Download Education Policy of India and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Public Policy in PDF only on Docsity!
INTRODUCTION
India, a country of 1 30 billion population, where there are more than 39 % of the population is a child of studying age group. Out of 130 billion people, more than 13 billion constitutes India’s working horse. It is very important for the Government to use this human resource for strengthening the growth of India. But it is the saddest thing that out of 561 million literates in the country, 145 million literates are educated only up to ‘Below Primary’ level and another 1 47 million up to ‘Primary’ level. Number of literates educated up to these two levels account for 52 % of the total literates in the country. 79 million (or 14.1%) of literates have attained Matric/Secondary level. There are 37 million persons in the country who are ‘Graduates & above’ which also include 12 million females. What happens when a country of the size of India has over 3 million children living on the streets? Or has over 150 million children working as bonded labourers? Or one out of every six girl child does not live to see her 15th birthday? What happens when despite having a national policy for compulsory primary education, only 50% of children have access to education. The statement "Children are the future of the nation" stops making sense, then. For how can we explain that even after 63 years of independence, half of India's children are illiterate. It is a popular saying that “Education is both the means as well as the end to a better life”. means, because it empowers an individual to earn his/her livelihood and the end because it increases one's awareness on a range of issues. But unfortunately in today’s modern day scenario the subject of Education is actually used by our political leaders and legislators as the “means” for achieving the “end” common to them all. Political power. After all it makes an integral part of their Election manifesto. Our Constitution in its preamble guarantees of securing social, economical and political justice. Article 38 of the Constitution states that The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, and also Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees ‘Right to Life and Personal Liberty’. Also after 86th^ Amendment, Article 21A was inserted guaranteeing Right to Education. Despite, certain rights guaranteed by the Constitution, after 70 years of Independence, literacy rate increased only "sluggishly". The 2011 census, indicated a 2001– 2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous
decade. An old 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then current rate of progress. Education is one of the important part in each and every human life. If a person was educated he acquires knowledge, learns behavioural activities and methods to survive in the society. In simple manner, a person will be respected if he had some dignity in the society, and the only way to attain dignity and personality is educating himself. In USA 2013, 87% of school age children attend State funded public school. In UK both Public and Private sectors providing education to children in 4 ways, namely primary, secondary , further and higher education. In Cuba the education system was totally under the control of Government and also providing proper education to its citizens. Not only these countries most of the developing countries aiming and providing a well-planned education to its citizens. For imparting a quality of education to the youth of this country and to generate skilled labour who could be used as a human resource of the country, it is important that the Government should make an education policy such that every person of this country could be used as a human resource and help in the growth and development of this Country. In this project, I have dealt with the Education policy of India in pre-independence period, post- independence period, and India’s current education policy and the reforms which are required for the betterment of this nation.
5th century AD. The old-famous Nalanda University was believed to be built by Kumargupta. Later, Vikramshila University was also established by Dharam Pala in 783-920 A.D.
HISTORY OF EDUCATION POLICY IN MEDIEVAL INDIA
The beginning of the 8th century A.D. witnessed a large number of Mohammedan invasions. Mahmud Ghaznavi invaded the country and established a large number of schools and libraries in his own country by the looted wealth. Later on when the Muslim rulers established permanent empire in India, they introduced a new system of education. Consequently, the ancient system of education was greatly changed. In fact, the education of the Muslim period was much inferior than that of the Hindu period. No Muslim ruler except Akbar did commendable works in the field of education. They founded primary schools (Maktabs) in which students learned reading, writing, and basic Islamic prayers, and secondary schools (madrasas) to teach advanced language skills In India. Several Madrasahs were set up by Sultans, nobles, and their influential ladies. Iltutmish was the first to establish a madrasah at Delhi. Although, the Muslim Rulers used to educate people to flourish their religion, and for this grants were given to ulama in the form of Madad-e-Ma’ash (financial support) lead to the foundation of many madrasahs. The whole educational system was saturated with the religious ideals which influenced the aim, the contents of study, and even the daily life of the pupils. Islamic schools were open to the poor but were gender segregated, often only for boys. Muslim girls of affluent families studied at home, if they received any education beyond learning to recite the Koran. The European religious missionaries had started coming to India in the last phase of 15th century A.D. they mainly came for trade and commerce but in due course of time their downfall was brought about by mutual conflicts and at last only the English survived and established their empire in India. The advent of European missionaries introduced a new phase in education of the country and developed it appreciably. The fundamental aim of these missionaries was to propagate Christian religion through European mode of education. For them education was not an end in itself but a means to the spread of Christianity. At length in the year 1813, the British parliament made Indian education an important aspect of State duties by putting before the East India Company educational policy and attendant responsibilities unequivocally.
