Primary Education System: In recent decades, India has made significant progress in access to school education and enrollment rates in primary education, but low levels of dropout rate and learning have become a challenge for the state and central government. As there is a long history of public education in comparison to India in the US, there are opportunities for India to learn and deal with successes and failures in the American educational system, such as the best use of technology in primary education.
India is a vast country with more than 1.2 billion people. About 200 million children study in primary and secondary schools. Most of these children are in rural areas, which are spread over 600,000 villages. Imagine the challenges in educating these children.
Immediately after independence in 1947, the Government of India and later all state governments have given themselves basic education to all children. It was a huge task, time consuming and capital intensive. In addition to lack of adequate funding for this grand initiative, governments had other important priorities like increasing food production, providing irrigation facilities, building infrastructure and protecting borders.
Despite all these conflicts and limitations, the country has achieved significant milestones. Today most children have a school within a distance of 1 kilometer and almost every child is in school (enrollment rate in most parts of the country has been 93% -95%).
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the flagship program of the government, has done this miracle. In 10 years, SSA achieved the following:
- The number of schoolchildren has decreased significantly (8 million in 2009, 3 million in 2012).
- Large incentives to additional schools -195,000 primary and 100,000 higher primary schools sanctioned.
- 2 lakh additional teacher posts
- 1.8 million additional classes approved. Approval of 230,000 drinking water projects.
- The entry of girls has improved dramatically. Gender parity is obtained.
- This scheme supports 200 million children in 1.4 million schools in the country.
Now, the Right to Education Act (RTE) can be expected to improve even more.
Interestingly, private education has also increased in the country. Estimates show that 27% of children are in private schools. This ratio is 50% in urban areas. With greater urbanization, the future of private schooling looks bright. So in a way private schools have also contributed to the universalization of education in India.
Levels of education in India
Education in India follows a similar structure of school education, which is known as 10 + 2 system. This system is being followed by all Indian states and union territories. But not all of them follow a different pattern according to the system.
Pre Primary Stage
Prior primary education in India is given to children of 3-6 years by kindergarten, playway or play schools. These schools have different vocabulary for different levels of classes, starting with – Pre-Nursery, Nursery, KG, LKG (Lower Kindergarten) and UKG (Upper Kindergarten). Most pre-primary education in India is provided by private schools.
Primary Stage
In primary education given by both private and government schools in India, there are usually 5 to 12 years of age students. The duration of the study is 4-5 years in this phase. Common topics include English, Hindi, Math, Environmental Science and Common knowledge. Sometimes it is also called primary education, it is free in government schools but it is paid in private schools. Government has made elementary education compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years. Most primary education provided by primary schools in India is given from first class to class 4th or 5th standard. Some states / union territories which adhere to classes 1 to 5 of primary education are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Chandigarh, Some States / Union Territories of Delhi, Karaikal and Yanam areas, Pondicherry etc from Assam to Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra from first to fourth grade of primary education. Tax, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Mahe. Area of Pondicherry
Middle stage
The mid-stage covering 3-4 years of academic study is done by 5th-8th standard in which students between 12 and 14 years of age are involved. In schools where up to 8th grade education is given, they are known by different names such as – High School, Senior School. Some states / union territories which follow the 5th-7th standard of the middle stage are Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep etc. Some States / Union Territories which are of 6th-8th grade are in Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Chandigarh, Delhi etc. in the Middle Ages.
Secondary stage
Secondary stage of education covering 2-3 years of academic study starts from class 8th-10th. This includes students between 14-16 years of age. Schools that provide education up to Class 10 are known as secondary schools, high schools, senior schools etc. Some states / UTs which follow the secondary level of 8th-10th grade are Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep etc. There are some such States / Union Territories. , Who follow the secondary level of 9th-10th grade, are Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Delhi, Pondicherry’s Keral Zone etc.
Senior Secondary Stage
Senior Secondary Education in India is only 2 years old. In terms of duration and class, there is uniformity at this level of education i.e. all state / union territory area adheres to this 10 + 2 pattern. The 11th to 12th class in India’s senior secondary schools is included. Involve students between the ages of 16-1-18 years. At this level of education, students have the freedom to choose their favorite stream and subject. They can pursue art, commerce, science (medical and non medical). Schools providing education up to Class 12 are generally known as senior secondary schools or higher secondary schools. Some universities and colleges also provide education of these classes.
Undergraduate stage
Undergraduate education in India is of 3-4 years. Graduation level of education is also known as higher education in India. Students studying at this level usually start their education at 18. According to an estimate, 88% of graduate education in India is provided by colleges. Most of the 3-year undergraduate courses are related to the fields of art, humanities, science, and most of the 4-year period relates to the fields of agriculture, engineering, pharmaceutical science technology. However, there are courses related to the field of architecture, law and medicine, whose duration is 5 years.
