Progress of Indian Education Sector after Independence
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Answer:
Pulling itself out from widespread illiteracy, India has managed to bring its education system at par with the global standards. We have made significant progress in the arena of education in the 70 years since independence. ... In 2001, the literacy rate was 64.8 per cent which has gone up to 73 per cent in 2011
Answer:
Pulling itself out from widespread illiteracy, India has managed to bring its education system at par with the global standards. We have made significant progress in the arena of education in the 70 years since independence. The picture in the field of education was completely different in 1947 than now. India has come a long way in terms of its overall literacy rate with more number of universities and educational institutions. In 2001, the literacy rate was 64.8 per cent which has gone up to 73 per cent in 2011. It stood at a paltry 18.33% in 1951. Currently, India's higher education system is the largest in the world enrolling over 70 million students in less than two decades.
Spread of Higher Education
Higher education, once the prerogative of elite, is now easily accessible to a large segment of society. The government established different education commissions in order to address educational challenges and recommend comprehensive policies for education and also for the improvement of the education system in India.
Commissions and Reforms
Central Advisory Board of India decided to set up two commissions, one to deal with university education and the other to deal with secondary education.
i) University education commission (1948)
The first and foremost commission to be appointed in independent India was the University education commission of 1948, under the chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, to report on the status of Indian university education, and suggest improvements and extensions that would be desirable to suit the then and future requirements of the nation.
The commission also aimed at creating universities which would provide knowledge and wisdom for an inclusive development of the personality of students. This report proposed the reconstruction of education system in tune with the vision of Indian Constitution.
ii) Mudaliar Commission (1952-53)
The recommendations of Mudaliar commission occupy a very significant place in the development of secondary education in Independent India. It emphasized the need of training Indians in the democratic way of life.Some reforms were introduced in the educational system of the country based on the reports and recommendations, for example, the introduction of Higher Secondary scheme along with Three Year Degree Course and the opening of more and more vocational and technical schools and colleges. Education became the responsibility of both state and central governments.
Kothari Commission
(1964-1966)
The Mudaliar commission was followed by the appointment of the Indian education commission under the chairmanship of D.S Kothari, popularly known as Kothari commission; it was entrusted with the tasks of dealing with all aspects and sectors of education and to advise the government on the evolution of national system of education.
National Education Policy (1968): It is in accordance with the recommendations of this commission the National education policy of 1968 was formulated. The most important development in improving the education sector came with National education policy in 1968. It drew out the prospects of education to all sections of the society to accomplish the goal of harmony and integration. It was well promoted use of regional languages in secondary schools for an effective teacher-student relationship. The prominence was given to Hindi as a medium of instruction in schools.
It was viewed that education had the power to work as a popular instrument of social, economic and political change. Educational objectives were rather related to long term national aspirations.Further, Government set up commissions to review the development of the education in modern period particularly since independence and came to the conclusion that Indian education needs a drastic reconstruction, almost a revolution, to realise the constitutional goals and to meet the various problems facing the country.