Topic: Essay on Indian Education Society

Submitted By: Name: Piyush Maniya (11mba073) Enrollment No.: 201104100710072

Shrimad Rajchandra Institute of Management and Computer Application

MBA Programme 2011 -13

Uka Tarsadia University, Bardoli

Indian Education Society

Historically, Indian education has been elitist. Traditional Hindu education was tailored to the needs of Brahman boys who were taught to read and write by a Brahman teacher During Mughal rule (1526-1858), Muslim education was similarly elitist, although its orientation reflected economic factors rather than those of caste background. Under British company and crown rule (1757-1947), official education policies reinforced the preexisting elitist tendencies of South Asian education. By tying entrance and advancement in government service to academic education, colonial rule contributed to the legacy of an education system geared to preserving the position and prerogatives of the more privileged. Education served as a "gatekeeper," permitting an avenue of upward mobility to those few able to muster sufficient resources. Even the efforts of the nationalistic Indian National Congress faltered in the face of the entrenched interests defending the existing system of education. Early in the 1900s, the Congress called for national education, placing an emphasis on technical and vocational training. In 1920 the Congress initiated a boycott of government-aided and government-controlled schools; it founded several "national" schools and colleges, but to little avail. The rewards of British-style education were so great that the boycott was largely ignored, and the Congress schools temporarily disappeared. The government instituted an important program for improving physical facilities through a phased drive in all primary schools in the country called Operation Blackboard. Under Operation Blackboard, Rs1 billion was allocated--but not spent--in 1987 to pay for basic amenities for village schools, such as toys and games, classroom materials, blackboards, and maps. This financial allotment averaged Rs2,200 for each government-run primary school. Additional goals of Operation Blackboard included construction of classrooms that would be usable in all weather, and an additional teacher, preferably a woman, in all single-teacher schools. The non-formal education system implemented in 1979 was the major government effort to educate dropouts and other unenrolled children. The 1986 National Policy on Education gave new impetus to the nonformal education system. Revised and expanded programs focused on involving voluntary organizations and training talented and dedicated young men and women in local communities as instructors. Under this project, 300 centers were opened in rural parts of the district with the approval of the Department of Education, the central government, and the state government of Uttar Pradesh with financial and advisory support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). As a result of many such local programs, literacy rates improved between 1981 and 1991. Male literacy increased from 56.5 percent in 1981 to 64.2 percent in 1991 while women's literacy rate increased from 29.9 percent in 1981 to 39.2 percent in 1991.

India's education system is divided into different levels such as pre-primary level, primary level, elementary education, secondary education, undergraduate level and postgraduate level. 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. In India, the various curriculum bodies governing school education system are: The state government boards, in which the majority of Indian children are enrolled. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). CBSE conducts two examinations, namely, the All India Secondary School Examination, AISSE (Class/Grade 10) and the All India Senior School Certificate Examination, AISSCE (Class/Grade 12). The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). CISCE conducts three examinations, namely, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE - Class/ Grade 10); The Indian School Certificate (ISC - Class/ Grade 12) and the Certificate in Vocational Education (CVE - Class/Grade 12). The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). International schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Programme and/or the Cambridge International Examinations. Islamic Madrasah schools, whose boards are controlled by local state governments, or autonomous, or affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband. Autonomous schools like Woodstock School, The Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education Puducherry, Auroville, Patha Bhavan and Ananda Marga Gurukula.

10+2+3 pattern
The central and most state boards uniformly follows the "10+2+3" pattern of education. In this pattern, 10 years of primary and secondary education is followed by 2 years of higher secondary and then 3 years of college education for bachelor's degree. The 10 years is further divided into 5 years of primary education and 3 years of upper primary, followed by 2 years of high school. This pattern originated from the recommendation the Education Commission of 1964 66.

Primary education
The Indian government lays emphasis to primary education up to the age of fourteen years. The Indian government has also banned child labour in order to ensure that the children do not enter unsafe working conditions. There have been several efforts to enhance quality made by the government. The District Education Revitalization Programme (DERP) was launched in 1994 with an aim to universalize primary education in India by reforming and vitalizing the existing primary education system.

The DERP, which had opened 160000 new schools including 84000 alternative education schools delivering alternative education to approximately 3.5 million children, was also supported by UNICEF and other international programmes. This primary education scheme has also shown a high Gross Enrollment Ratio of 9395% for the last three years in some states. The current scheme for universalization of Education for All is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which is one of the largest education initiatives in the world. Enrollment has been enhanced, but the levels of quality remain low.