EDUCATIONAL REFORM UNDER BRITISH GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
Before, 19th^ Century the condition of education was very bad in parts of India. There were pathshala and madrasah for elementary and primary education and because of religious identities of educational system, Hindus used to send their pupils to pathshala whereas Muslims used to send their children’s to madrasah. Education has been radically used to propagate religion and culture either by Muslim Rulers or by Britishers. In the 19th^ century British rule had firmly been established in India. Consequently, English system of education was being much encouraged. This led to the downfall of indigenous education. A Madrasa in 1780 at Calcutta and a Sanskrit College in 1791 at Banaras were established for pleasing the Muslim and Hindu population. The present day education system is very much influenced by the British Educational system. In 18 13 , British Parliament inserted a clause in the charter of the company. “ To the effect that, after defraying all civil and military expenses, a sum of not less than one lakh of rupees in each year shall be set a past and applied to the revival and improvement of literature and encouragement of learned natives of India and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of the science among the inhabitants of the British territories in India.” British education became solidified into India as missionary schools were established during the 1820s. Macaulay succeeded in replacing Persian with English, as the administrative language, the use of English as the medium of instruction, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers, through the English Education Act, 1 835. In 1835, Lord Macaulay, Law member of Governor General’s Council gave his views for rectification of Indian Education System which was known as Macaulay’s Minute. The Madras Medical College opened in 1835, and admitted women so that they could treat the female population who traditionally shied away from medical treatments under qualified male professionals. In accordance with "Wood's despatch", drafted by Sir Charles Wood in 1854, The University of Bombay, University of Calcutta and University of Madras was established in 1857. The Indian Education Commission was established by British Government in India in 1882.^2 After that, a number of universities were established across India, some of the important were University of the Punjab established in 1882, University of Mysore in 1916, Patna University (^2). http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/education-india-2/the-charter-act-of- 1813 - education/ (Last Visited on 03- 04 - 19)
education, an All India Education Conference was held in Wardha on 22nd and 23rd October,
- The eminent educationists, congress leaders and workers along with the Education Ministers of the seven states had attended the conference. Gandhiji himself presided over it. The conference then appointed a committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Zakir Hussain to prepare a detailed education plan. The scheme of basic education formulates the following proposals:
- Free, universal and compulsory education should be provided for all boys and girls between the ages of 7—14. - This education should be imparted in the mother-tongue of the child. - All education should centre round some basic craft chosen with due regard to the capacity of children and the needs of the locality. The committee suggested spinning and weaving, card-board and wood work, leather work, kitchen-gardening, agriculture and fishery as obviously suitable crafts.^4
As the British became hopeful of its victory in the Second World War, it directed its attention to do something for the Indian people in the field of education. So it advised Sir John Sargent, the Educational Advisor to the Government of India, to prepare a comprehensive scheme of education for educational reform in India. The Sargent Scheme, formally known as the Report of the Sargent Commission on Post-War Education Development in India, was a 1944 memorandum prepared at the behest of the British-run Government of India that outlined the future development of literacy and education in India. The report of the committee was submitted to the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in 1944. This scheme has a historical importance as it was the first attempt to develop a National System for Education in India. The report of the Committee consisted of 12 different chapters covering from pre- primary to university education. It was a full-fledged educational plan for the future educational reconstruction in India. The report had diagnosed every problem critically and had given definite and clear-cut solutions. It deals with almost all types of education for all classes of people in India. This was the first report that present a comprehensive picture of education in our country at that period of time. A central goal of the Sargent Scheme was the educational reconstruction of India. It recommended the introduction of free and compulsory education for (^4). http://www.kkhsou.in/main/education/wardha.html (Last Visited 02- 04 - 19)
all Indian children in the 6-11 years age group. The plan aimed to bring about universal literacy in India within 40 years of its introduction, i.e. by 1984. The scheme went as follows:
- Establishment of elementary schools and high school.
