Education System in India

Education in India is seen as one of the ways to upward social mobility. Good education is seen as a stepping stone to a high flying career. Education System in India currently represents a great paradox. On the one hand we have IIMs & IITs that rank among the best institutes in the world and on the other hand there are number of schools in the country that don’t even have the basic infrastructure.

Even after more than 50 years after independence we are far away from the goal of universal literacy. But on a positive note, Indian professionals are considered among the best in the world are in great demand.This signifies the inherent strength of Indian education system. The Educational structure in India which operates at all conceivable levels from pre-school to post doctoral is of monumental proportions. According to a World Bank report there are more than 7,40,000 formal schools; more than 3. 6 million teachers are working on full time basis; there are more than 175 Universities offering under graduate and post graduate courses and about 6000 colleges affiliated to these universities. The educational structure in India is generally referred to as the Ten + Two + Three (10+2+3) pattern.

The first ten years provide undifferentiated general education for all students. The +2 stage, also known as the higher secondary or senior secondary, provides for differentiation into academic and vocational streams and marks the end of school education. In +3 stage, which involves college education, the student goes for higher studies in his chosen field of subject. This is a comprehensive website on education in India. It gives detailed information on education and career options in India. Vision and Mission of educational system in IndiaThe vision of any institution should be to inculcate knowledge and power to the younger generation. Vision/ Mission has a great impact on learning.

The mission of educational system in India should be the all-round development of children. The Indian education system comprises pre-school, primary school, secondary school , higher secondary school, and higher education (graduation and post-graduation). Although primary school is compulsory, this has been difficult to achieve in practice and India is still struggling to raise its literacy rates.Through school, students are taught a uniform set of subjects including languages, math, sciences, and social sciences. Higher education in India provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes technical schools (such as the Indian Institutes of Technology), colleges, and universities. 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.The important universities are called Central Universities and these are maintained by the Union Government.

The private sector also has a strong presence in Indian higher education. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), National Law School, Bangalore; All India Institute of Medical Sciences; Indian School of Business , Hyderabad; and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are renowned for their superior standards of education and compete with the best in the world. Primary and Secondary Education Several factors work against universal education in India.Although Indian law prohibits the employment of children in factories, the law allows them to work in cottage industries, family households, restaurants, or in agriculture. Primary and middle school education is compulsory. However, only slightly more than 50 percent of children between the ages of six and fourteen actually attend school, although a far higher percentage is enrolled. School attendance patterns for children vary from region to region and according to gender.

But it is noteworthy that national literacy rates increased from 43. 7 percent in 1981 to 52. percent in 1991 (male 63. 9 percent, female 39. 4 percent), passing the 50 percent mark for the first time.There are wide regional and gender variations in the literacy rates, however; for example, the southern state of Kerala, with a 1991 literacy rate of about 89. 8 percent, ranked first in India in terms of both male and female literacy.

Bihar, a northern state, ranked lowest with a literacy rate of only 39 percent (53 percent for males and 23 percent for females). School enrollment rates also vary greatly according to age (see table 9, Appendix).