India Education Profile 2012

India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years, dating back to ancient seats of learning like Nalanda. In modern times, Indian educational institutions such as the (IITs, IISc, IIMs, NITs,AIIMS, ISI, BITS and ISB) are well known worldwide. India, being a developing nation, struggles with challenges in its primary education and strives to reach 100% literacy. Universal Compulsory Primary Education, with its challenges of keeping poor children in school and maintaining quality of education in rural areas, has been difficult to achieve (Kerala is an Indian state to reach this goal so far).

All levels of education in India, from primary to higher education, are overseen by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School Education and Literacy), and heavily subsidized by the Indian government, though there is a move to make higher education partially self-financing. The Indian Government is considering to allow 100% foreign direct investment in Higher Education.

Structure

Indian Education System comprises stages called Nursery,Primary,Secondary,Higher Secondary,Graduation & Post Graduation. Some students go in different stream after Secondary for 3 Years Technical education called Polytechnics . There are broadly four stages of school education in India, namely primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary(or high school). Overall, schooling lasts 12 years, following the "10+2 pattern". However, there are considerable differences between the various states in terms of the organizational patterns within these first 10 years of schooling. The government is committed to ensuring universal elementary education (primary and upper primary) education for all children aged 6-14 years of age. Primary school includes children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through five. Upper Primary and Secondary school pupils aged eleven through fifteen are organized into classes six through ten, and higher secondary school students ages sixteen through seventeen are enrolled in classes eleven through twelve. In some places there is a concept called Middle/Upper Primary schools for classes between six to eight. In such cases classes nine to twelve are classified under high school category. Higher Education in India provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes technical schools (such as the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Informaton Technology,Design & Manufacturing), colleges, and universities.

In India, the main types of schools are those controlled by:

• * The state government boards like SSLC, in which the vast majority of Indian school-children are enrolled,
• * The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board,
• * The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) board,
• * National Open School and
• * "International schools." These schools mimic the schools in the West in pattern and syllabi and are considerably more expensive than regular schools. The exams conducted have the syllabus of any one of the above-mentioned Councils or Boards.

Overall, according to the latest Government Survey undertaken by NUEPA (DISE, 2005-6), there are 1,124,033 schools.

Pre-primary Education

Pre-primary education in India is not a fundamental right, with a very low percentage of children receiving preschool educational facilities. The largest source of provision is the so called Integrated Child Development Services (or ICDS) and anganwadis. However, the preschool component in the same remains weak.

In the absence of significant government provisions, the private sector (reaching to the relatively richer section of society) has opened schools. Provisions in these kindergartens are divided into two stages - lower kindergarten (LKG) and upper kindergarten (UKG). Typically, an LKG class would comprise children 3 to 4 years of age, and the UKG class would comprise children 4 to 5 years of age. After finishing upper kindergarten, a child enters Class 1 (or, Standard 1) of primary school. Often kindergarten is an integral part of regular schools,though there is a marked trend towards exclusive prep schools. A special Toddler/Nursery group at the age of 2–2½ is also part of the pre-primary education. It is run as part of the kindergarten. However, creches and other early care facilities for the underprivilaged sections of society are extremely limited in number. There are some organized players with standardized curriculums coming of age which cover a very small share of the urban population. Overall, the % enrollment of pre-primary classes to total enrollment (primary) is 11.22% (DISE, 2005-06).

Elementary Education

During the eighth five-year plan, the target of "universalizing" elementary education was divided into three broad parameters: Universal Access, Universal Retention and Universal Achievement i.e., making education accessible to children, making sure that they continue education and finally, achieving goals. As a result of education programs, by the end of 2000, 94% of India's rural population had primary schools within one km and 84% had upper primary schools within 3 km. Special efforts were made to enroll SC/ST and girls. The enrollment in primary and upper-primary schools has gone up considerably since the first five-year plan. So has the number of primary and upper-primary schools. In 1950-51, only 3.1 million students had enrolled for primary education. In 1997-98, this figure was 39.5 million. The number of primary and upper-primary schools was 0.223 million in 1950-51. This figure was 0.775 million in 1996-97.

In 2002/2003, an estimated 82% of children in the age group of 6-14 were enrolled in school. The Government of India aims to increase this to 100% by the end of the decade. To achieve this the Government launched Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The strategies adopted by the Government to check drop-out rate are:

• * Creating parental awareness
• * Community mobilization
• * Economic incentives
• * Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL)
• * District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)
• * National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (Mid-day Meals Scheme)
• * The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act was passed by the parliament to make the Right to Elementary Education a fundamental right and a fundamental duty.
• * National Elementary Education Mission
• * A National Committee of State Education Ministers has been set up with the Minister of Human Resource Development as the Chairperson of the committee.
• * Media publicity and advocacy plans.
• * Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which function is the SCERT campus

Non-graduation market

While availability of primary and upper primary schools has been to a considerable extent been created, access to higher education remains a major issue in rural areas (especially for girls). Government high schools are usually taught in the regional language, however urban and suburban schools usually teach in English. These institutions are heavily subsidised. Study materials (such as textbooks, notebooks and stationary) are sometime but not always subsidised. Government schools follow the state curriculum. There are also a number of private schools providing secondary education. These schools usually either follow the State or national curriculum. Some top schools provide international qualifications and offer an alternative international qualification, such as the IB program or A Levels.

