EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is more than a century since India adopted the good old British Education System and more
than six decades since India became an independent country and a republic. Yet, we have not
changed the Education System from that time to meet the fast changing needs of the time and
requirements of the country. It is in a very pathetic state of affairs indeed. Indian Education
System is not keeping pace with the progresses in other fields in the country and the
consequence is felt in the fields of other developments. It is like rotten apple spoiling other
sweet apples in a basket. Education System in India is a neglected area. The number of new
Universities and Centres of Higher Education in India is not on par with the increase in the
population of the country. Japan, a country with almost one-tenth of the population of India,
has almost three times the number of Universities as India. Also, the percentage of the people
who go to Universities and Centres of Higher Education at right age is less than seven percent
in India even after six decades of the self-rule. In the United States of America, the
percentage is close to eighty percent while in Finland, it is close to seventy six percent.
The educational system in India is far from satisfactory. Main problem is the standard of
teachers in schools and colleges being not up to the mark. Though IITs and IIMs have
exceptional students and teachers, situation is very bleak in other institutions. India must have
many more centers of higher education to make its mark in the world stage. The first Prime
Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, said that it would be primary in his manifesto to improve
the educational system in India. Unfortunately, this sacred goal ended with IITs and IIMs and
a handful of other institutions of excellence.
In order to cope up with the western system of education especially USA we have to
make/frame new policies and we have to make more changes in the prevailing structure of
education. Further more the Govt. should invest more money in the education sector and it
should establish more schools, colleges and universities so that to improve the education
system.

INTRODUCTION

As India progressed from ancient to medieval its education system deteriorated. Various
factors were responsible for the degradation of this most efficient and most ancient education
system of the world.
The present educational system of India is an implantation of British rulers. Wood's Dispatch
of 1854 laid the foundation of present system of education in India. Before the advent of
British in India, education system was private one. With the introduction of Wood's Dispatch
known as Magna Carta of Indian education, the whole scenario changed. The main purpose
of it was to prepare Indian Clerks for running local administration. Under it the means of
school educations were the vernacular languages while the higher education was granted in
English only. British government started giving funds to indigenous schools in need of help
and thus slowly some of the schools became government-aided.
Contemplating on the new system which was introduced Mahatma Gandhi expressed his
anguish in following words, "I say without fear of my figures being challenged successfully,
that today India is more illiterate than it was fifty or a hundred years ago, and so is Burma,
because the British administrators, when they came to India, instead of taking hold of things
as they were, began to root them out. They scratched the soil and began to look at the root,
and left the root like that, and the beautiful tree perished. The village schools were not good
enough for the British administrator, so he came out with his program. Every school must
have so much paraphernalia, building, and so forth. Well, there were no such schools at all.
There are statistics left by a British administrator which show that, in places where they have
carried out a survey, ancient schools have gone by the board, because there was no
recognition for these schools, and the schools established after the European pattern were too
expensive for the people, and therefore they could not possibly overtake the thing. I defy
anybody to fulfil a program of compulsory primary education of these masses inside of a
century. This very poor country of mine is ill able to sustain such an expensive method of
education. Our state would revive the old village schoolmaster and dot every village with a
school both for boys and girls. "

History of Education in India

The history of education in India is very rich and interesting. One can trace the ancient India
education to the 3rd century BC. Research shows that in the ancient days, sages and scholars
imparted education orally, but after the development of letters, it took the form of writing.
Palm leaves and barks of trees were used for education, and this in turn helped spread the
written literature. Temples and community centers often took the role of schools.
When Buddhism spread in India, education became available to everyone and this led to the
establishment of some world famous educational institutions Nalanda, Vikramshila and
Takshashila. These educational institutes in fact arose from the monasteries. History has
taken special care to give Nalanda University, which flourished from the fifth to 13th century
AD, full credit for its excellence. This university had around 10,000 resident students and
teachers on its roll at one time. These students included Chinese, Sri Lankan, Korean and
other international scholars.
It was in the 11th century that the Muslims established elementary and secondary schools.
This led to the forming of few universities too at cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Allahabad.
Medieval period saw excellent interaction between Indian and Islamic traditions in all fields
of knowledge like theology, religion, philosophy, fine arts, painting, architecture,
mathematics, medicine and astronomy.
Later, when the British arrived in India, English education came into being with the help of
the European missionaries. Since then, Western education has made steady advances in the
country. With hundreds of universities and thousands of collegesaffiliated to them, in fact
scores of colleges in every discipline, India has positioned itself comfortably as a country that
provides quality higher education to its people in specific and to the world in general.

Women's Education in India

Women constitute almost half of the population in the world. But the hegemonic masculine
ideology made them suffer a lot as they were denied equal opportunities in different parts of
the world. The rise of feminist ideas have, however, led to the tremendous improvement of
women's condition through out the world in recent times. Access to education has been one of
the most pressing demands of theses women's rights movements. Women's education in India
has also been a major preoccupation of both the government and civil society as educated
women can play a very important role in the development of the country.
History of Women's Education in India: Although in the Vedic period women had access
to education in India, they had gradually lost this right. However, in the British period there
was revival of interest in women's education in India. During this period, various socio
religious movements led by eminent persons like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra
Vidyasagar emphasized on women's education in India. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and
Baba Saheb Ambedkar were leaders of the lower castes in India who took various initiatives
to make education available to the women of India. However women's education got a fillip

