Education in India
Education in India is primarily managed by the state-run public education system, which falls under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, free and compulsory education is provided as a fundamental right to children aged 6 to 14. The approximate ratio of the total number of public schools to private schools in India is 10:3.
Education in India covers different levels and types of learning, such as early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, [|higher education], and vocational education. It varies significantly according to different factors, such as location, gender, caste, religion, language, and disability.
Education in India faces several challenges, including improving access, quality, and learning outcomes, reducing dropout rates, and enhancing employability. It is shaped by national and state-level policies and programmes such as the National Education Policy 2020, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, Midday Meal Scheme, and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. Various national and international stakeholders, including UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Bank, civil society organisations, academic institutions, and the private sector, contribute to the development of the education system.
Education in India is plagued by issues such as grade inflation, corruption, unaccredited institutions offering fraudulent credentials and lack of employment prospects for graduates. Half of all graduates in India are considered unemployable.
This raises concerns about prioritizing Western viewpoints over indigenous knowledge. It has also been argued that this system has been associated with an emphasis on rote learning and external perspectives.
In contrast, countries such as Germany, known for its engineering expertise, France, recognized for its advancements in aviation, Japan, a global leader in technology, and China, an emerging hub of high-tech innovation, conduct education primarily in their respective native languages. However, India continues to use English as the principal medium of instruction in higher education and professional domains.
Education system
Until 1976, under the Indian constitution, each state was responsible for the schools that fell under its governance; states possessed full to recommend education policies and programmes, even if state governments continued to wield extensive autonomy in implementing these programmes. In a country as large as India, with 28 states and eight union territories, this has created vast differences between states' policies, plans, programmes, and initiatives relating to school education. Periodically, national policy frameworks are created to guide states in creating state-level programmes and policies. State governments and local government bodies manage the majority of primary and upper primary schools and the number of government-managed elementary schools is growing. Simultaneously, the number and proportion managed by private bodies is growing. In 2005–2006, 83.13% of schools offering elementary education were managed by government, and 16.86% of schools were under private management. Of those schools managed privately, one third are 'aided' and two thirds are 'unaided'. Enrolment in Grades 1–8 is shared between government and privately managed schools in the ratio 73:27. However, in rural areas this ratio is higher, and in urban areas much lower. At the school level, data on enrolment, infrastructure, and teacher availability is collected through the Unified District Information System for Education..In the 2011 Census, about 73% of the population was reported to be literate, with 81% for males and 65% for females. National Statistical Commission surveyed literacy to be 77.7% in 2017–18, 84.7% for males and 70.3% for females. This compares to 1981 when the respective rates were 41%, 53%, and 29%. In 1951 the rates were 18%, 27% and 9%. India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to its economic development. Much of the progress, especially in higher education and scientific research, has been credited to various public institutions. While enrolment in higher education has increased steadily over the past decade, reaching a Gross Enrolment Ratio of 26.3% in 2019, there still remains a significant distance to catch up with tertiary education enrolment levels of developed nations, a challenge that will be necessary to overcome in order to continue to reap a demographic dividend from India's comparatively young population.
Demand for private schools has been growing over the years.'While a consensus over what is the most significant driver of this growth in private schooling has not yet emerged, some authors have attributed this to a higher demand for English-medium education', a dissatisfaction with the quality of public schools, greater affordability of private schools, and non-availability of the preferred field of study in government schools. After the adoption of the Right to Education Act 2009, private schools were required to be 'government-recognized'. A private school would be eligible for government recognition when it met certain conditions.
At the primary and [|secondary] level, India has a large private school system complementing the government-run schools, with 29% of students receiving private education in the 6 to 14 age group. Certain post-secondary [|technical schools] are also private. The private education market in India had a revenue of US$450 million in 2008, but is projected to be a US$40 billion market.
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 trend of high enrollment has continued consistently since the mid-2000s. Between 2007 and 2014, India maintained an average school enrolment rate of 95% for children aged 6–14, according to ASER reports. As an outcome, the number of students in the age group 6–14 who are not enrolled in school has come down to 2.8% in the academic year 2018. 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, indicating a steady growth, including a 19% increase in enrolment of girls since 2002. While India is moving toward universal enrollment, concerns remain about the quality of education, especially in government-run schools. While more than 95 percent of children attend primary school, just 40 percent of Indian adolescents attend secondary school.
