In this chapter, we shall review the
main stages and schemes in the
development of the educational system in
India. We shall take into consideration
primary, secondary as well as higher
education and besides, research institutes
in some representative areas. This will
give us an idea of the educational system
throughout the country.
The first Census of independent India
in 1951 revealed the extreme complexity
and intractability of the educational issues
in the country. In the first Census, the
literacy level was 17%. It rose as shown
below.
Census Year Literacy
1971 34%
1981 43%
1991 52%
2001 64%
Improving this percentage was a
serious challenge for the government of
India. Several remedial schemes were put
in place to deal with it.
Primary education : Primary
education refers to the schooling given to
children in the 6 to 14 year age-group.
In 1988, the central government started a
scheme for the spread of primary education
and to improve educational standards. It
is known as Operation Blackboard. The
government made funds available to help
improve the standard of the schools and
to fulfil minimum educational needs such
as at least two proper classrooms, toilets,
one of the two teachers to be female,
a blackboard, maps, laboratory apparatus,
a small library, a playground, sports
equipment, etc. This scheme helped
the primary education system to gain
some momentum.
Do you know?
After the formation of Maharashtra
State in 1960, the government took the
decision to implement a common statewide curriculum for Stds I to VII.
Principal Sayyad Rauf of S.T. College,
Mumbai was assigned the task of
preparing the draft of this curriculum.
Can we achieve this ?
In 1991, Kerala became a fully
literate State. What steps must be
taken to achieve 100% literacy in
Maharashtra as well ?
In 1994, this scheme was expanded
and provision was made for one additional
classroom and for appointing one more
teacher in schools with an enrolment of
more than 100 students, with priority
given to girls’ schools, schools with a
majority of scheduled caste and tribe
students and schools in rural areas. It was
also made binding upon the State
government to appoint female teachers to
fifty percent of the posts in schools. Again
in 1994, the District Primary Education
Programme (DPEP) was started with the
objective of universalisation of primary
education. It was implemented in seven
States including Maharashtra. The plan
envisaged 100% attendance in primary
schools, arresting student drop-out,
education for girls and for the physically
handicapped. It included programmes such
as research on and evaluation of primary
education, alternative education, creating
societal awareness, etc. The ‘mid-day
meal’ scheme was started in 1995 to
provide proper nourishment for students. Secondary education : After
independence,
Education Minister
Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad decided to bring
about fundamental
changes in the field
of education. The
University Education
Commission was set
up for this purpose.
This Commission
recommended the appointment of a
separate Commission for secondary
education. Accordingly, in 1952-53, the
Mudaliar Commission was appointed. At
that time, the pattern of education
consisted of 11 + 4 years for the first
degree or of 11+1+3 years.
The work of the Commission : The
Commission studied secondary education,
the nature of the curriculum, medium of
instruction, teaching methodology and
made certain recommendations. This
Commission proposed the concept of
Higher Secondary Education. However, it
was found difficult to implement it all
over the country.
The Kothari Commission : In 1964
a Commission was appointed under the
Chairmanship of Dr D. S. Kothari.
Dr J. P. Naik made valuable contributions
to the work of this Commission. The
Commission also
recommended the
10+2+3 pattern for
secondary, higher
secondary and
university education.
This system was
implemented from
1972. The
Commission also
suggested a uniform
national system of education, the inclusion
of the mother tongue, Hindi and English
in education, as well
as continuing
education, adult
education, education
by correspondence
and open universities
to make education
trickle down to the
lowest rungs of
society. It also
recommended
increased provision in the government’s
budget for expenditure on education of
neglected sections like the scheduled
castes and tribes. Maharashtra government adopted the
10+2+3 pattern in 1972 and conducted
the first Std X Board exam in 1975.
Objectives of education according
to the Kothari Commission
studies for post-graduate education,
establishing new universities. After the
advent of television in India, it initiated
the ‘Countrywide Classroom’ programme
which is telecast by Doordarshan on
behalf of the Commission.
The Art Department was
established in 1965 in
Maharashtra, to frame the policy
for Art Education and for its
implementation by institutes of
art. This Department undertook
the responsibility of organising
the drawing grade examinations
at school level.
National Council of Educational
Research and Training (NCERT) : This
body was established in Delhi on the
1st of September 1961. Its main objective
is to help the Central Government in
matters of school education in the context
of a comprehensive policy and in
implementing educational schemes. The
NCERT was given the responsibility of
educational research and development,
training, extension, educational
programmes, restructuring of school
curriculum and textbooks. It has played a
central role in designing school curricula
and textbooks with the cooperation of the
Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE). It provides guidance and
cooperation in the area of primary and
secondary education to the state
governments. It has been involved in
designing workbooks and handbooks for
teachers, in teacher training, in developing
teaching-learning techniques and
conducting talent search examinations at
the national level.