after the country got independence in 1947 and the government has taken various measures to
provide education to all Indian women. As a result women's literacy rate has grown over the
three decades and the growth of female literacy has in fact been higher than that of male
literacy rate. While in 1971 only 22% of Indian women were literate, by the end of 2001
54.16% female were literate. The growth of female literacy rate is 14.87% as compared to
11.72 % of that of male literacy rate.
Importance of Women's Education in India: Women's education in India plays a very
important role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the development
of half of the human resources, but in improving the quality of life at home and outside.
Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl children, but also can
provide better guidance to all their children. Moreover educated women can also help in the
reduction of infant mortality rate and growth of the population.
Obstacles: Gender discrimination still persists in India and lot more needs to be done in the
field of women's education in India. The gap in the male-female literacy rate is just a simple
indicator. While the male literary rate is more than 75% according to the 2001 census, the
female literacy rate is just 54.16%.

REVIEW OF LITRATURE
Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, v30 n3 p205223 Nov 2008. The Indian educational system has always been wandering over boulder rocks
rather than cruising or ambling on a boulevard. Though it has been a topic pretentious enough
to necessitate first rate importance, yet politics just glances over it and thwarts the very dream
of taking India forward. It is as serious a topic to be taken under the fundamental rights but
even a deluge of reforms have deluded it from its way. And just when it seemed to
convalesce, its basic implant has been axed as if for recreation.
The conscientious congress in its very innovative ways seemed to press yet another
controversial paddle in its educational reforms. The ministry of Human Resource and
Development, headed by Mr.Kapil Sibal announced his 100 day plan enshrining the clause
that 10th boards will be made optional in schools affiliated to CBSE (Central Board of
Secondary Education). He said that the board will introduce grading system on its behalf and
will give due weightage to internal assessments for promotion to class 11th. Reasoning his
policy he exclaimed that the step would de-traumatize the students and their parents and
prevent suicidal attempts in future.
"Education cess: Are govt schools any better now?". The Times of India. 7 Apr 2005.
About 62% primary schools in Assam, 34% in Andhra Pradesh and 30% in Meghalaya had
just one classroom.
Despite political tomtoming, putting elementary education on highest priority, the Central and
state governments seem to have not achieved much. Improved enrolment rates may have
made government books look good but not many children stayed to complete primary
school.
In Bihar, out of 100 kids who joined Class I, only 33 made it to Class V. Only 6.28 lakh out
of 11 lakh students enrolled in Class V reached Class VI. The situation was marginally better
in Rajasthan where 42 out of 100 students who joined Class I reached up to Class V.

A.V Kanth (2009 AIIP/8749. g,09A) In Uttar Pradesh, the survival rate up to Class
V was 54%. Out of 29 lakh children attending Class V, only 15 lakh made it to Class VI. With
few exceptions of Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and Punjab, student survival rate was dismally
low in most states.'
India adopted a National Policy for Children in 1974, declaring children to be the nations
most precious asset. The population of children in a country comprise its human resources of
the future and the social, economic and cultural growth development of any society or
community hinges upon the quality of its human resources. Three and a half decades after the
adoption of the National Policy for Children, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram grandly
allocated the seemingly huge amount of Rs. 34,400 crores exclusively to the education sector
in his Annual Budget last fiscal year i.e. 2007-08. The much-hyped Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
was granted a handsome Rs. 13,100 crore. Yet, according to the UNESCO, India has the
lowest public expenditure on education per student in the world. The prevalent differences
within Indian states in per student expenditure in the year 2005-06 painted a dismal picture.
The highest being Kerala, the State that spearheaded the Universal literacy movement in the
country spends Rs. 1000 per student; as the figures go from bad to worse with the lowest

being Uttar Pradesh spending a measly Rs 483 per child per year. So can it be said that
funding is the issue with government schools? Clearly not. It is one of utilization of these
funds.

(Priya Ganguli)These are some new slogans we have been hearing a lot lately. Now the
point is, India is trying to educate its citizens and she has been trying for years! So how far
has she succeeded?
First of all, the abysmal ground reality is that Indias literacy rate is still below 75 per cent.
Though the rate has of course increased over the years, we are not yet there. And we still have
a long way to go! The adult literacy rate (15 yrs and above) is about 61 per cent while the
youth rate (15-24 yrs) is about 73 per cent. Amongst the states, Kerela has the highest literacy
rate and Bihar has the lowest. Nonetheless, the growth in literacy rate has been incredible.
Most people know that literate females are fewer than their male counter parts in our country.
At this point, one must keep in mind that most of India is rural and a bit orthodox in their
thinking.
Present education system in India are equally committed to the under-represented and lessprivileged segments of the population,
such as gifted applicants whose parents did not attend school and children with high potential
facing difficult financial circumstances.
Present education system in India has created landmark development through the inclusion
of the physically and mentally handicapped children into the mainstream of school life,
which contributes to the strong sense of community, so characteristic of the School.
In other words, children belonging to every strata of society are given the opportunity to
study at the School.
Neither does this Present education system in Coimbatoree discriminate on the basis of race,
colour, in the implementation of its admission policy.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study present education system of India
To analyse Indian education system and western education system
To analyse how Indian education system differs from Western education system
To study the development requirements of Indian education system.

RESEARCH METHODLOGY
I have used secondary source of data in my said study that includes journals, research papers,
websites of Indian universities and western universities. More over I have searched websites
of educational sector in India.