- High schools of two types : a) Academic. b) Technical and Vocational
- Intermediate courses were to be abolished.^5 When Government accepts the proposal of Sargent Commission the Ministry of Education was constituted at the Central. Indian University Grants Commission (UGC) was constituted, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set up and General Bureau of Education was reconstituted.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
After Independence of India from British Government in 1947, a more comprehensive system of education for all people in different regions came into being. A separate Department of Education (later on changed to Human Resources Department, HRD) was formed at the Centre and Departments of Education were formed in each State to serve the massive needs of education and training for the entire population. Education for the masses became a laudable goal only after 1947 as the Founding Fathers of the nation felt that education. The independent India opened new avenues of economic development, social change, and democracy which required skilled and well-informed people and also afforded learning opportunities to those who could participate in the developmental process. Several committees and commissions were required to review the educational problems and make recommendation in order to adjust it to the changing needs, aspiration of the people, structure, and strategy of education, those were as follows: University Education Commission 1948 : The first Commission to be appointed was the University Education Commission in 1948, under the chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishna, to report on Indian University Education and (^5). http://www.kkhsou.in/main/education/sargent_report.html (Last Visited on 02- 04 - 19)
manpower. Establishment of multi-purpose schools was a major contribution of this Commission. Education Commission (D.S. Kothari) 1964-66 : After the appointment of Mudiliar Commission, to deal with all aspects and sectors of education and to advise Government on the evolution of a National System of Education for the country, the Education Commission was appointed under the chairmanship of D.S. Kothari. One of the main recommendations of the commission was the standardization of educational system on 10+2+3 pattern, across the country. The commission recommended that a common public education system should be introduced and then it should be vocationalized in general and special streams by introducing work experience as a part of education. It further stressed on the need to make work experience and social/national service as an integral part of education. Commission laid stress on women education and advised setting up of state and central level committees for overseeing women education. It suggested establishing schools and hostels for women and urged to identify ways to find job opportunities for women in the educational sector. Based on this Commission's report, the National Policy on Education 1968 was formulated. National Policy on Education The National Policy on Education (NPE) is a policy formulated by the Government of India to promote education amongst India's people. The policy covers elementary education to colleges in both rural and urban India. The first NPE was promulgated in 1968 by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the second by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. The
- Later, National Policy on Education was modified in 1992 by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government. Free India needs effective Constitution to provide Justice, Liberty, and Equality and off course to provide free education to the people of India. Finally a new constitution for free India became effective from 26th January 1 950. Some of the articles in the constitution deal with education in the republic and touch the following five aspect of Indian education;
- Free and compulsory primary education in the country – Article 45 of the Indian Constitution explain that the State shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten
years from the commencement of this Constitution for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.^6
- Religious instruction – Article 28(1), Article 28(2), Article 28(3) and Article 30 of the Indian Constitution safeguard the Secular Education. India is a secular state and every religion has got the right to popularize and spread its religious ideals^7 ,
- Equality of Opportunity in Educational Institutions – Article 29 and 30 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the minorities certain cultural and educational rights to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, whether based on religion or language.^8
- Education of the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Citizens – Article 15, 17 and 46 safeguard the educational interest of the weaker sections of the Indian community, that is, socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.^9
- Language and Educational Safeguard – Article 29(1) explains that any section of the citizens, residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to construe the same.^10 Right to Education (RTE) Although in Article 45, it is mentioned to provide free and compulsory education for primary or elementary education. But till 2002, no steps or measures where taken by the Government to enforce the rights mentioned in the Directive Principle of State Policy or Article 45. So, it was the judiciary which came ahead and the Supreme Court observed in In J.P.Unnikrishnan’s case , the government institutions for being reluctant with the enforcement of Article 45 and held that every child who is deprived of the right to education can issue a writ of mandamus against the appropriate authority for the enforcement of their deprived right. This led to 86 th^ Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002 which includes Article 21 - A which provides a Right to Education (RTE). This Article states that This article says state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years. (^6). Article 45, Constitution of India (^7). Article 28, Constitution of India (^8). Article 29 & Article 30, Constitution of India (^9). Article 15, Article 17 & Article 46; Constitution of India (^10). Article 2 9 , Constitution of India