Dr Sarvapalli
Radhakrishnan
Do you know?
Higher education
Education in the post-independence
era : After independence, in 1948, the
Central Government
appointed the
University Education
Commission whose
Chairman was
Dr Sarvapalli
Radhakrishnan. Its
functions included
financial grants, the
standard of the
universities and their
co-ordination.
Method of functioning : The
Commission accepted the Five-Year Plans
method. It began to sanction and disburse
grants to the universities on behalf of the
government. The Commission undertakes
planning of university education, coordination of syllabii, giving primacy to
national needs through education and the
planning and implementation of various
schemes of higher education. It has done
valuable work in establishing university
development councils, centres for advanced SCERTs were established in all States
on the lines of the NCERT.
The Maharashtra State Council of
Educational Research and Training was
established in Pune in 1984. This institute
performs various functions such as
improving the standard of primary
education, in-service training of teachers,
training in the areas of syllabii and
evaluation, vocational guidance for students
after Std X and Std XII exams and other
educational functions. This institute is
known as the academic authority. It brings
out a periodical called Jeevan Shikshan.
The ‘Primary Education Curriculum
1988’ was prepared on the basis of the
plan of action designed at the national
level for the effective implementation of
the National Policy on Education 1986.
National Policy on Education 1986 :
According to this policy, certain changes
of a fundamental nature were brought
about in primary, secondary and higher
secondary education in keeping with the
changing needs of society. Under this
policy, a common core curriculum was
framed for all States. The expectation is
that, by this means, all students in India
will get equal educational opportunity.
There is scope in the national curriculum
for individual States to bring in flexibility
in accordance with their cultural,
geographical and historical needs.
Use of a satellite : In 1975, India
met with success in its attempt to use a
satellite for the purpose of education.
Eknath Chitnis, a scientist with ISRO,
played an important role in it.
SITE (Satellite Instructional Television
Experiment) was undertaken for
educational purposes under the leadership
of the Space Applications Centre at
Ahmedabad. The concept of satellite
education came out of this experiment.
America had helped India in this
programme. The programme helped to
make provisions for a good standard of
education in rural areas.
Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU) : This Open
University was established with the
objective that the stream of education
should make its way into every average
household of the country. The United
Nations had declared 1970 as the
International Education Year. In the same
year, a seminar was organised in New
Delhi on the subject of Open University
by the Government of India Departments
of Education and Social Welfare,
Information and Broadcasting, University
Grants Commission along with UNESCO.
The idea of establishing an open university
evolved in this seminar.
In 1974, the government appointed a
committee under the chairmanship of
P. Parthasarathy and the Open University
took shape on 20 September 1985 in
accordance with its recommendations and
suggestions. It was named after Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi.
thousand curricula of various branches. It
provides facilities for education through
58 training centres in the country and 41
centres in foreign countries.
Research institutes - science
In the post-independence period in
1950, the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) was established
with the objective to promote scientific
research in the country and to take the
benefits of the research to all the people.
Research began in fields like physics,
chemistry, pharmaceuticals, food
processing and mining. In order that
industry benefits from this research,
contracts were signed with industrial
institutes. That helped to reduce our
imports and save foreign currency. This
institute also motivated fundamental
research. The Laboratories of the Council
also played an important part in bringing
back to the country students who had
gone abroad for higher education.
The achievements of the CSIR include
making the ink used for marking voters’
fingers during elections, medicines for
malaria, elephantiasis and tuberculosis,
water purification technology, reduction in
the time required for bamboo production.
It also used DNA fingerprinting for the
first time in India, conducted a genetic
study of the Adivasis of the Andamans
and proved that those tribes are 60,000
years old and developed the earthquake
early warning system.
It has also played an important role
in the use of neem as a pesticide, use of
turmeric for healing wounds and in the
case of the patents for varieties of rice.
The CSIR has prepared a digital
encyclopaedia of Indian traditional
knowledge and made it available in eight
international languages.
Those who are unable to get a college
education in the formal way are given
concessions in eligibility criteria, age and
other conditions for admission to this
university. In 1990, the IGNOU started
an audio-visual distance education
programme through Akashvani and
Doordarshan. It conducted more than one Mathematics : The ‘National Institute
for Research in the Mathematical and
Physical Sciences’ in Tamil Nadu was
established in 1962. It encouraged the
highest level of research in mathematics.