Present Education system in India

Today education system in India can be divided into many stages.

Pre- Primary - It consists of children of 3-5 years of age studying in nursery, lower
kindergarten and upper kindergarten. At this stage student is given knowledge about
school life and is taught to read and write some basic words.
Primary - It includes the age group of children of 6-11 years studying in classes from
first to fifth.

Middle - It consists of children studying in classes from sixth to eighth.

Secondary - it includes students studying in classes ninth and tenth.

Higher Secondary - Includes students studying in eleventh and twelfth classes.

Undergraduate - Here, a student goes through higher education, which is completed

in college. This course may vary according to the subject pursued by the student. For
medical student this stage is of four and a half years plus one year of compulsory
internship, while a simple graduate degree can be attained in three years.

Postgraduate - After completing graduation a student may opt for post graduation to
further add to his qualifications.

Education Governing Bodies

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE): This is the main governing
body of education system in India. It has control over the central education system. It
conducts exam and looks after the functioning of schools accredited to central
education system.
The Council of 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 is a k-10 examination for those Indian students who have just completed
class 10th and Indian school certificate is a k-12 public examination conducted for
those studying in class 12th.

The State Government Boards: Apart from CBSE and CISCE each state in India has
its own State Board of education, which looks after the educational issues.

The National Open School: It is also known as National Institute of Open Schooling.
It was established by the Government Of India in 1989. It is a ray of hope for those
students who cannot attend formal schools.

The International School: It controls the schools, which are accredited to curriculum
of international standard.

Elementary Education

According to the Constitution of India, elementary education is a fundamental right of

children in the age group of 6-14 years. India has about 688,000 primary schools and 110,000
secondary schools. According to statistics two third of school going age children of India are
enrolled in schools but the figures are deceptive as many don't attend schools regularly. At
least half of all students from rural area drop out before completing school. The government
has rolled out many plans to increase the percentage of elementary education. The plans such
as 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), District Primary Education Program (DPEP), Operation
Blackboard, Mid Day Meal have been successful to great extent.

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA)

The main goal of this program is that all children of 6-11 years of age should complete
primary education by the year 2007 and all children of 6-14 years of age should complete
eight years of schooling by 2010. This plan covers the whole country with special emphasis
on girl education and education of Schedule Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) children and
children with special needs. The SSA centers are mainly opened in those areas, which do not
have any school or where schools are very far off. Special girl oriented programs include:
Girl education at elementary level.
National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL)

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV)

Mahila Samakhya Scheme

District Primary Education Program

This program was launched in 1994 with the objective of universalization of primary
education. Its main features are Universal Access, Universal Retention and Universal
Achievement. It aims that the primary education should be accessible to each and every child
of school going age, once a child is enrolled in school he/ she should be retained there. The
final step is achievement of the goal of education. The main components of this program are:
Construction of classrooms and new schools
Opening of non-formal schooling centers

Setting up early childhood education centers.

Appointment of teachers.

Providing education to disabled children.

The program has been successful to the large extent as 1,60,000 schools and 84,000
alternative schools have been opened under this program. And work is going on for the
construction of new buildings of 52,758 schools. 4,20,203 disabled students have been
successfully enrolled into the schools.

Operation Blackboard

It was started in 1987-88. The aim of this program is to improve human and physical resource
availability in primary schools of India. According to this program every primary school
should have at least two rooms, two teachers and essential teaching aids like blackboard,
chalk, duster etc.

National Bal Bhavan

The National Bal Bhavan was opened with the aim of developing overall personalities of
children of all strata of society irrespective of their caste, creed, religion and gender. It
supplements school education by helping children to learn in play way and natural
environment.
Other important endeavors taken up by Indian government for the development of education
in India includes:
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

Integrated Education for disabled children

National Council of Educational Research and Training

Secondary Education
The enrollment at secondary school throughout the country was close to 28 million in 199899. Efforts are being made to increase this figure through the implementation of proposed
new educational strategies.
Education system in India is making fast progress. The data of students' enrollment at
primary and secondary level of school education testifies to it.

Private Education
According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government schools ] making the
government the major provider of education. However, because of poor quality of public
education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated.
According to some research, private schools often provide superior results at a fraction of the
unit cost of government schools. However, others have suggested that private schools fail to
provide education to the poorest families, a selective being only a fifth of the schools and
have in the past ignored Court orders for their regulation .In their favour, it has been pointed
out that private schools cover the entire curriculum and offer extra-curricular activities such
as science fairs, general knowledge, sports, music and drama. The pupil teacher ratios are
much better in private schools (1:31 to 1:37 for government schools and more teachers in
private schools are female [. There is some disgreement over which system has better

educated teachers. According to the latest DISE survey, the percentage of untrained teachers
(paratechers) is 54.91% in private, compared to 44.88% in government schools and only
2.32% teachers in unaided schools receive in-service training compared to 43.44% for
government schools. The competition in the school market is intense, yet most schools make
profit.
Even the poorest often go to private schools despite the fact that government schools are free.
A study found that 65% of schoolchildren in Hyderabad's slums attend private schools.
Private schools are often operating illegally. A 2001 study found that it takes 14 different
licenses from four different authorities to open a private school in New Delhi and could take
years if done legally. However, operation of unrecognized schools has been made illegal
under the Children's Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act

Higher Education in India

Higher Education in India is one of the most developed in the entire world. There has in fact
been considerable improvement in the higher education scenario of India in both quantitative
and qualitative terms. In technical education, the IITs, and in management, the IIMs have
already marked their names among the top higher educational institutes of the world.
Moreover the Jawaharlal University and Delhi University are also regarded as good higher
educational institutes for doing postgraduates courses and research in science, humanities and
social sciences. As a result, students from various parts of the world are coming today for
higher education in India.

