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EDUCATION
Eternal India
encyclopedia
education developed into a full fledged system of higher education
and is still vibrant in two centres viz. Gujarat Vidyapeeth and Gandhi
Gram (Tamil Nadu).
The greatest tragedy of Indian education including higher
education is that the same Congress leaders who had complained
bitterly against the un-Indianness of Western education did not pay any
attention to developing a really Indian model based on the three great
experiments referred to above or a totally new variety suited to the
aspirations of India for national development. On the contrary, our
leaders stuck to the Western models slavishly to such an extent that all
modifications and improvements suggested by various Commissions
and Committees on education after Independence, have resulted in only
peripheral and cosmetic changes. Not that attempts were not made. In
the very year after Independence the Dr. Radhakrishnan Commission
was appointed in 1948. That Commission's emphasis on ethical and
moral values as well as restructuring of the framework and the
curriculum remained by and large unimplemented. As it was found that
real improvements in higher education would not be possible unless
secondary education was improved, the Mudaliar Commission was
constituted in 1953. Two of its recommendations have been
implemented viz. (i) Restructuring of the educational ladder as 10+2+3
and (ii) Emphasis on vocationalisation of education. It was, however,
realised that all stages of education are so interlinked that unless the
entire educational system was reviewed and reformed, national
development will not be possible. It is on this plea that the Education
Commission headed by Dr. Kothari was constituted in 1964. This
Commission which suggested sweeping changes at all levels of
education and in all aspects has become the basic document for all
future developments of education in India. The latest in the series of
Commissions and Committees was the Commission for evolving the
National Policy on Education (NPE) in 1986. This policy document
has been the basis for the Programme of Action (POA) document
finalised in 1992. This document contains a large number of
recommendations for improvements at all levels of education including
higher education.
THE LEGACY AND THE CHALLENGE
Independent India inherited a system of education which was an
integral part of the colonial set-up. The development up to 1947 was
"not only quantitatively small and microscopic, but was also
qualitatively anaemic and dysfunctional" in relation to the task of
building a self-reliant and growth-oriented economy as well as an
integrated progressive nation. Independent India, therefore, faced the
challenge of societal transformation through education as an
instrument. The vision and dreams generated by Independence resulted
in-
i)
a fast upsurge in demand for more schools and colleges;
ii)
developing manpower with appropriate technical skills for a
fast changing science and technological revolution; and
iii)
education as a right
for those who for various reasons had
remained out of the portals of university education, but who
dreamed of education as a passport to comfortable white
collared jobs directed towards upward mobility in social status.
As an outcome of this blend of triple thrusts an expensive
expansion took place in school education. Diversification started in
curriculum. This was seen in a variety of new courses especially at the
post-graduate level and the admission and recruitment of a large
number of persons not suitable for excellence in higher education.
Quantitative expansion can be visualised from the fact that while
in 1947 the number of universities was 19, it rose to 211 (including
Deemed Universities) by 1992; in the same period the number of
colleges rose from 491 to about 7500; and enrolment rose from
2.29,611 to 36,81,870. This means that the universities increased by 11
times, colleges by 15 times and students by more than 16 times. This has
resulted in each university managing on an average l.V
2
times the
number of colleges in 1992 as compared to 1947. There is a comment
that the unplanned development of Education has resulted in 'slums' of
non-viable educational institutions all over India. This has also resulted
in a number of colleges becoming either too small and non-viable or too
large and unmanageable. The first category has resulted in wastage of
expenditure and the second category in gross indiscipline and
malpractices in examinations.
THREE OTHER TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS
In addition to the affiliating, teaching and examining university
types, other types of institutions relating to higher education and
research have come up in post-independent India. Under the University
Grants Commission Act of 1956, the institutions fit to be described as
"Deemed to be Universities" could be established and recognised as per
procedure laid down in the Act. Under this category a number of
institutions have been recognised as Deemed Universities like the
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; Gujarat
Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad; Jamia-Millia Islamia, New Delhi; Birla
Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani; Central Institute of
English, Hyderabad; Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay;
Gurukul Kangri, Hardwar; Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad; Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore; Indian Institutes of Management,
Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Calcutta; Central Food and Technological
Research Institute, Mysore; and the National Law School University,
Bangalore etc.
The second category is termed as "Institutions of national
importance". Under this are included the five Indian Institutes of
Technology (Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur and Delhi) which
are established under a statutory provision. The All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, New Delhi, the Post-graduate Institute of Medicine
and Research, Chandigarh and the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta
are also included. These university-level institutions are empowered to
grant degrees. Similarly the degrees awarded by the other national level
institutions viz. Indian Institutes of Management (Ahmedabad,
Calcutta, Bangalore and Lucknow) are treated on a par with university
degrees.
The third category relates to high-level research institutes
outside the university orbit. Under this category are included:
i)
Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
ii)
Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
iii)
Indian Institute of Education, Pune and several others. The
Indian Council of Social Science Research supports about two
dozens of such institutes with funds.
In addition more than 40 research laboratories were established
under the auspices of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR). These institutes are not oriented towards granting degrees. But
they relate to research in industrial and technological development.
Some of them, however, have been recognised as Centres for Doctoral
work and quite a few of the scientists working there are recognised as
guides for Ph.D. students of universities.