of creation of knowledge in science and technology laboratories, improving the management of institutions engaged in Intellectual Property Rights, promote knowledge applications in agriculture and industry, promote the use of knowledge applications to make government an efficient, transparent and accountable service provider. The NKC suggested establishment of 1500 new Universities by 2015 and an independent regulatory authority to control quality of education, in addition to many other recommendations which postulated resource commitments. Distance learning is also a feature of the Indian higher education system. In higher education, the main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission (India), which enforces its standards, advises the government and helps coordinate between the Centre and the State Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 12 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission. In India, education system is reformed. In the future, India will be one of the largest education hubs.