Higher Education system in India: Higher education in India starts after the
higher Secondary or 12th standard. While it takes 3 years for completing a B.A., B.Sc or
B.Com pass or honours degree from a college in India, pursuing an engineering course would
take four years and five years (with six months of additional compulsory internship) for
completing a bachelor of medicine or bachelor of law degree. Postgraduate courses generally
are of two years duration. But there are some courses like Master of Computer Application
(MCA) that are of three years duration. For those who cannot afford to attend regular classes
for various preoccupations can pursue correspondence courses from various Open
Universities and distance learning institutes in India.

Key players in the Higher Education System in India: The University Grant
Commission of India is not only the lone grant giving agency in the country, but also
responsible for coordinating, determining and maintaining the standards in institutions of
higher education. Apart from the UGC here are various professional councils that are
responsible for recognizing courses, promoting professional institutes and providing grants to
undergraduate programmes.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Distance Education Council (DEC),
Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR), Bar Council of India (BCI), National
Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), Medical

Council of India (MCI), Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), Indian Nursing Council (INC),
Dentist Council of India (DCI), Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) and the Central
Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) are the statutory professional councils of India.

The current scene: India is today one of the fastest developing countries of the world
with the annual growth rate going above 9%. In order to sustain that rate of growth, there is
need to increase the number of institutes and also the quality of higher education in India.
Therefore the Prime Minister of India has announced the establishment of 8 IITs, seven
Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and five Indian Institutes of Science, Education and
Research (IISERs) and 30 Central Universities in his speech to the nation on the 60th
Independence Day. The outlay for education during the 11th Five Year Plan, which runs from
the current fiscal to 2012-13, represents a four-fold increase over the previous plan and stands
at Rs 2500 billion

University Education
This massive system of higher education in India constitutes of 342 universities (211 State,
18 Central, 95 deemed universities) 13 institutes of national importance, 17,000 colleges
and 887 polytechnics. University Grant Commission (UGC), a national body, coordinates
and looks after the maintenance of standard of university education in India. The university
education in India starts with undergraduate courses. Depending upon the nature of course
pursued its duration may vary from three to five and a half years.
Universities and specialized institutes are the centers for higher learning in India. The
studies and disciplines cover a wide range of subjects from poetry to computer engineering
to space research. Most of the universities and higher centers of learning and research are
autonomous in function. A good number of universities have a federal structure composed
of affiliated colleges on one tier and the university departments on the other. The affiliated
colleges teach, in general, undergraduate courses, whereas the university departments
conduct postgraduate teaching and advanced research. The university decides the criteria of
admission into colleges and coordinates the first degree examination in the undergraduate
programmes and award of degree.

University Grants Commission of India

The University Grants Commission of India is a body of the central government that provides
support to the government-recognized universities and colleges with funds. The University
Grants Commission of India or UGC provides recognition to the universities in India. The
office of UGC is headquartered in New Delhi. The southern regional office is located in
Hyderabad. UGC also conducts the NET exams. This examination is for the recruitment of
teachers in colleges and universities.

Types of Universities
The Indian universities are basically of two types: unitary and affiliating.

The unitary universities are confined to a single campus and offer both postgraduate and
undergraduate instructions, and also have a strong emphasis on research. Aligarh Muslim
University, Banaras Hindu University, Mysore University and Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) are notable examples, though JNU does not have undergraduate teaching. A variation
of the unitary university is the city university which has constituent colleges. Examples are
the University of Allahabad and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
Affiliating university is the most common type of university seen in India. These
universities generally have a central campus which has departments or schools that impart
postgraduate instructions and conduct research. They also have a variable number of
colleges affiliated to them and these may be distributed over a number of districts, in
accordance with the jurisdiction of the university. The colleges mostly offer postgraduate
classes in selected subjects. Most Indian universities are of the affiliating types with the
larger ones like Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai and Bangalore having a large number of affiliated
colleges.
There is a third category of universities and institutions where technical and professional
courses are taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Names like Indian Institute of
Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian
Forest Research Institute, Indian Veterinary Research Institute can be quoted. Some special
institutes such as Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Post Graduate Institute of
Medical Research offer postgraduate and research courses.
In addition there are two other types of university-level institutions Deemed to-beUniversity and Institutions of National Importance. Deemed-to-be-Universities (also
referred to as Deemed Universities) are institutions that are conferred the status of a
university by virtue of their long tradition of teaching, or specialization and excellence in a
particular area of knowledge. Examples are the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research
Institute, Pune and Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai. The Deemed-to-be
University status is granted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with the approval
of the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development.
The Institutions of National Importance are established, or designated through Acts of
Parliament. There are 11 such institutions including the six Indian Institutions of
Technology. As a special case they are empowered to award their own degrees, a privilege
normally granted only to universities.
The Table gives the distribution of universities and university-level institutions in
different states of India.

Colleges
There are four types of colleges: government colleges, privately-managed colleges, university
colleges and professional colleges.