- National Programme for education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) – This Scheme is a holistic effort to address obstacles to girls’ education at micro level through flexible, decentralized processes and decision making.^11 Beside different Constitutional rights provide by Constitution of India commissions and committees work for the development of education in the land of free India, the four UN agencies UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIP and the World Bank joined to sponsor Project.
EDUCATION POLICY IN MODI GOVERNMENT
In 2014, Narendra Modi led NDA Government came into power with a majority of 328 seats in Lok Sabha. From then, the Modi Government had slightly changed the education policy of India. In 2014-15, the Education Budget of Department of School Education and Literacy was increased from ₹ 50136 (in crore) in 2013-14 to ₹ 55115 (in crore). Government would strive to provide toilets and drinking water in all the girls school in first phase. An amount of ₹ 28635 crore is being funded for Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) and ₹ 4966 crore for Rastriya Madhyamika Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). A School Assessment Programme is being initiated at a cost of ` ₹ 30 crore. ₹ 500 crore provided for “Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme” to infuse new training tools and motivate teachers. ₹ 100 crore provided for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses. The Department of Higher Education received a grant of ₹ 27656 crores in 2014- 15 financial budget which was only ₹ 3171 crores more than that of grants received in 2013-14. The percentage of budget allocation to MHRD was only 6.
percent of the total expenditure of the financial year 2014-15. In the budget, Jaitley had
announced five new IIMs and five new IITs. Of the total outlay for 2015-16, ₹ 42,219.5 crore was pegged for the schools sector and ₹ 26,855.26 crore for higher education. Keeping the government’s focus on higher education, the finance minister announced more institutes of excellence including two Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in 2015-16. In the school education sector, the government has allocated ₹ 27,575 crore, same as last year, to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh that funds several schemes including Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and (^11). Henry S. Commager, School Education System in India before and after Independence at p. 130
mid-day meal scheme. However, The mid-day meal scheme suffered a drastic fund cut from ₹ 1,296.5 crore last year to ₹ 132 crore in 2015-16. It was looking all good till the Budget of 2015 - 16. The Budget of 2016-17 was a great disaster for Education Sector of India. Education Budget was only 4.25 % of the total budget which was a great downfall as compared to the budget of 2014 - 15 or 2015-16. In 2016-17 Budget, there was no outlay for education, health and social welfare. Only 28840 crores, was granted to the Department of Higher Education. Despite there was an increase in number of higher education institute, there was a minimal amount of increase in the higher education sector. However, it was announced on the budget of 2016- 17 that 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas will be opened & Regulatory architecture to be provided to ten public and ten private institutions to emerge as world-class Teaching and Research Institutions. Creation of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) was announced to be set-up with initial capital base of`1000 Crores. In the 12th^ Five Year Plan of India which is proposed by Planning commission of India, it was mentioned about Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Rashtriya Ucchtar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). It was expected that these two programmes will lift our schools and higher education institutes from current stagnancy and help our universities, schools and colleges to attain a respectable standards. In the Budget of 2016-17, there was no mention of RTE, RUSA and RMSA. To conclude, the budget of 2016-17, it can be said that the Union Budget had missed the opportunity to increase Human Resource Development Score of India by infusing insufficient funds to schools and higher education sector. The Budget of 2017-18 brought no change rather the condition of the education policy of India was worse of all the time. It was claimed by Shri Arun Jaitley that there was a rise of 9.9 % in the education budget as compared to previous year, as the total outlay for education sector was 79,685 crore but if we look into it critically, it is clear that only 3.15 % of the total budget was proposed to be spent in the next financial year of 2017-18. The Higher Education Sector was completely neglected and it was proposed to grant autonomy in premier institutes of India. The proposed bill of IIMs, was to grant them complete autonomy. In the higher education space, the finance minister said the government will undertake reforms in the University Grants Commission of India. “Good quality institutions would be enabled to have greater administrative and academic autonomy”. However, it was the first step to make all universities and institutes financially autonomous. To grant financial autonomy, it is to cut the grants which is received as a aid from the government.