Private education
According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government schools making the government the major provider of education. However, because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated. According to some research, private schools often provide superior results at a multiple of the unit cost of government schools. Even the poorest often go to private schools despite the fact that government schools are free. A study found that 65% of schoolchildren in Hyderabad's slums attend private schools.

Homeschooling
Homeschooling is legal in India, though it is the less explored option. The Indian Government's stance on the issue is that parents are free to teach their children at home, if they wish to and have the means. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has stated that despite the RTE Act of 2009, if someone decides not to send his/her children to school, the government would not interfere.

Secondary education
The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986, has provided for environment awareness, science and technology education, and introduction of traditional elements such as Yoga into the Indian secondary school system. secondary education covers children 1418 which covers 88.5 million children according to the Census, 2001. However, enrolment figures show that only 31 million of these children were attending schools in 200102, which means that two-third of the population remained out of school. A significant feature of India's secondary school system is the emphasis on inclusion of the disadvantaged sections of the society. A significant new feature has been the extension of SSA to secondary education in the form of the Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.

Higher education
After passing the Higher Secondary Examination (the grade 12 examination), students may enroll in general degree programs such as bachelor's degree in arts, commerce or science, or professional degree programs such as engineering, law or medicine. India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States. As of 2009, India has 20 central universities, 215 state universities, 100 deemed universities, 5 institutions established and functioning under the State Act, and 33 institutes which are of

national importance. Other institutions include 16000 colleges, including 1800 exclusive women's colleges, functioning under these universities and institutions. The emphasis in the tertiary level of education lies on science and technology. Indian educational institutions by 2004 consisted of a large number of technology institutes. Distance learning is also a feature of the Indian higher education system.

Technical education
The number of graduates coming out of technical colleges increased to over 700,000 in 2011 from 550,000 in FY 2010.However, 75% of technical graduates and more than 85% of general graduates are unemployable by India's high-growth global industries, including information technology. The Indian Institutes of Technology are among the nation's premier education facilities.

Open and distance learning

At school level, National Institute of Open Schooling provides opportunities for continuing education to those who missed completing school education. 14 lakh students are enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary level through open and distance learning. At higher education level, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) co-ordinates distance learning.

Literacy
According to the Census of 2011, "every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write in any language is said to be literate". According to this criterion, the 2011 survey holds the National Literacy Rate to be around 74.07%. Female literacy was at a national average of 65% whereas the male literacy was 82%. Within the Indian states, Kerala has shown the highest literacy rates of 93% whereas Bihar averaged 63.8% literacy. The 2001 statistics also indicated that the total number of 'absolute non-literates' in the country was 304 million.

Womens Education
Women have a much lower literacy rate than men. Far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop out. Conservative cultural attitudes prevents some girls from attending school. Recently the Indian government has launched Saakshar Bharat Mission for Female Literacy. This mission aims to bring down female illiteracy by half of its present level.

The Importance of Education in Today's Society

So, do you believe that EDUCATION is absolutely necessary in today's society? Does being educated make a significant difference in someone's life? Education is the process of learning and acquiring knowledge at school from a teacher, receiving knowledge at home from a parent, a family member, and even an acquaintance. Education is a key that allows people to move up in the world, seek better jobs, and succeed in life.

 Education is one factor that affects job positions people hold, advance in their further career, the income they make, and the title they hold. The more educated a person is, the more prestige and power that person holds. India is amongst the countries, where there is a high population of people who are illiterate. Almost, 55% of the population in India is illiterate. Partly, because most of the country resides in villages and not in cities, where education is more prevalent. Most of the people living in villages spend majority of their time in cultivating crops and harvesting their fields and don't find it necessary to be educated in order to harvest their fields or to do household chores. The girls living in villages marry at a young age and later get busy with family and doing household chores. According to Indian belief, girls commonly get married at an early age and are advised to stay home and take care of the household instead of studying or working. That's the reason why lot of parents in India are worried about getting their daughter married rather than her education. I think being educated is the most important thing not only for success in one's life, but the better educated population plays an important role in making a nation more successful and well rounded. Receiving formal education is vital, but to achieve success in life, informal education is essential. One can learn English, History, Math, Science in school, and be "book-smart". Furthermore, one can learn how to live life by knowing what to say when, acting a certain way in specific situation, and be "street-smart". You can have all the "book" knowledge in the world about a certain profession, but if you don't know how to behave with your colleagues and your superiors than having "book" knowledge won't take you too far. "No nation can leave its security only to the Police and the Army, to a large extent national security depends upon the education of citizens, their knowledge of affairs, their characters and sense of discipline and their ability to participate effectively in security measure."