The government colleges are few, constituting only about 15 to 20 percent of the total number
of colleges in the country. They are managed by the state governments. However, as in the
case of other colleges, the university to which these colleges are affiliated conducts their
examinations, lays down the courses of studies, and awards the degrees.
About 70% of the colleges, however, have been founded by the privately-managed trusts or
societies. More than one-third of these colleges have been established in rural areas. Their
management is constituted according to the norms laid down by the statutes of the university
concerned. Their relationship with the university is defined by the university act and statutes.
Though established through private initiatives, all of them receive funds from the state
governments. The power of granting affiliation to a college generally vests with the
universities in consultation with the state governments.
University colleges, also called constituent colleges, are those run and managed by the
university itself. Their number is very small.
The professional colleges are mostly in the disciplines of Medicine, Engineering and
Management. There are a few for other disciplines too. They are sponsored and managed,
some by the government and some by private initiative. In the states of Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, recently there has been a phenomenal growth
in the number of privately-managed professional colleges. They do not get any funds from
the state and, in almost all cases, have been charging heavy fees covering capital costs and
running costs. A recent Supreme Court judgement has laid down a number of guidelines for
admissions and fees charged by such colleges.
The National Policy on Education 1986, advocated autonomy for colleges (and also
university departments) with the objective of bringing about decentralization of academic
administration, and promoting innovation and higher standards. This autonomy relates to the
framing of courses, holding examinations, innovations in pedagogy and admissions.
The distinctiveness, flexibility and the quality of higher education in India have been
attracting more and more international students to come to Indian universities, for studying in
India in contrast to the expensive university and higher education offered in the USA, in the
Western European countries and in Australia. Higher education is still highly subsidized in
India and therefore affordable. Further, students from developing countries feel a greater
sense of belonging and confidence, as they have many social and cultural values common
with India.

Structure
In the Indian system, higher education includes the education imparted after the 10 + 2 stage
ten years of primary and secondary education followed by two years of higher secondary
education.

Academic Year
The academic year usually begins in June or July and ends in March or April. Institutions
located in high altitude areas (about one or two percent of the total) follow a different
schedule, beginning in March and going on to December. In most universities which follow
an annual examination pattern the academic year is divided into three terms. A few

universities follow the semester system. There is no organized system of teaching during
summer vacations.

Examination System
In case of universities following the annual pattern, an end-of-year examination is held
between March and May and the results are declared two months later. Supplementary
examinations are held in October or November. Universities following the semester system
have examinations in November-December and March-April.
Most examinations are conducted by the universities; however, some affiliating universities
have reduced the number of university examinations for a degree. For example, at the
Bachelors level in the humanities, the examinations at the end of the first year may be
conducted by the college, and the ones at the end of the second and third years by the
university. Centralized evaluation has also been adopted by some universities to save time in
the evaluation of scripts. Internal assessment of the work done by the student throughout the
year carries 10 to 25 percent of the total marks at the undergraduate level, and 20 to 40
percent at the postgraduate level in some universities. The Engineering, Medicine and
Management institutions have generally adopted the internal assessment system completely,
using a letter-grade and a credit point system.

Medium of Instruction
In most of universities the medium of instruction is English. In case of professional courses,
and for science and technical subjects, English is exclusively used for teaching. For the
Humanities, Social Sciences and Commerce faculties, the medium of instruction is both in
English and in regional languages. Postgraduate education is conducted in English in most
of the centers.

Academic Degree Course

This undergraduate course in India is of three years' duration. After completing this course
student get a Bachelor's degree in the subject studied such as Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of
Commerce or Bachelor of Science.

Professional Course
There are large numbers of professional courses at the undergraduate level. Student may opt
for any of it depending upon their interest and condition of eligibility.

Medical Courses
This course at undergraduate level is known as MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of
Surgery). It is of four and a half year's duration plus one year of obligatory internship.
Various medical colleges conduct entrance examination for admission to this course. An all
India level examination is also conducted by CBSE for admission to colleges all over India
based over 15% reserved seats. The important medical colleges of India are:
All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi
Air Force Medical College (AFMC), Pune

Christian Medical College (CMC), Ludhiana

Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore

Grants Medical College, Mumbai

Institute of Medical Science (BHU), Varanasi

Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research

(JIPMER), Pondicherry

Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi

Lady Harding Medical College (LHMC), Delhi (for girls only)

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Science , Wardha

Engineering Course
The bachelor of Engineering (BE) or bachelor of Technology (B Tech) is a
four-year course. It has wide range of options. Some of them are:

Aeronautical and Aerospace engineering

Agriculture engineering

Computer engineering

Electronic and electrical engineering

Industrial engineering

Marine engineering

Mining engineering

Management Course
In India education in management is one of the most sort out courses. The institutes, which
impart education in management, are known as "Business Schools". In India management
education is given at two levels, undergraduate and post-graduate. Undergraduate degree
courses include BBA, BBS, BBM. Postgraduate degree course is known as MBA (Masters of
Business Administration).
The other professional courses offered by Indian universities include, Architecture, Dental,
Fashion Designing, Travel and Tourism.

Distance Education in India

Indian Education system offers distance education to those who cannot join regular schools
or colleges. National Institute of Open Schooling offers school education through distance
learning.
University Education is also offered thorough distance learning. Many college courses like in
arts (history, economics, literature, Islamic studies), commerce (finance, banking, accounting)
are offered by Indian universities. Apart from these, professional courses in management,
mass media, para medical, engineering, law, travel and tourism are also part of distance
education in India.