Higher Education

Higher education in India has evolved in distinct and divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and funded by the state governments. Most universities are administered by the States, however, there are 18 important universities called Central Universities, which are maintained by the Union Government. The increased funding of the central universities give them an advantage over state competitors.

The Indian Institutes of Technology were placed 50th in the world and 2nd in the field of Engineering (next only to MIT) by Times Higher World University Rankings although they did not appear in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities.There are several thousands colleges in India, Which provides technical education. The Indian Technical Education are very strong these days. They are producing millions of engineers every year.

International league tables produced in 2006 by the London-based Times Higher Education Supplement(THES) confirmed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)'s place among the world's top 200 universities . Likewise, THES 2006 ranked JNU's School of Social Sciences at the 57th position among the world's top 100 institutes for social sciences.

The National Law School of India University is highly regarded, with some of its students being awarded Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences is consistently rated the top medical school in the country.  Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the top management institutes in India.

The private sector is strong in Indian higher education. This has been partly as a result of the decision by the Government to divert spending to the goal of universalisation of elementary education. Within a decade different state assemblies has passed bills for private universities, and some of these universities are performing very well these universities includes Gyanvihar university, Amity university, Rai university and many more

Accreditation

Accreditation for universities in India are required by law unless it was created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, the government notes "these fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award ‘degree’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes". University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,

"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act carlo bon tempo, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree."

Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission:

• * All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
• * Distance Education Council (DEC)
• * Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
• * Bar Council of India (BCI)
• * National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
• * National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)
• * Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
• * Medical Council of India (MCI)
• * Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)
• * Indian Nursing Council (INC)
• * Dental Council of India (DCI)
• * Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH)
• * Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM)
• * veterinary council of india (VCI)

Recent developments

The Indian Education System is generally marks-based. However, some experiments have been made to do away with the marks-based system which has led to cases of depression and suicides among students. In 2005, the Kerala government introduced a grades-based system in the hope that it will help students to move away from the cut-throat competition and rote-learning and will be able to focus on creative aspects and personality development as well. iDiscoveri education started by Alumni of Harvard, XLRI is a pioneer in this field. This organization has already developed 5 model schools.

Outdoor Education in India

Outdoor education is relatively new to schools in rural areas of India, though it is quite well established in urban areas. These trips are conducted to enhance personal growth through experiential learning and increase awareness about various subjects like the environment, ecology, wildlife, history, archaeology, geography and adventure sports.

Expenditure on Education in India

The Government expenditure on Education has greatly increased since the First five-year plan. The Government of India has highly subsidized higher education. Nearly 97% of the Central Government expenditure on elementary education goes towards the payment of teachers' salaries.

Post Graduate Classes at Correctional Homes

The Government of West Bengal has started the Post Graduate teaching facilities for the convicts at the Correctional Homes in West Bengal.

Contemporary education issues

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning. Emphasis is laid on passing examinations with high percentage. Very few institutes give importance to developing personality and creativity among students. Recently, the country has seen a rise in instances of student suicides due to low marks and failures, especially in metropolitan cities, even though such cases are very rare. The boards are recently trying to improve quality of education by increasing percentage of practical and project marks.

Many people also criticize the caste, language and religion-based reservations in education system. Many allege that very few of the weaker castes get the benefit of reservations and that forged caste certificates abound. Educational institutions also can seek religious minority (non-Hindu) or linguistic minority status. In such institutions, 50% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to a particular religion or having particular mother-tongue(s). For example, many colleges run by the Jesuits and Salesians have 50% seats reserved for Roman Catholics. In case of languages, an institution can declare itself linguistic minority only in states in which the language is not official language. For example, an engineering college can declare itself as linguistic-minority (Hindi) institution in the state of Maharashtra (where official state language is Marathi), but not in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh (where the official state language is Hindi). These reservations are said to be a cause of heartbreak among many. Many students with poor marks manage to get admissions, while meritorious students are left out. Critics say that such reservations may eventually create rifts in the society.

Ragging is a major problem in colleges, many students die due to ragging every year. Some state governments have made ragging a criminal offense.

Expenditure on education is also an issue which comes under the scanner. According to the Kothari commission led by Dr Vijay Kothari in 1966, expenditure on education has to be minimum 6% of the GDP. Whereas in 2004 expenditure on education stood at 3.52% of the GDP and in the eleventh plan it is estimated to be around 4%. The "sarva shikshan abhyan" has to receive sufficient funds from the government to impart quality education.

News and Reports:

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