India has created one of the largest education systems in existence today. However, despite the extraordinary developments in the last decades, further reforms are necessary. The Indian government, recognizing the true importance of education in the 21st century, has made a firm commitment to creating a knowledge-based society through legislation.
Where reforms are needed in Indian Education?
Where
reforms are needed in Indian Education?
Despite
the last decades’ tremendous development several problems are present in Indian
education system, the handling of which is a matter of urgency. On the
elementary level, primarily rural schools struggle with serious infrastructural
shortcomings. The teacher per student ratio is far too low; as the teachers are
unqualified, the quality of education delivered is not satisfactory.
Globalization brings numerous opportunities for
India, which the South-Asian country could turn to its advantage due to its
demographic and economic potential. More than half of India’s population is of
working age, and according to forecasts, by 2020 one quarter of the world’s
labor force will be made up by Indians. Job creation is of central importance to the
government, for its success can become the engine of economic development at
later stages. In the Age of Information society, however, there is only demand
for a well-educated, professional workforce, therefore education is of
paramount importance. The education system of the subcontinent’s largest
country attempts to adjust to the challenges, but there is no doubt about the need
for reform. In the past years, India’s governments have consciously striven to
correct the errors of the old system, to adopt new developments, and to build a
knowledge-based society that privileges creativity and innovation.
The
winners and losers of public education
Before
the age of colonization there existed no central educational system in India.
If someone wanted to study, then he voluntarily joined a master, who initiated
his disciples primarily into the secrets of Sanskrit, mathematics and metaphysics.
The British introduced modern school system into the country in the 1830s, as a
result of which the close relationship between master and disciple ceased to
exist, and the curriculum featured primarily natural sciences.
In
the course of the 1920s, the British created several central institutions to
oversee education in the various states, the relevance of which increased after
India gained independence.
According
to Article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic of India, education is
compulsory for children aged 6-14, but the government encountered difficulties
in attempting to enforce the article in certain areas even at the end of the
20th century. At the outset, overseeing education was considered each state’s
home affair. Thus, India’s government had little influence over questions
concerning education. This situation only changed in 1976, when, after an
amendment to the Constitution, education came under the national government’s
purview. Source : http://www.geopolitika.hu/
In
the 1980s many legislative acts were passed to enforce compulsory education
regulations and to develop elementary education. In this spirit the program
“National Policy concerning Education” was passed, a modified version of which
is still treated as a priority project by the Modi-government. Women’s
participation in education was minimal at the beginning, but by 2001, with
government support, more than 50% of all women could read and write, which can
be seen as a formidable step forward in comparison to 15% in the 1960s.