Education Policy
The national policy of education (1986) and program of action (1992) lay down the
objectives and features of Indian education policy. It includes:
Development of International cooperation and peaceful coexistence through
education.
Promotion of equality. It could be achieved by providing equal access and equal
condition of success to children.

A common educational structure (10+2+3) for the whole of India.

Education for women's equality. The Indian education should be used as a tool to
change the status of women in the society.

Equalization of SC population with others in the matter of education. This is ensured

by giving incentives to parents who send their children to schools, providing
scholarship to SC students for higher studies, reservation of seats in institution of
higher studies in India, recruitment of SC teachers.

Opening of primary schools in tribal area for promotion of education in ST people.

Development of curriculum and study material in the language of tribal people.

Emphasis on the education of minorities.

Adult education - Initiation of National Literacy Mission, for teaching illiterate people
of age group 15-35. And making them aware of the day-to-day realities of their
surroundings.

Special emphasis on early childhood care and education by opening up of day care
centers, promotion of child focused programs.

Increasing the scope of Operation Blackboard for upliftment of standard of primary

education in India.

Secondary education curriculum should expose the students to differentiated roles of

science, the humanities, and social science.

Redesigning of courses of higher education to meet the increasing demand of

professionalism.

Providing enhanced support to the research work in Universities. Efforts to relate

ancient Indian knowledge with the contemporary reality.

Setting up of Open Universities and Distance Learning centers to promote the goal of
education as a lifelong process.

A combined perspective of technical and management education.

Minimum exposure to computers and training in their use to be the part of

professional education.

The All India Council for Technical Education will be responsible for maintenance of
norms and standards, accreditation, funding, and monitoring of technical and
management education in India.

Multiple task performance for teachers such as teaching, research, development of

learning resource material, extension and management of the institution.

Providing teachers a better deal to make education system in India work in proper
way, as teachers are the backbone of the system. Providing better facilities to
institutions and improved services to students.

Development of languages in great deal.

Measures to be taken for easy accessibility of books at minimum costs to all sections
of students.

Strengthening of science education for the development of spirit of inquiry and

objectivity in the minds of students.

The purpose of examination to be to bring about qualitative improvement in

education. It should discourage memorization.

Methods of teacher recruitment to be recognized one to ensure merit and objectivity

in the system.

Overhauling of the system of teacher education and establishment of District

Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) to organize courses for elementary school
teachers.

Reviewing of educational developments by the Central Advisory Board of Education

(CABE)

Involvement of local communities for school improvement programmes.

Review of the implementation of the parameters of the policy every five years,

Strengthening the base of pyramid of Indian population for proper development of

education system in India.

National Policy of Education (1992) laid down many objectives for the development of
education system in India but it has not been successful in achieving all of them. It has
specified that the examination system should discourage the memorizing but it is what is
going on. The education in India seems to encourage rote learning instead of experimentation
and questioning. There is some disparity in assessment as all the State Boards have different
standards of evaluation.
The reservation on the basis of caste and religion is also a negative point in Indian education.
Corruption is visible in the allocation of seats of institutions of higher studies and student
politics is another sore point. These are some of the issues, which need to be worked upon.
Though there are disparities between the objectives and their implementation in education but
still education system in India has come a long way and will continue to improve in the
future.
Some important facts about Indian education:
Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to the world and 'charaka' is known
as the father of Ayurveda. He developed this system some 2500 years back.
Takshila was the first university of world established in 700 B.C.

Nalanda University, built in 4 AD, was considered to be the honor of ancient Indian
system of education as it was one of the best Universities of its time in the
subcontinent.

Indian language Sanskrit is considered to be the mother of many modern languages of

world.

Place value system was developed in India in 100 B.C.

India was the country, which invented number system.

Aryabhatta, the Indian scientist, invented digit zero.

Trigonometry, algebra and calculus studies were originated in India.

How System of education in USA is different from India.

In America, higher education starts at the age of 18 after the completion of twelve years
of primary and secondary schooling.

Under Graduate Study or Bachelors:

A candidate who has successfully completed class XII is eligible for the Bachelors
Programme or Under Graduate Study in USA.
The bachelors degree or under graduate study usually lasts for 4 years. In some cases an
accelerated Programme can be completed in three years, while some professional fields
require five years.

The 4 year's undergraduate study is considered as 120 credit hours. One course averages 3
credits. Subjects involving lab facilities will get 4 credits. You receive a Bachelor's degree
or undergraduate degree when you finish around 40 courses in different subjects within
the span of four years.
1st year students are called Freshmen, 2nd years Sophomores, third years Juniors and the
4th or last year students are referred to as Seniors. The decision of the major's to be taken
is necessary only after the 2nd or Sophomore year. Deciding the majors is termed
'Declaring a Major' in US.
Many colleges give an Associate degree after the sophomore year or second year of a
Bachelor's degree. It is the degree awarded after either a college transfer or a 'terminal',
One to three year programme providing training for a specific occupation.

Graduate Study:
In USA, higher studies after taking a degree or Bachelor's is termed Graduate study.
A candidate who has successfully completed four years of Bachelors Programme or
Under Graduate Study is eligible to apply for the Master's Degree in USA. The traditional
three year degree (BA, B.Sc, B.com) holders from India must complete an additional year
of degree programme for eligibility. Additional courses which should be taken by them is
decided by the student advisors appointed for them. There are even registered agencies
who will evaluate the subjects studied in India with the courses equivalent in America and
issue a certificate.

