Education System of India

“
”
The function of education is to teach one to think
intensively and to think critically. Intelligence
plus character - that is the goal of true education.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is education ?
As per the dictionary, “Education is the process of receiving or giving
systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.”

Introduction
The Indian school education system is one of the largest
and most complex in the world. The complexity of the
system stems from India’s need to maintain standard and
uniformity, while giving scope for its diverse culture and
heritage to grow and flourish across the length and
breadth of the country. After independence India has
worked hard to provide access to almost all its young
people, but it has only just begun to focus on aspects of
quality and seek to improve learning outcomes.

HISTORY OF Ancient EDUCATION
 The education in India has a rich and interesting history.
 It is believed that in the ancient days, the education was imparted orally
by the sages and the scholars and the information was passed on from
one generation to the other.
 After the development of letters, it took the form of writing using the
palm leaves and the barks of trees.
 This also helped in spreading the written literature.
 The temples and the community centers formed the role of schools.
 Later, the Gurukul system of education came into existence.

 The Gurukuls were the traditional Hindu residential schools of
learning.
 This system is referred as the oldest and the most effective
system of education.
 Here, the teacher imparted knowledge on various aspects of
the religion, the scriptures, the philosophy, the literature,
the warfare, the statecraft, the medicine astrology and the history.
 The British records reveal that the education was widespread
in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque
or village in most regions of the country

Present Education System :
 The present system of education was introduced and founded
by the British in the 20th century, by the recommendations of
Macaulay.
 It has western style and content.
 The British govt. did not recognize the traditional structures and
so they have declined.
 It is said that even Gandhi described the traditional educational
system as a beautiful tree which was destroyed during the
British rule.

 The educational structure in India is generally referred to as the
Ten + Two + Three (10+2+3) pattern.
 The first ten years provide undifferentiated general education for
all students.
 The +2 stage, also known as the higher secondary or senior
secondary, provides for differentiation into academic and
vocational streams and marks the end of school education.
 In +3 stage, which involves college education, the student goes
for higher studies in his chosen field of subject.
 The World Bank estimates that 27 percent of all Indian children
enrolled in schools are being privately educated.

Steps taken for primary education
 The Indian government lays great emphasis to primary education up to
the age of fourteen years (referred to as Elementary Education in India.)
 The Indian government has also banned child labour in order to ensure
that the children do not enter unsafe working conditions.
Education has also been made free for children for six to 14 years of age.
The District Primary Education Program (DPEP) was launched in 1994
with an aim to universalize primary education in India by reforming and
vitalizing the existing primary education system

Scheme to promote education
 Mid day Meal
 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

Mid day Meal
The Mid-day Meal Scheme is the popular name for school
meal programme in India. It involves provision of lunch
free of cost to school-children on all working days with an
objective to:-
increase school enrolment and attendance, improve
socialisation among children belonging to all castes and
addressing malnutrition.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's
flagship programme for achievement of Universalization
of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner,
as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of
India making free and compulsory Education as a
Fundamental Right.

The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations which do
not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure
through provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water,
maintenance grant and school improvement grants.
Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with
additional teachers, while the capacity of existing teachers is being
strengthened by extensive training, grants for developing teaching-
learning materials and strengthening of the academic support structure at
a cluster, block and district level.
SSA seeks to provide quality elementary education including life skills.
SSA has a special focus on girl's education and children with special
needs. SSA also seeks to provide computer education to bridge the digital
divide

Right to education
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right
to Education Act (RTE), is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted
on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance
of free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in
India under Article 21a of the Indian Constitution. India became one
of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child
when the Act came into force on 1 April 2010.

• Dropout rates
• Lack of practical education
• Shortages of teachers
• Quality of education
• Lacks of good infrastructure
Challenges in primary education

Area of improvement
• Teacher education: The lack of learning in India’s schools call for changes to
teacher education. A collaboration between American universities’ schools of
education with Indian teacher training institutes could help build capacity and
upgrade teacher education both in terms of curriculum and pedagogy, which is
much needed in Indian teacher education institutions like the District Institutes of
Education and Training.
• Building good assessment systems: Good assessments are useful at the
classroom level for teachers to gauge their students’ understanding and also to
inform policy. The need for regular and useful assessments in India is something
that Indian departments of education are focusing on at the central and state level.

• Leveraging technology: India are looking for solutions to provide high-quality
learning opportunities to marginalized students. Technology has a lot of potential
to improve education but how it can be implemented most effectively and in the
case of India, most cost-effectively, still remains a question.
• Gender studies education: The state of women in India has recently drawn a lot
of attention and promoting gender equality through education has an important
role to play. Boys and girls should be taught to think about gender equality from an
early age and the curriculum should include gender studies with appropriate
teacher training.
• Skills Development: As making education more practically relevant to the labor
market is a priority for Prime Minister Modi, there is much India can learn from
experiences in the United States. A shared agenda of helping identify and
implement improved ways to develop skills and competencies even at the school
level could be an important area for collaboration.

Conclusion
Currently spending on education is low in India,
and stands at 3.4 percent of the GDP. The U.S.
might be able to help make it more of a priority,
and nudge the government to increase spending on
education. There are opportunities for India to
learn from the successes and failures in the
American education system and to collaborate in
tackling shared challenges, such as the best use of
technology in primary education.

Education System of India

Education System of India

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