Since 2000, the World Bank has committed over $2 billion to support India's efforts in improving educational infrastructure and learning outcomes. Teacher absenteeism remains a significant challenge, with studies indicating that nearly 25% of teachers may be absent on any given day. States of India have introduced tests and education assessment system to identify and improve such schools. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that India is achieving only 79.0% of what should be possible at its level of income for the right to education.
Although there are private schools in India, they are highly regulated in terms of what they can teach, in what form they can operate, and all the other aspects of the operation. Hence, the differentiation between government schools and private schools can be misleading. However, in a report by Geeta Gandhi Kingdon entitled: The Emptying of Public Schools and Growth of Private Schools in India, it is said that for sensible education-policy making, it is vital to take account of the various changing trends in the size of the private and public schooling sectors in India. Ignoring these trends involves the risk of poor policies/legislation, with adverse effects on children's education.
In January 2019, India had over 900 universities and 40,000 colleges. In India's higher education system, a significant number of seats are reserved under affirmative action policies for the historically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. In universities, colleges, and similar institutions affiliated with the central government, there is a maximum of 50% of reservations applicable to these disadvantaged groups, at the state level it can vary. Maharashtra had 73% reservations in 2014, which is the highest percentage of reservations in India.
History
Early education in India commenced under the supervision of a guru or preceptor after initiation. The education was delivered through Gurukula. The relationship between the Guru and his Shishya was a very important part of education. Taxila is an example of an ancient higher learning institute in ancient India, possibly dating as far back as the 8th century BCE. However, it is debatable whether or not this can be regarded as a university in modern-day terms, since the teachers living there may not have had official membership of particular colleges, and there did not seem to have existed purpose-built lecture halls and residential quarters in Taxila, in contrast to the later Nalanda university in eastern India. Nalanda was the oldest university-system of education in the world in the modern sense of university, and all subjects there were taught in the Pali language.Secular institutions cropped up along Buddhist monasteries. These institutions imparted practical education such as medical studies. A number of urban learning centres became increasingly visible from the period between 500 BCE to 400 CE. The important urban centres of learning were Nalanda, Vikramashila, and Odantapuri among others. These institutions systematically imparted knowledge and attracted a number of foreign students to study topics such as Buddhist Páli literature, logic, and páli grammar. Chanakya, a Brahmin teacher, was among the most famous teachers, associated with the founding of the Mauryan Empire.
Shramanas and Brahmanas historically offered education by means of donations, rather than charging fees or the procurement of funds from students or their guardians. Later, stupas and temples also became centres of education; religious education was compulsory, but secular subjects were also taught. Students were required to be brahmacharis or celibate. The knowledge in these orders was often related to the tasks a section of the society had to perform. Arts, crafts, Ayurveda, architecture, etc., were taught.
With the advent of Islam in India the traditional methods of education increasingly came under Islamic influence. Pre-Mughal rulers such as Qutb-ud-din Aybak and other Muslim rulers initiated institutions which imparted religious knowledge. Scholars such as Nizamuddin Auliya and Moinuddin Chishti became prominent educators and established Islamic monasteries. Students from Bukhara and Afghanistan visited India to study humanities and science. Islamic institution of education in India included traditional madrassas and maktabs which taught grammar, philosophy, mathematics, and law influenced by the Greek traditions inherited by Persia and the Middle East before Islam spread from these regions into India. A feature of traditional Islamic education was its emphasis on the connection between science and humanities.
British rule and the subsequent establishment of educational institutions saw the introduction of English as a medium of instruction. Some schools taught the curriculum through vernacular languages with English as a second language. The term "pre-modern" was used for three kinds of schools – the Arabic and Sanskrit schools which taught Muslim or Hindu sacred literature and the Persian schools which taught Persian literature. The vernacular schools across India taught reading and writing the vernacular language and arithmetic. British education became solidified into India as missionary schools were established during the 1820s.