Computers : In 1969, we made the
first indigenous computer named the ISIJU
computer as this was achieved by the
Indian Statistical Institute and Jadavpur
University working together. In 1974,
Tata Consultancy Services, (TCS),
obtained an American contract in the
area of software production and that was
the beginning of the software industry in
India. Computers also helped to step up
the speed of scientific research.
In 1987, America refused to allow
India to get a supercomputer. The Rajiv
Gandhi government decided to develop a
supercomputer indigenously. In 1988, the
Central Government established the Centre
for Development for Advanced Computing
(C-DAC) in Pune and in 1991 the Centre
under the leadership of Dr Vijay Bhatkar
developed the Param-8000 supercomputer.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC) : This institute has conducted
valuable research in the fields of nuclear
physics, solid state physics, spectroscopy,
chemical and life sciences. It also started
a school to train scientists for setting up
nuclear reactors.
Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) : India’s first IIT was set up at
Kharagpur in West Bengal in 1951. The
objective of this institute was that higher
and advanced education in all branches
of engineering should be available in
India and meet the country’s needs. The
engineering colleges at Powai, Chennai,
Kanpur and New Delhi were converted
into IITs. The Soviet Russia, America,
Germany and the UNESCO all extended
help to set up these institutes.
The IITs in India were given the
status of deemed Universities and BTech
and MTech courses were started there.
Admission through entrance exams,
nominal fees and reservations for students
are the special features of the IIT
institutions. In the decade from 1970 to
1980 a large number of IIT students
began to leave for foreign countries
causing the Brain Drain crisis. However,
this situation changed after 1990. IITs
were also established at Guwahati (Assam)
in 1994 and in Roorkee in 2001.
Indian Institute of Management :
As high quality engineers were graduating
from the IITs, the Centre and the Gujarat
government started the Indian Institute of
Management to mould skilled managers.
Harvard Business School in America
helped to set up IIM Ahmedabad. Other
IIMs have been set up at Kolkata,
Bengaluru, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore
and Shillong.
Systematic training in any aspect
of film making is given at the Film
and Television Institute of India.
Facilities were made available for
imparting scientific training at this
Institute in all aspects of film-making
such as direction, editing and acting.
This Institute inherited the legacy of
the Prabhat Film Company of Pune.
National Institute of Design : This
institute was established in Ahmedabad in
1961 for the purpose of imparting training
in industrial design. Courses in basidesign, graphic design, product design
and visual communication were started in
1963-64. The work done by this institute
includes designing of the transistor radio
and the calculator and the logos of Indian
Airlines and the State Bank of India.
Research institutes - medicine
In the post-independence period in
1949, the Indian Council for Medical
Research (ICMR) was established for
conducting research in the medical field.
It was given the responsibility of
cooperating with universities, medical
colleges, government and non-government
research institutes and giving them
guidance and financial support for research
activities. Twenty-six centres were started
in different parts of the country for
research on various diseases. Their
research has made it possible to control
tuberculosis and leprosy.
The All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) was established to give
further impetus to advanced education
and research in medicine. It was given
the responsibility of undergraduate and
postgraduate courses in medicine. Colleges
for undergraduate and postgraduate
education in most branches of medicine,
good research facilities and well-equipped
hospitals are the significant features of
this institute. The institute also provides
medical treatment to the common people
at nominal rates. It has established special
colleges for training in nursing, and superspeciality centres for treatment of disorders
of the heart, brain and eyes. For further
development of the medical field, the
Medical Council of India was restructured
in 1958 and was entrusted with the task
of determining criteria for quality of
medical education, its supervision and
inspection.
Cancer Research : The Advanced
Centre for Treatment, Research and
Education in Cancer is a branch of the
Tata Memorial Centre. It functions as the
national centre for treatment, research
and education in relation to cancer.
Research institutes - agriculture
In India, research in agriculture had
begun as early as 1905. The Indian
Agricultural Research Institute was given
the status of a University in 1958 and
work began in departments such as
development of the agriculture sector,
research, well-equipped laboratories, soil
science, agricultural sciences, economic
botany and other departments. Research
also began on wheat, pulses, oilseeds,
vegetables and many other problems. Its
most significant achievement is the
fundamental research it has conducted on
the methods of taking multiple crops in a year, which has been of great benefit
to farmers.
This Institute maintains a library at
its head office in Delhi which is the
biggest agriculture-related library in the
country.
In the next chapter, we shall study
laws related to women, women’s
contributions and the role of the
government with respect to other weaker
sections of society
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