EDUCATION IN INDIA : AN OVERVIEW
Educational Policy 1.1 Education has always been accorded an honoured place in the Indian society. The great leaders of Indian freedom movement realised the fundamental role of education and throughout the national struggle for independence stressed its unique significance for national development. The development of education in India during the post- Independence period has been guided by the national goals and aspirations as embodied in the Indian Constitution. Education being a powerful instrument of social, economic and political change, its broad principles and objectives are related to the long-term national goals, the programme of national development on which the country is engaged and the complex shortterm problems it is called upon to solve.
1.2 The adoption of the 1968 Policy, which was based on the recommendations of the Education Commission (1964-66), marked a sig- nificant step in the history of education in post Independence India. Since then there has been a considerable expansion in the educational facilities all over the country at all levels. While several prominent educational institutions were established in different parts of the country, particular attention was paid to the creation of basic educational facilities in the rural areas. Efforts were also initiated to adopt a common structure of education throughout the country and to lay down a common scheme of studies for boys and girls.
1.3 While these achievements were impressive by themselves. the general formulations incorporated in the 1968 Policy neither, got translated into a detailed strategy of implementation nor, were accompanied by the assignment of specific responsibilities and financial and organizational support. Problems of access, quantity, quality, relevance and financial outlay, as a result, accumulated over the years.
1.4 It was in response to this that the new National Policy on Education (NPE) was adopted in May, 1986 after a comprehensive appraisal of the existing educational scenario. The Policy laid great emphasis on developing a national system of education, the elimination of disparities in the educational system and provision of more facilities through qualitative interventions. It proposed to decentralize educational administration with a view to make it more responsive to the needs of the people.
1.5 One of the significant aspects of the NPE, 1986 is the greater concern for the empowerment of women, and access to education to disadvantaged sections of the society, educationally backward minorities and the disabled. The Policy gave added impetus to the launching of a largescale programme of non-formal education, boldly acknowledging that the school system cannot reach all children. In order to nurture rural talent, the establishment of Navodaya Vidyalayas (model schools) with residential facilities, was also part of the NPE, 1986. It also called for greater rigour and discipline in academic pursuits, autonomy and accountability, experimentation and innovation, nurture of excellence and modernization of processes at different levels of education.
1.6 The NPE, 1986. in consonance with the earlier Policy, also proposed that the implementation of its various parameters be reviewed every five years. It also called for appraisals at short intervals to "ascertain the progress of implementation and the trends emerging from time to time." Accordingly, a review of the 1986
2 Development of Education in India
Policy was conducted during 1990-92. The review broadly endorsed the National Policy on Education (1986). Based on an in-depth review of the whole gamut of educational situation and formulated on the basis of national consensus, the NPE enunciated a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in its entirity. While that framework continues to be of relevance, the development during the last few years and the experience gained in the implementation of the Policy had necessitated certain modifications. These modifications were introduced in May, 1992. Universalisation of elementary education, equalisation of educational opportunities, women's education and development, vocationalisation of secondary education, consolidation of higher education, modernisation of technical education, improvement of quality, content and process of education at all levels continue to be the themes of national endeavour in the field of education. One of the significant changes is that the focus in elementary education has now shifted from enrolment, per se, to retention and achievement. The revised Policy resolves to ensure "that free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality is provided to all children upto 14 years of age before we enter the twenty-first century." In order to achieve this a national mission is proposed to be launched for the achievement of this goal. In fact, the experience of the National Literacy Mission has proved that the mission mode is the most effective strategy for achieving total literacy. The total literacy campaigns will be the means for achieving total adult literacy. The revised policy formulations have also extended the scope of vocational education by including generic vocational courses.
1.7 Consequent on revision of the Policy, the Government also prepared a revised Programme of Action (POA) in August, 1992. The POA, 1992 emphasises that the first and the foremost task is to reform the management of education and calls for developing an ethos of cost- effectiveness and accountability at all levels of educational planning and administration. It advocates that efficiency should be rated not by the ability to consume budget and demand more but by performance and delivery. The POA envisages preparation of action plans at the state and district levels in tune with the situational imperative.
1.8 The POA, as mentioned above, calls for launching a national mission to ensure the achievement of universalisation of elementary education by the year 2000 as set out in the modified Policy. It has also proposed alternative channels of schooling like voluntary schools and non-formal education centres for those who cannot attend conventional full-time schools. It has suggested improvement of facilities in schools through revamped Operation Blackboard to be extended to upper primary stage. The POA notes that the total literacy campaign has emerged as a viable model. It has transformed the perception of universal adult literacy from one of the hopeless dreams to an achievable prospect.
1.9 The POA perceives the problem of universalisation of elementary education as, in essence, the problem of the girl child and stresses the need to increase participation of girls at all stages of education, particularly in streams like science, vocational, technical and commerce education where girls are grossly under-rated. The POA stresses the need for reorienting the education system to promote women's equality and education. It advocates need for institutional mechanism to ensure that gender sensitivity is reflected in the implementation of all national programmes. It also calls for curbing the unplanned proliferation of sub-standard institutions.