Postgraduate Phase
Postgraduate education in India is of 2-3 years. Postgraduate stages of courses are known as masters courses or doctoral courses. Masters courses are usually of 2 years and doctoral (research) courses are of 3 years duration. Also known as Higher Education, 56% of postgraduate education is provided through colleges. PG education in India is provided by universities in India. PG education largely meets the specific area or sub-region of any specific discipline. Thus, anyone can gain expertise in any favorite subject at this level. Those who are interested in doing research in large quantities, follow these courses.
Adult Education in India
Adult education in India falls within the purview of the School Education and Literacy Department. Under the Department, the Adult Education and National Literacy Mission Bureau serves as the secretariat of National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA). The National Literacy Mission was established on May 5, 1988 to provide a new sense of urgency and seriousness for adult education. Directorate of Adult Education provides the necessary technical and resource support to the NLMA.
Distance education in India
Remote education provided by the institutions is controlled by India’s Distance Education Council. Distance education is helpful to those who can not attend regular school or college. At the school level, National Open School Education provides education through distance education. Whereas, at the college or university level, the Open University provides distance education. Remote education can also be done online through internet. Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) offers online education through such a way – BITS Virtual University
Homeschooling in India
Homeschooling is not comprehensive in India nor is it widely accepted. This type of alternative education is considered for the disabled or for those who can not go to regular school due to various factors. While some Montessori systems use unskooling, radical, unskooling, waldorf education, or school-on-home. Others prefer CBSE, NIOS or NOS and IGCSE fixed courses.
Some Facts about Education System
India boasts an education system, which is the largest in the world with 1.4 million schools, 36,000 higher educational institutions and 227 million students. India has made significant progress in improving the literacy rate since independence in 1947. At the primary and secondary levels, the Indian education system includes both private schools and government schools. Private school system in India is a vast area, with 29% students enrolled. In fact, poor governance and horrible facilities of government schools force more parents to send their children to private schools. Bad quality of government-run educational institutions is a long lasting issue in the country.
FDI in education
Between April 2000 and March 2016, the FDI in Indian educational system was US $ 1,256 million. In the financial year 2015-16, the value of Indian education market was 100 billion US dollars.
Higher education nomination
The most dangerous fact about the Indian education system is that only one out of nine children join the higher education course after completing the school. It translates a disappointing nomination ratio of 11% with the 83% enrollment ratio against the United States.
Size of higher education system
Higher education sector in India is the largest in the world with more than 70 million nominations. India is also capable of making 40 million vacancies for students.
Employment capability of Indian graduates
The tragic situation of higher education system in India can be estimated from the fact that only one out of ten students achieving the degree in the humanities is employable whereas only one out of four engineering graduates is able to get employment. .
Academic board
In addition to ICSE and CBSE, except for Andhra Pradesh in various Indian states there is a State Secondary Education Board, which has more than one board. There are no boards in the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Laxdeep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh and Puducherry.
Grading of universities
According to NAAC, 90% of colleges and 70% of the universities are either average or poor quality. These numbers have created much confusion among policy planners in New Delhi.
100% literacy state
Kerala, which received 100% primary education in January 2016, became the first state in India. This is possible due to literacy program called Athuliam started by the state government.
Digital literacy
Digital literacy has become necessary in the modern world. The present digital literacy rate in the country is just 15%. The Government of India has started Digital India campaign, which aims to improve the literacy rate by 50% in the next three years.
High Cut Off Marks
With some emphasis on the number of educational boards and generous marking system, percentage has been seen for admission in some reputed colleges. It deprives many average students of a good college education.
Absent teacher
Government funded schools suffer from old problem of lack of teachers. In many villages and small towns across the country, a single teacher is forced to run a whole school. Corruption has enabled many teachers to absent from schools and collect salaries with equal pay.
Gaps in science and technology
India is responsible for an incredibly small amount of only 3% of all research papers published in the world in science and engineering. Citizens only eat for a small amount of 1%. On the other hand, USA is ahead of India.
Children with learning disabilities
CBSE has tried to solve the issue of children with inability to learn by passing the order to appoint special teachers for such children. This is a part of the philosophy of the Right to Education Act and “Inclusive Practices”, whose board is trying to abide by.
High class corruption
In 50 years, the University Grants Commission has given Deemed University status to more than 49 private universities against 44 private universities. This essentially leads to allegations of corruption against the UGC.
Digital academic documents
As part of the Digital India Initiative, the Government of India is planning to digitize degrees, diplomas, mark sheets, etc. for secondary to tertiary level institutions in a national academic depository.
Best school
La Martiniere School and Delhi Public School in Dehradun, Dehradun, Dehradun are considered as the best schools in the country. Central schools run by the Central Government are considered as the best government-run educational institutions in India.
Premier engineering and medical institute
Despite lagging behind in quality technical education, IITs, Indian Institute of Science and AIIMS have achieved global fame.
Rural education
A survey conducted among children of the age group of 10 years was found that half of them were unable to read at a basic level, half of school age and up to 60% were not till the age of 14.
