Educational System in India
Presented by
Prof. Dr. R. Venkatram
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Ancient Educational System - Monastic
Gurukul is a Sanskrit word
Guru means Teacher and
Kul means Domain
The Learners
  Fully residential, students-teacher live within the same
premises
  Sanskrit was the language of teaching
  Brahmins, were imparted knowledge
philosophy, and other ancillary branches
of
religion,
  The warrior class, the Kshatriya, were trained in the
various aspects of warfare
  The business class, the Vaishya, were taught their trade
  The Shudras was generally deprived of education
  The education was focusing mainly on using weaponry,
reciting Vedas, music, art and self-defense
Education Process
  After a ceremony 'Upanayana’ the child had to leave home to acquire
knowledge
  The academies of higher learning were known as 'Parishads’
  The education system involved three basic processes, namely
'Sravana', 'Manana' and 'Nidhyasana’
  In the 'Sravana’, students received 'shrutis' (knowledge), which was
passed orally from one generation to another
  'Manana’ means that students had to think themselves about what
they have heard. They have to make their own inferences and
assimilate the lesson taught by their teacher into the life.
  The third stage 'Nidhyasana' means complete comprehension of truth
and its use in the life.
Institutions of Higher Learning – Ancient India
  Institutions of higher learning and universities flourished in ancient
India
  Secular Buddhist institutions were established along
monasteries to impart practical education like medicine.
with
  A number of urban learning Universities like Taxila, Nalanda and
Vikramshila were established between 200 BCE to 400 CE.
  These institutions systematically imparted knowledge and attracted
a number of foreign students to study topics such as logic,
grammar, medicine, metaphysics, arts and crafts
  During the visit of the Islamic scholar Alberuni (973-1048 CE), India
already had a sophisticated system of mathematics and science in
place, and had made a number of inventions and discoveries
Universities - Ancient India
 Taxila University for medical studies. A galaxy of
eminent teachers such as Panini, the well known
grammarian, Kautilya, the minister of Chandragupta
Maurya, and Charaka, a medical teacher were
prominent.
 Nalanda was the highest learning center of the entire
South Asia. It had around 10,000 students and teachers.
The University had eight colleges one of the colleges
had four-storied building. It was one of the earliest
examples for residential-cum-learning complex.
 Vikramshila University,
religious teachings
Varanasi
was
famous
for
Universities - Ancient India
 In the South, Kancheepuram (TN)
studies
was famous for
 Vallabhi University in Gujarat was mentioned by Huan
Tsang at par with Nalanda and Vikramshila (Bihar)
universities
 India had several great minds at work, which contributed
in every aspect of life
 The concept of zero, decimal and Pythagoras Theorem
were all developed here
Education during British Rule
 The present educational system of India was the
influence of British rulers
 Wood's Dispatch of 1854 (Magna Carta of Indian
education) laid the foundation of present system of
education in India
 The main purpose of it was to prepare Indian Clerks for
running local administration
 At schools the subjects were taught in local languages
while the higher education was in English only
 British government also started giving funds to
indigenous schools in need of help and thus slowly
some of the schools became government-aided
Education After Independence
 In 1901 the literacy rate in India was only about 5% and
nearly 20% during 1947. As per 1951 census only 9 % of
women and 27% of men were literates
 In 1947, Maulana Azad, India's first Education minister
wanted government intervention over education with a
uniform educational system
 However, given the cultural and linguistic diversity of
India, it was only the higher education dealing with
science and technology came under the jurisdiction of the
central government
 The government also held powers to make national
policies for educational development and could regulate
selected aspects of education through out India
Languages in India SOURCE : Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India Courtesy :Sowmya Narayanan , Asst. Professor, Academic Staff College (ASC), VIT-U.
School Education: The current system
 Education is a state subject
 General Education at Schools has a duration of 12
years and classified as Primary level, Upper Primary
(Middle), Secondary level and Higher Secondary
level.
 The educational level is also classified as Elementary
Education comprising of Primary and Upper Primary,
Secondary and Higher Secondary.
