Indian Education System

Education system in India can be dated centuries back because it was in India, that great scholars and sages through scriptures imparted knowledge on various subjects like philosophy, religion, medicine, literature, mathematics, sociology, etc.

Later under Buddhist influence, India education became available to anyone who wanted it and this led to the creation of some famous monasteries and universities like Nalanda, Vikramshila and Takshila in the 13th century.

Today, India education comprises of one of the largest higher secondary education system in the world. In a world that is growing technology savvy everyday, Indian universities and institutes of higher education and research have made a significant contribution to transmission of knowledge in these technological sectors. Today, India is known as the talent-pool of the world, where intelligent, educated people are very easy to find, and this fact has definitely given a boost to India education. In India, education comes most naturally and people who can afford it just flow along with the education system in India. And now, with many government policies targeting to bring the whole of India under the literacy bracket, education in India is bound to touch the lives of every single person in India. This is a huge effort because India has one of the largest population in the world and most of them are below poverty line. So education for each one of them could be a tedious task, tedious though but not an impossible one.

India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years. While some of the country's universities (BITS, IITs, NITs, IISc, TIFR, ISI, IIMs and AIIMS) are among the world's well-renowned, it is also dealing with challenges in its primary education and strives to reach 100% literacy. Universal Compulsory Primary Education, with its challenges of keeping poor children in school and maintaining quality of education in rural areas, has been difficult to achieve (Kerala is the only Indian state to reach this goal so far). All levels of education, from primary to higher education, are overseen by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School Education and Literacy), and heavily subsidized by the Indian government, though there is a move to make higher education partially self-financing. Indian Government is considering to allow 100% foreign direct investment in Higher Education.

Structure

(Click on the Image to see clearly)

There are broadly four stages of school education in India, namely primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary(or high school). Overall, schooling lasts 12 years, following the "10+2 pattern". However, there are considerable differences between the various states in terms of the organizational patterns within these first 10 years of schooling. The government is committed to ensuring universal elementary education (primary and upper primary) education for all children aged 6-14 years of age. Primary school includes children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through five. Upper Primary and Secondary school pupils aged eleven through fifteen are organized into classes six through ten, and higher secondary school students ages sixteen through seventeen are enrolled in classes eleven through twelve. In some places there is a concept called Middle/Upper Primary schools for classes between six to eight. In such cases classes nine to twelve are classified under high school category. Higher Education in Indiatechnical schools (such as the Indian Institutes of Technology), colleges, and universities.

provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes

In India, the main types of schools are those controlled by:

• The state government boards like SSLC, in which the vast majority of Indian school-children are enrolled,
• The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board,
• The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) board,
• National Open School and
• "International schools." These schools mimic the schools in the West in pattern and syllabi and are considerably more expensive than regular schools. The exams conducted have the syllabus of anyone of the above-mentioned Councils or Boards.

Overall, according to the latest Government Survey undertaken by NUEPA (DISE, 2005-6), there are 1,124,033 schools.

Accreditation

Accreditation for universities in India are required by law unless it was created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, the government notes "these fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award ‘degree’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes." The University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,

"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act carlo bon tempo, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree."

Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission:

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
• Distance Education Council (DEC)
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
• Bar Council of India (BCI)
• National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
• 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)
• Dental Council of India (DCI)
• Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH)
• Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM)
• veterinary council of india (VCI)

Graduation market

This is a chart of graduation market of India as per Census 2001.

Educational level	Holders
Total	502,994,684
Unclassified	97,756
Non-technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree	386,146
Technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree	3,666,680
Higher Secondary, Intermediate, Pre-university or Senior Secondary	37,816,215
Matriculation or Secondary	79,229,721
Degree	Holders
Total	37,670,147
Post-graduate degree other than technical degree	6,949,707
Graduate degree other than technical degree	25,666,044
Engineering and technology	2,588,405
Teaching	1,547,671
Medicine	768,964
Agriculture and dairying	100,126
Veterinary	99,999
Other	22,588

Criticism of Indian Education System

Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning. Emphasis is laid on passing examinations with high percentage. Very few institutes give importance to developing personality and creativity among students. Recently, the country has seen a rise in instances of student suicides due to low marks and failures, especially in metropolitan cities, even though such cases are very rare.

The presence of a number of education boards (SSLC, ICSE, CBSE, IB,IGCSE ) leads to non-uniformity. ICSE and CBSE boards, are sometimes favorably considered at the time of admission, although it cannot be said with certainty that their syllabuses are harder. A large number of SSLC (State board) students therefore complain that their ICSE and CBSE counterparts are given an advantage during college admissions, which are extremely competitive and sought for. Most colleges though account for these differences during admissions. The syllabi prescribed by the various boards are accused of being archaic and some textbooks (mostly ones written for the SSC) contain many errors.

The boards are recently trying to improve quality of education by increasing percentage of practical and project marks. However, critics say even this is memorized by students (or even plagiarized). This is attributed to pressure from parents who are eager to see high scores more than overall development.

Many people also criticize the caste, language and religion-based reservations in education system. Many allege that very few of the weaker castes get the benefit of reservations and that forged caste certificates abound. Educational institutions also can seek religious minoritylinguistic minority status. In such institutions, 50% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to a particular religion or having particular mother-tongue(s). For example, many colleges run by the Jesuits and Salesians have 50% seats reserved for Roman Catholics. In case of languages, an institution can declare itself linguistic minority only in states in which the language is not official language. For example, an engineering college can declare itself as linguistic-minority (Hindi) institution in the state of Maharashtra (where official state language is Marathi), but not in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh (where the official state language is Hindi). These reservations are said to be a cause of heartbreak among many. Many students with poor marks manage to get admissions, while meritorious students are left out. Critics say that such reservations may eventually create rifts in the society. (non-Hindu) or

The general corruption prevalent in India is also an issue in the Education system. Engineering, medical and other lucrative seats are sometimes sold for high prices and ridden with nepotism and power-play.

Student politics is also a major issue, as many institutions are run by politicians.

Ragging used to be a major problem in colleges, but tough rules and regulations have curbed it. Some state governments have made ragging a criminal offence.

FYI: There are many external links (text with blue color) in the post, please use them for more information and to check for terminologies.

Say Cheese!!!

1. Chemical formula:
TEACHER : What is the chemical formula for water?
PAPPU : "HIJKLMNO! "!!
TEACHER : What are you talking about?
PAPPU : Yesterday you said it's H to O !


2. America:
TEACHER : PAPPU, go to the map and find North America.
PAPPU : Here it is!
TEACHER : Correct. Now, class, who discovered America?
CLASS : PAPPU!


3. Spelling:
TEACHER : PAPPU, how do you spell "crocodile"?
PAPPU : "K-R-O-K-O-D-A-I-L"
TEACHER : No, that's wrong
PAPPU : Maybe it's wrong, but you asked me how I spell it!


4. Birthday:
TEACHER : PAPPU, give me a sentence starting with "I".
PAPPU : I is...
TEACHER : No, PAPPU. Always say, "I am."
PAPPU : All right... "I am the ninth letter of the alphabet."


5. Coincidence:
TEACHER : "Can anybody give an example of "COINCIDENCE?"
PAPPU : "Sir, my Mother and Father got married on the same day, same time."


6. George washington:
TEACHER : "George Washington not only chopped down his father's Cherry tree, but also admitted doing it. Now do you know why his father didn't punish him?"
PAPPU : "Because George still had the axe in his hand?"