plz Write an essay on 'Education in India Should be" in about 1000 Words.
Answers
Education in India is provided by the public sector as well as the private sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: central,state, and local. Under various articles of theIndian Constitution, free and compulsory education is provided as a fundamental right to children between the ages of 6 and 14.
India has made progress in terms of increasing the primary education attendance rate and expanding literacy to approximately three-quarters of the population in the 7-100 age group, by 2011.[4] India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to its economic development.[5]Much of the progress, especially in higher education and scientific research, has been credited to various public institutions.
At the primary and secondary level, India has a large private school system complementing the government run schools, with 29% of students receiving private education in the 6 to 14 age group.[6] Certain post-secondary technical schools are also private. The private education market in India had a revenue of US$450 million in 2008, but is projected to be a US$40 billion market.[7]
As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, 96.5% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school. This is the fourth annual survey to report enrollment above 96%. Another report from 2013 stated that there were 229 million students enrolled in different accredited urban and rural schools of India, from Class I to XII, representing an increase of 2.3 million students over 2002 total enrollment, and a 19% increase in girl's enrollment.[8] While quantitatively India is inching closer to universal education, the quality of its education has been questioned particularly in its government run school system. Some of the reasons for the poor quality include absence of around 25 percent of teachers everyday.[9] States of India have introduced tests and education assessment system to identify and improve such schools.[10]
It is important to clarify that while there are private schools in India, they are highly regulated in terms of what they can teach, in what form they can operate (must be a non-profit to run any accredited educational institution) and all other aspects of operation. Hence, the differentiation of government schools and private schools can be misguiding.[11]
In India's education system, a significant number of seats are reserved under affirmative action policies for the historically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribesand Other Backward Classes. In universities, colleges, and similar institutions affiliated to the federal government, there is a minimum 50% of reservations applicable to these disadvantaged groups, at the state level it can vary. Maharashtra had 73% reservation in 2014, which is the highest percentage of reservations in India.
Education is an effort of the senior people to transfer their knowledge to the younger members of society. It is thus an institution, which plays a vital role in integrating an individual with his society and in maintaining the perpetuation of culture. Emile Durkheim defines education as “the influence exercised by the adult generation upon those who are not yet ready for adult life”.
He further maintains that “society can survive only if there exists among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity. The homogeneity is perpetuated and reinforced by education. A child through education learns basic rules, regulations, norms and values of society”.
Education thus is an essential prerequisite of modernization. It enables people to know the world beyond their own surroundings and transforms them to become rationalist and humanist in outlook and world view. However, it has to be kept in mind that the education has got modernized and in turn is contributing to the process of modernization of the Indian society.
The traditional education system of India was quite different from the contemporary one. In traditional Indian society, the number of educational institutions was too small and the content of education was esoteric and essentially related with religion, philosophy, metaphysics and scriptural subjects.
The education was confined to the ‘twice-born’ castes and the upper classes. The organizational structure was ascriptive and hereditary. The lower castes, particularly the scheduled castes, were denied education. Even today, the Madrassah education among Muslims is largely based on religion, philosophy and scriptural messages. Shishu Mandirs also have religion and tradition as parts of curriculum.
Modern education is exoteric, open and liberal. The world-view is scientific-rational; the theme consists of freedom, equality, humanism and denial of faith in dogma and superstitions. The course contents are rationalistic and in tune with the needs of the present-day society.
Science and technology, grammar and literature, social philosophy, history and culture, geography and ecology, agriculture and horticulture comprise the vast range of subjects which are taught in schools, colleges and universities.
The modern education lays emphasis on the subjects like freedom, nationality, law, human rights, democracy and scientific world view. The other parts of education are the co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, which are often organized for total personality devel