Educational Planning 1.10 The Constitution of India places Education in the concurrent list. The NPE 1986 explains the concept of concurrency as a meaningful partnership involving "a new sharing of responsibility between the Union Government and the States in respect of this vital area of national life. This concept enables the Centre and the States to make concerted efforts for the development of education maintaining a broad uniformity in standards and structures.
1.11 Educational planning in the country is essentially the joint endeavour of the Central and the State Governments. The Planning Commis-
An Overiew 3
sion at the Centre and the State Planning Departments decide the policy and approach to be adopted. At the Central level a planning and monitoring division in the Department of Education (DOE) works in close liaison with the education division of the Planning Commission.
1.12 Actions related to education at the national level including planning and policy-making are guided and coordinated by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the members of which include Ministers of Education of all States and Union Territories and leading educationists of the country. A few national level institutions specialising in particular aspects of education, assist and advise the Central and State Governments in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes in their respective areas. Special mention may be made in this regard, of organizations such as the National In- stitute of Educational Planning and Administration, the National Council of Educational Research and Training and the University Grants Commission.
Organization and Structure of the Education System 1.13 Decisions regarding the organisation and structure of education are largely the concern of the States. Within the overall policy framework, each State independently determines the educational structure to be adopted, particularly at the school stage.
1.14 Some variations can be found in the educational structure within the school stage.The primary and upper primary or middle stages together constitute the elementary stage. It has been envisaged that there should be a common structure for the elementary stage consisting of 5 years of primary schooling followed by 3 years of upper primary/middle school education. It is visualised that the States where the first ten years are divided into four years of primary, three years of upper primary and three years of secondary schooling, will attempt to switch over to 5+3+2 pattern by 1995. At present, corresponding to the number of years spent at the elementary stage, the secondary stage consists of 2 to 3 years of
schooling which marks the completion of the ten years of general education programme.
1.15 After the age of 14 years, a child can either join the secondary school providing general education programmes or alternatively a voca- tional school or an Industrial Training Institute which equips her/him with specialized vocational skills. A person who completes 10 years of general education has similar choice either to take up academic courses at the higher secondary level preparing to join collegiate education or opt for vocational streams within the higher secondary programme or through specialized institutions such as Polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes. Completion of higher secondary education qualifies the individual for entering first degree programmes. Admission to professional courses such as engineering and medicine, at this stage, is highly competitive. Even demand for admission to different programmes in arts, science and commerce fields vary considerably. Figure 1 presents educational structure in India.
Demographic Composition 1.16 The population of India has been growing steadily over the past several decades. The growth rate has been higher particularly after 1951. The total population figures according to census are presented in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Growth of Population
Census Total population Growth rate
Year (In Millions)
1951 361 +13.31
1961 439 +21.64
1971 548 +24.80
1981 683 +24.66
1991 844 +23.50
Source : Census of India, 1991 : Series-1, Paper-1, of
1991, Registrar General and Census
Commissioner of India, p. 21.
1. 17 The projected population in the age group 6-14 years as on 1st March, 1991 was 153 million constituting about 18 per cent of the total
4 Development of Education in India
An Overiew 5
population. Of this 51 per cent were boys and 49 per cent girls.
Literacy 1.18 The sex-wise literacy rates (percentage) related to population aged five years and above as per the various population census from 1951 onwards are given in Table 2.
1.19 As is observed from Table 2, the literary rates have shown a considerable increase since independence. However one glaring fact is that there still exists a considerable disparity between the male and female literacy rates.
Institutions and Coverage 1.20 During the period between 1950-51 and 1990-91, the number of primary and upper primary level institutions grew from 223 thousand to about 705 thousand, registering more than a three-fold increase (Table 3). In terms of the overall growth rate, the increase was to the tune of 2.48 per cent for primary level and 6.13 percent for upper primary level institutions.
TABLE 2
Literacy Rates
Year Persons Males Females
1951 18.33 27.16 8.86
1961 28.31 40.40 15.34
1971 34.45 45.95 21.97
1981 43.56 56.37 29.75
(41.42) (53.45) (28.46)
1991 52.11 63.86 39.42
Note: 1. Literacy rate for 1951, 1961 and 1971 related to population aged five years and above. The rates for the year 1981 and 1991 relate to the population aged seven years and above. The literacy rates for the population aged five years and above in 1981 have been shown in brackets.
2. The 1981 literacy rates exclude Assam where the 1981 Census could not be conducted. The 1991 Census rates exclude Jammu and Kashmir where the 1991 Census is yet to be conducted.
Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Annual Report, 1991- 92, Part I, p. 289.
TABLE 3
Growth of Recognised Educational Institutions Since 1951
Institutions Years
1950-51 1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91
Primary 209671 330399 408378 494503 558392
Upper Primary 13596 49663 90621 118355 146636
High/Hr.Sec. Schools/Inter.
Pre-Degree/Jr.