is a national initiative jointly run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It initially focused multi-sector action in 100 districts throughout the country where there was a low CSR. The scheme was launched with an initial funding of ₹100 crore. It mainly targets the clusters in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Bihar and Delhi. Pradhan Mantri Koushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood. Individuals with prior learning experience or skills will also be assessed and certified under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Under this Scheme, Training and Assessment fees are completely paid by the Government.^12 Skill India Skill India is a campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 July 2015 which aims to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022. It includes various initiatives of the government like "National Skill Development Mission", "National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015", "Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)" and the "Skill Loan scheme".^13 UDAAN Project Udaan is a Special Industry Initiative for Jammu & Kashmir in the nature of partnership between the corporates of India and Ministry of Home Affairs and implemented by National Skill Development Corporation. The programme aims to provide skills training and enhance the employability of unemployed youth of J&K. The Scheme covers graduates, post graduates and three year engineering diploma holders. It has two objectives:
- (i) To provide an exposure to the unemployed graduates to the best of Corporate India;
- (ii) To provide Corporate India, an exposure to the rich talent pool available in the State.^14 (^12). https://www.msde.gov.in/pmkvy.html (^13). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill_India (^14). https://www.msde.gov.in/udaan.html
A CRITICAL CONDITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA
If you remove the capital investment under HEFA (₹2,750 crores), the government has decreased the Budget for higher education from ₹34,612.46 crores to ₹32,258.29 crores. The Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education, or RISE, initiative will receive a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crores over the next four years. This fund will not be in the form of a grant but will come from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) – a non-banking finance company. Under the new programme, the borrowing institutions will pay the principal amount and the government will take care of the interest. In contrast, the department of higher education as a whole saw small increase in funds while the budgets of several major institutions including the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Central universities were reduced. The CAG recently pointed out that ₹83,497 crores were collected as cess for secondary and higher education, which has not been utilised. In the Budget, the government has transferred a mere ₹7,690.52 crores from MUSK, which is less than 10% of the ₹83,497 crores, as pointed out by CAG. While a large amount of fund which has been collected by educational cess has not been used and there is a decrease in budgetary support of the government towards higher education. All these, points out that the government is not conscious for imparting quality higher education in India. While the Government claims that Financing educational infrastructure through HEFA would entail no extra cost to the students. But we all know that for repayment of loan amount taken by the Universities and Colleges, there would be an increase in the fee structure and ultimately it will a burden for the Students. For some Students slight changes in the fee structure will create no problem to them, while those who come from a poor section of society they will have to suffer. This is downright shocking and unacceptable as we are already in a crisis with unemployable graduates. In a country like India whose population is more than 130 billion and, where there are only 37 million graduates, this type of education policy does not seems to fit in this condition. The government has neglected the 12th^ Five Year Plan of Planning commission of India of implementing programmes like RMSY and RUSY. The education budget was cut down from 6.5% to 3.15 % of the total expenditure in recent years shows that the attitude towards the education is not healthy for the common citizen of India who cannot afford Private Institutions for Elementary and Higher Education.