Masters degree is the first Graduate degree in the liberal arts and Sciences and
certain professional fields requiring 30 credit hours of full-time study within a year or 2
years. You can get your Master's degree by taking 8 courses of subjects with 3 credits
each plus a thesis of 6 hours credit or 10 courses of subjects with 3 credits each without
the thesis. Some Universities have a final exam. Usually masters degree include M.S and
M.A degrees.
It is not particular that you continue with the same majors that you chose for
undergraduate study-in graduate study. But if you change the majors, you will have to
take additional basic courses for the new subjects. These courses are called Pre-requisite
courses. You have to get a pass in these course but you may not get credits for the same.

Research (Doctoral Degree) - The highest degree awarded in research-oriented

academic disciplines, usually requiring 3 to 6 years of full time study besides the
Bachelor's degree as preparation for University level teaching and research. Indian
students with a Master Degree can apply for P.H.D.
The main criteria for admission is the applicants interest in the particular subject of
research.

First Professional Degree - The degree required to be academically qualified to

practice in certain professions, such as law, medicine etc usually requires a total of at least

six years of study including prior college level work. It must have as a prerequisite at
least two years of college credit.

Different Educational Institutions College:

It is an independent institution that offers a four-year programme of undergraduate study
in the liberal arts (BA, BFA) and sciences (B.S).Bachelors degree is the basic requirement
for graduate work.

Universities:
Universities are larger institutions that include several undergraduate colleges, graduate
schools, and professional schools.
Graduate school involves 1 or 2 years of study and offers advanced programs in arts and
sciences which gives master's degrees like M.A or M.S, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) etc.
Professional schools are institutions which specialize in a single field of study such as
medicine, pharmacy, business administration , law etc.

Junior College or Community Colleges:

These colleges award only Associate Degree of Arts (A.A) and Sciences (A.S) which
involves 2 year of study. After receiving Associate Degree, students must join a 4 years
college or University to complete the Bachelor's Degree.

Vocational and Technical Institution:

These institutes specialize in training for the skilled trades and technical fields of
employment. Duration of the courses depends on the particular subject. After completion,
they will be awarded a certificate of completion and they can straight away join for a job.

Classes in USA
Usually, for most Universities and colleges the year begins in late August or early
September and ends in May or June. The academic year is divided into semesters,
trimesters or quarter depending on the institution. The semester system divides the year
into 2 equal terms of 16 weeks. Each semester is 4 months. Trimester system has three
equal terms of 16 weeks each, including a summer term. Quarter system divides the year
into 3 equal terms of 11 weeks each.
Classes are lecture-based with practical (lab or practicum in U.S). Overhead projector,
computer projections, multimedia are used along with the lectures. Printed notes and
additional information on topics (Handouts in U.S) are given. Professors or advisors are
always available to clear doubts. Interaction in class in encouraged.
Each student will be assigned an 'advisor' who is a member of the faculty. This advisor
will help the students to select the courses to be taken in each semester, plan the whole
program and monitor the students progress. The students register for the particular
courses with the permission of the advisors.

Class Size

The average class size at the undergraduate level, in most universities is 100-150 for
introductory courses. Advanced level classes will be smaller in size. Master's degree
classes have an average of 20 students and Doctoral classes have an average of only 10
students.

Tests
Each semester has an average of 4 tests. Test range in style from multiple choice
(objective type) format designed to gauge your knowledge of the subject and reasoning
ability to essay or problem-solving type tests. There are 3 kinds of tests - open book tests,
closed books tests and take home tests. In the 1st type, you can refer notes, text book,
reference material etc during the test. 2nd one is usual tests that we have in India. In the
3rd one you take the question paper home and answer at your convenience before the
dead line set by the professor. Take home tests often have essay-based questions.

Grading
In American Universities, they give grades instead of ranks or classes for courses. The
grades are A, B, C, D, E, F, I. A is the highest grade. Grades from A to D is considered as
pass. Grade I-incomplete. Grade I is granted when students stop the course in between
with the teachers permission. If it is without permission this can become F grade.
Marks between 100-90- A Grade (Excellent)
Marks between 89-79- B Grade (good)
Marks between 78-68- C Grade (Average)
Marks between 67-57- D Grade (Below)
Below 57- F or fail.
Each grade has points. 4 points for A grade, 3 for B and 2 for C. The average points taken
for all the courses taken together is the GPA (Grade Point Average). It is the general score
on a scale of 1.0(lowest) to 4.0 (highest). It is difficult to get admission for graduate
study if you don't have at least a G.P.A of 3.0. G.P.A is computed using a unique formula
by the university's administration. The grades are fixed by the professor's who teach the
subjects based on the performance of the students. The success rate is high.

ISSUES ON EDUCATION SYSTEM OF INDIA

One study found out that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical
workers were absent during the survey. Among teachers who were paid to teach, absence
rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Only 1 in nearly 3000 public school
head teachers had ever dismissed a teacher for repeated absence. A study on teachers by
Kremer etc. found that 'only about half were teaching, during unannounced visits to a
nationally representative sample of government primary schools in India.