Colleges. 7416 17329 37051 51624 78619
College for Ge.
Education 370 967 2285 3421 4862
Colleges for Prof.
Education 208 852 992 1156 *886
Universities 27 45 82 110 146
Note: *Includes only Engineering, Medicine and Teacher Training Institutes.
Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Annual Report, 1991- 92, Part-I.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the above table. During the eighties the growth rates of primary and upper primary level institutions work out to be 1.2 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively. Educational institutions at all levels except the primary level, registered higher growth rates in the eighties than in the seventies. The slow growth of primary level institutions can possibly be attributed to the
fact that a significant level of coverage of population had already been achieved by 1980.
1.21 Those habitations which are not covered by a formal school, have other modes of imparting education (NFE and the Open School System). The number of non-formal centres in 1988-89 was 241 thousand. Each centre is ex-
6 Development of Education in India
On Overview 7
8 Development of Education in India
pected to operate with an enrolment of about 30 children.
Enrolment and Retention 1.22 In terms of growth of enrolment, the period since 1947 could be divided into two phases. The first phase corresponds to the period beginning with the fifties and ending with the seventies. It was characterised by the gradual slowing down of growth rates. The second phase corresponds to the eighties, characterised by an upswing in enrolment coverage.
1.23 For primary education, the annual growth rate for the fifties was 6.2 per cent which declined to 5.0 per cent in the sixties and 2.6 per cent in the seventies.
1.24 During the eighties, however, the enrolment growth rates increased to 3.0 per cent. Beginning with 1980-81 and up to 1990-91 the data indicate a siginficant increase in enrollments at all levels. This is more pronounced at the secondary level, followed by upper primary and primary levels respectively, indicative of the intensity of the thrust, resulting from the expanding base of the educational hierarchy.
1.25 Table 4 presents the sex-wise enrolment figures for different stages of school education. Graphic presentation of the enrolments in primary and upper-primary classes is given in Figures 4 and 5.
TABLE 4
Sex-wise Enrolment by Stages/Classes Since 1951 School Level
(In Millions)
Year Primary Upper Primary High/Hr.Secondary
Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
1950-51 13.8 5.4 19.2 2.6 0.5 3.1 1.3 0.2 1.5
1960-61 23.6 11.4 35.0 5.1 1.6 6.7 2.7 0.7 3.4
1970-71 35.7 21.3 57.0 9.4 3.9 13.3 5.7 1.9 7.6
1980-81 45.3 28.5 73.8 13.9 6.8 20.7 8.4 3.5 11.9
1990-91 58.1 41.0 99.1 20.9 12.4 33.3 14.0 6.9 20.9
Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Annual Report, Part I, p.298.
TABLE5
Girls' Enrolment by Stages
(Percentage to total enrolment)
Stage 1950-51 1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91
Primary (I-V) 28.1 32.6 37.4 38.6 41.4
Middle (VI-VIII) 16.1 23.9 29.3 32.9 37.4
Secondary/Higher
Secondary/10+2/
Intermediate
(IX and above) 14.3 18.2 25.02 9.4 33.0
Higher Education
(Degree and above
level) 10.0 16.0 20.0 26.7 33.2
Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development.
1.26 The participation of girls at all stages of education has been increasing steadily over the time as may be seen from Table 5. The percentages are still much below fifty per cent at all stages.There is, however, nothing to be complacent about it in view of the very low base from
An Overview 9
10 Development of Education in India
An Overview 11
which it started in 1950-51. The percentages are still much below fifty per cent at all stages.
1.27 The progress -in terms of enrolment of children in rural areas is markedly more than the national average at all levels of education, as may be seen from Table 6.
TABLE 6
Percentage Increase in Enrolment During 1978-1986
Stage All Areas Rural Areas
Primary 26.36 28.63
Upper Primary 51.46 62.36
Secondary 63.03 80.81.
Higher Secondary 87.66 127.49
Source: NCERT, Fifth All India Educational Survey, New Delhi, 1989, p. 10.
1.28 An analysis of data (Table 7) reveals that the proportion of children moving up from the primary to upper primary level has been increasing. This inter-stage transition was 16.28 per cent in 1950- 51; 19.15 per cent in 1960-61; 23.34 per cent in 1970-71; 28.09 per cent in 1980-81 and in 1990-91 it reached 33.58 per cent. However, in spite of the increase in inter-stage transition ratio, the absolute number of dropouts, or those not continuing in the system, is much larger,
TABLE 8
Enrolment of SCs and STs 1990-91
(In millions)
Stage SC Total SC Girls ST Total ST Girls
Primary 15.79 6.06 7.87 2.91
(15.9) (14.8) (7.9) (7.1)
Middle 4.16 1.41 1.71 0.58
(12.5) (11.4) (5.1) (4.6)
Secondary/Hr. Sec. 2.34 0.64 0.81 0.24
(11.2) (9.2) (3.9) (3.5)
Total 22.29 8.11 10.39 3.73
(14.5) (13.4) (6.8) (6.2)