 In most of the states, a student in a Higher
Secondary school can complete 12 years of
education but in some states up to 11 years in school
and one year (Junior college)
School Education: The current system
 Primary level – First to Fifth Standard
 Upper Primary (Middle school) – Sixth to Eighth
Standard
 Secondary – Ninth to Tenth (SSLC)
 Higher Secondary - Eleventh and Twelfth (+1 and +2)
 In some states Eleventh up to School and 12th in
Junior college (Pre-University)
School Education
The Governing Bodies
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
Main governing body and monitors the central education
system. It conducts exam (national level) and controls the
functioning of schools accredited to central education system
The Council for Indian School Certificate Examination
(CISCE)
It is a board for Anglo Indian Studies in India. It conducts two
examinations 'Indian Certificate of Secondary Education' and
'Indian School Certificate'. Indian Certificate of Secondary
education for those Indian students who have just completed
10 years and Indian school certificate is for public
examination conducted for those studying in class 12th
Anglo Indian Schools
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St. Johns Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School
School Type : Co-Education
Year of Establishment: 1763
Board: Anglo Indian Schools
Category: Public Schools
Medium: English
Second Language: French
Average Students per Class: 40
  St. John's Secondary School, Pune, Maharashtra
School Type : Boys
  Board: Anglo Indian Schools
  Category: Public Schools
  Medium: English
  Second Language: Hindi, English
  Average Students per Class: 52
  Year of Establishment: 1948
ICSE Schools
Brindavan Vidyalaya, Trichy, Tamil Nadu
Website: http://www.freewebs.com/brindavanschool
School Type : Co-education
Board: ICSE Schools
Category: Private Schools
Medium: English
Second Language: Tamil, Hindi
State Board Schools
Avvai Girls Higher Secondary School, Madurai, Tamil
Nadu
Type : Girls
Board: State Board
Schools Category: Public Schools
Medium: Tamil, English
Second Language: Tamil, English
Average Students per Class: 40
Year of Establishment: 1955
Governing Bodies contd..
The State Government Boards
Each state in India has its own State Board of education,
which monitors the overall education system in the State.
The state government also runs school (Public Schools).
Parallel to these schools, there are Private Schools
(Matriculation Schools) following a different syllabus till 10th
Standard
The National Open School Board: It is also known as
National Institute of Open Schooling. It was established by
the Government of India in 1989 for those students who
cannot attend formal schools.
The International School: It controls the schools, which are
accredited to curriculum of international standards
School Boards and Categories
Board
Anglo Indian
CBSE
ICSE
Matriculation
State Board
Categories
Air Force Schools, Army Schools,
Catholic Schools, International
Schools
Military Schools
Montessori Schools, Private
schools
Public schools
The Issues
 Enrollment
Gross Enrollment ratio is the total enrollment in a specific
level of education regardless of age
Expressed as percentage of eligible official school-age
population corresponding to the same level of education
in a given school year
 School Drop-Outs
Drop out rate is also measured in percentage – the
children leaving the school without aspiring for higher
levels in school education
 Privatization
Educational Achievement
Country
Adult (15 and above)
Literacy rate (%)
93.3
GER (%)
Thailand
94.1
78.0
Sri Lanka
90.8
68.7
Indonesia
92.0
68.2
Vietnam
90.3
62.3
India
66.0
61.0
China
Source: Economic Survey, 2009-10, GOI, p.271
68.7
School Enrollment Ratio (%)
Levels
Primary
Boys
Girls
Total
115.90
113.20
114.6
80.60
74.10
77.50
49.20
41.40
45.50
(I to V)
Middle
(VI to VIII)
Secondary
and above
(IX to XII)
Source: Annual Report, 2009-10,Ministry of HRD, GOI, p.331
School Drop-Out Rates (%)
Levels
Primary
Boys
Girls
Total
26.2
24.8
25.5
44.3
41.4
43.0
56.4
57.3
56.8
(I to V)
Middle
(VI to VIII)
Secondary
and Above
(IX to XII)
Source: Annual Report, 2009-10,Ministry of HRD, GOI, p.345
Institutional Arrangements
Levels
No. of
schools
No. of
Teacher
teachers per school
Pupil per
school
Primary
785950
2357213
3
173
Middle
320354
1777433
6
177
Secondary
and above
Total
171862
2107411
12
256
1278166 6242057
5
185
Source: Own estimation, data from Annual Report, 2009-10,Ministry of HRD, GOI
Privatization – Percentage of schools
managed by different agencies
Management
1993-94
2001-02
2004-05
Government
47
42
41
Unaided
15
24
30
Aided
38
34
29
Source: 11th Fiver Year Plan Document, GOI, page 15
Number of schools managed by
different agencies (Hundred thousands)
School
levels
Govt.
Local
Bodies
Private
Aided
Private
Unaided
I to V
3.32
3.60
0.20
0.55
VI to VIII
1.18
0.80
0.18
0.59
I to VIII
4.50
4.40
0.38
1.14
Source: 11th Fiver Year Plan Document, GOI, page 8
To conclude
 Education in India has a long history
 During ancient times India had been the educational hub
for many other countries
 However the current status in the literacy achievement is
not satisfactory as large part of population is illiterate
 The country is also worried about the high drop-out rates
at higher level of schooling, though education is made
compulsory
  The sprawling privatization could find a solution
 The question is at what cost?. Will the rural benefit from
these privatization?
Further Questions?
Thanks for your attention