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning rather than
problem solving. Business Week denigrates the Indian curriculum saying it revolves around
rote learning. and Express India suggests that students are focused on cramming.
A study of 188 government-run primary schools found that 59% of the schools had no
drinking water and 89% had no toilets. 2003-04 data by National Institute of Educational
Planning and Administration revealed that only 3.5% of primary schools in Bihar
and Chhattisgarh had toilets for girls. In Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, rates were 12-16%.
Fake degrees are a problem. One raid in Bihar found 0.1 million fake certificates. In February
2009, the University Grant Commission found 19 fake institutions operating in India.
Only 16% of manufacturers in India offer in-service training to their employees, compared
with over 90% in China.

INTERPRETATION
The education system in India is not of a par excellence as compared to the western system of
education. The system of education in India is lagging in certain areas so necessary steps
should be taken to transform it. The Government is making its efforts to improve the existing
system of education by imparting certain policies and is making elementary education
necessary for every one. Efforts such as SSA,NVPG etc are being made to improve the
existing system but it in not enough , the government should make some more improved steps
in order to compare with the western system of education.

According to the Constitution of India, elementary education is a fundamental right of

children in the age group of 6-14 years. India has about 688,000 primary schools and 110,000
secondary schools. According to statistics two third of school going age children of India are
enrolled in schools but the figures are deceptive as many don't attend schools regularly. At
least half of all students from rural area drop out before completing school. The government
has rolled out many plans to increase the percentage of elementary education. The plans such
as 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), District Primary Education Program (DPEP), Operation
Blackboard, Mid Day Meal have been successful to great extent.
Higher Education in India is one of the most developed in the entire world. There has in fact
been considerable improvement in the higher education scenario of India in both quantitative
and qualitative terms. This massive system of higher education in India constitutes of 342
universities (211 State, 18 Central, 95 deemed universities) 13 institutes of national
importance, 17,000 colleges and 887 polytechnics. University Grant Commission (UGC), a
national body, coordinates and looks after the maintenance of standard of university
education in India. The university education in India starts with undergraduate courses.
Depending upon the nature of course pursued its duration may vary from three to five and a
half years. According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government
schools making the government the major provider of education. However, because of poor
quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated.
According to some research, private schools often provide superior results at a fraction of the
unit cost of government schools. However, others have suggested that private schools fail to
provide education to the poorest families, a selective being only a fifth of the schools and
have in the past ignored Court orders for their regulation .In their favour, it has been pointed
out that private schools cover the entire curriculum and offer extra-curricular activities such
as science fairs, general knowledge, sports, music and drama. The pupil teacher ratios are
much better in private schools (1:31 to 1:37 for government schools and more teachers in
private schools are female [. There is some disgreement over which system has better
educated teachers. According to the latest DISE survey, the percentage of untrained teachers
(paratechers) is 54.91% in private, compared to 44.88% in government schools and only
2.32% teachers in unaided schools receive inservice training compared to 43.44% for
government schools. The competition in the school market is intense, yet most schools make
profit.

Conclusion
The education system in India is not up to the mark as compared to the western countries.
Although the education system in India is improving but we have to take necessary steps to
make it feasible and up to the mark.
Indian Education System is not keeping pace with the progresses in other fields in the country
and the consequence is felt in the fields of other developments. It is like rotten apple spoiling
other sweet apples in a basket.

Education System in India is a neglected area. The number of new Universities and Centres
of Higher Education in India is not on par with the increase in the population of the country.
The Government is making its efforts to improve the existing system of education by
imparting certain policies and is making elementary education necessary for everyone.
Efforts such as SSA, NVPG etc are being made to improve the existing system but it in not
enough, the government should make some more improved steps in order to compare with
the western system of education
In order to cope up with the western system of education especially USA we have to
make/frame new policies and we have to make more changes in the prevailing structure of
education.
Furthermore the Govt. should invest more money in the education sector and it should
establish more schools, colleges and universities so that to improve the education system.

SUGESTIONS/RECOMENDATIONS
In order to attain a progressive growth in the education system the following suggestions are
made
1. The Government should re-plan their education policies and should bring innovative plans
in order to set up proper education system.
2. The standard of teaching needed to be raised in order to cope up with the present pace of
modernisation.

3. More and more schools, collages, universities should be established so that every student
can gain benefits.
4. New and modern courses should be adopted in all the institutions.
5. Education should be imparted in rural and backward areas.
6. Vocational courses should also be introduced in every institution.
7. More budgets should be allocated to the education sector.
8. Uniform international syllabus should be adopted in all the institutions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blackwell, Fritz (2004), India: A Global Studies Handbook, United States of America:
ABC-CLIO, Inc., ISBN 1-57607-348-3.

Elder, Joseph W. (2006), "Caste System", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 1) edited by

Stanley Wolpert, 223-229, Thomson Gale: ISBN 0-684-31350-2.

"Infrastructure: S&T Education", Science and Technology in India edited by R.K. Suri
and Kalapana Rajaram (2008), New Delhi: Spectrum, ISBN 81-7930-294-6.

India 2009: A Reference Annual (53rd edition), New Delhi: Additional Director
General (ADG), Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India, ISBN 978-81-230-1557-6.

Prabhu, Joseph (2006), "Educational Institutions and Philosophies, Traditional and

Modern", Encyclopaedia of India (vol. 2) edited by Stanley Wolpert, 2328, Thomson
Gale: ISBN 0-684-31351-0.

Raman, S.A. (2006). "Women's Education", Encyclopaedia of India (vol. 4), edited by
Stanley Wolpert, 235-239, Thomson Gale: ISBN 0-684-31353-7.

http://theviewspaper.net/educating-india/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_India