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EDUCATION
Eternal India
encyclopedia
which is the first analysis of Indian education as a system and in
relation to" development goals. The report stressed the following
objectives 1) Free and compulsory education up to the age of 14,
2) Improved status, emoluments and education of teachers, 3)
Three-language formula and development of regional languages,
4)
Equalisation of education opportunities, science and research,
5)
Development of education for agriculture and industry, 6) Im-
provement in quality and production of inexpensive textbooks, and
7) Investment of 6 per cent of national income in education.
The National Policy of 1968 was in line with the various rec-
ommendations of the Kothari Commission and marked a signifi-
cant step in the history of education in post - independence India.
There has been considerable expansion in educational facilities all
over the country. Perhaps the most notable development has been
the acceptance of a common structure of education throughout the
country and the introduction of the 10+2+3 system by most states.
The National Policy of Education (NPE) approved by Par-
liament in 1986 aimed at making it "an effective instrument for
taking India into the 21st century".
The NPE policy seeks to establish a national system of
education which lays down an overall curricular framework and a
core curriculum to establish comparability of competence at the
end of various stages of education all over the country, reinforce
the integrative aspects of society and culture and also establish a
value system necessary for an egalitarian, democratic and secular
society.,
A National Literacy Authority was set up in 1988 to promote
the National Literacy Mission of achieving 80 per cent literacy in
the 15-35 age group by 1995. (The national literacy rate according
to the 1991 census is 52.2 per cent). Kottayam in Kerala became
the first town in the country to achieve total literacy on February
4, 1990. The Prime Minister declared Ernakulam as the first fully
literate district.
The NPE has accorded the highest priority to the goal en-
shrined in the Constitution of ensuring essential minimum educa-
tion to all children up to the age of 14 years. A drive called . Opera-
tion Blackboard has been launched to improve the basic infrastruc-
ture of primary schools.
The Integrated Child Development Services Programme
(ICDS) which is today the world's largest integrated nutrition
programme for children, continues to be the corner stone of the
country's efforts in the sphere of child development. The pro-
gramme provides an integrated package of services comprising
supplementary nutrition, health check-up, immunisation for chil-
dren in the age group 0-6 years and pre-school education for
children of the age group 3-6 years.
One of the highlights of the NPE is the opening of Navodaya
Vidyalayas in each district of the country for specially talented
children to develop to their full potential and to promote national
integration. Education in these schools is free. 280 of those schools
had been set up by 1991-92 in 23 states and 7 Union Territories.
The NPE has accorded priority to recasting the examination
system to ensure a method of assessment that will lead to student
’development and result in improving teaching and learning.
The NPE introduced by the Rajiv Gandhi Government faced
opposition from the successor National Front Government of
V.P.Singh which had it reviewed by the Ramamurthy Committee.
But by the time the committee gave its report the Government fell.
The P.V.Narasimha Rao Government set up a review committee
headed by the then Andhra Chief Minister, Mr. Janardhana Reddy,
to examine the recommendations of the Ramamurthy Committee.
The report of the committee headed by Janardhana Reddy was
considered by the Central Advisory Board of Education which fi-
nalised the revised education policy. Both the report and the
modified national education policy were presented in Parliament
on May 7, 1992 by the Human Resource Development Minister,
Mr. Arjun Singh. Consequent on revision of the policy, the
Government prepared a revised Programme of Action (POA) in
1992.
The POA calls for making the " Plus two stage" part of school
education throughout the country. It also proposes to prepare a
national examination reform framework to serve as a set of guide-
lines for the examining bodies.
The policy also provides for the establishment of educational
tribunals, on the lines of administrative tribunals, at the national
and state levels to ensure speedy redressal of grievances. It
provides for setting up of open universities in states besides
strengthening the Indira Gandhi National Open University, which
has emerged as the second largest open university in the world,
after the Television University of China with 2 lakh students on its
rolls by January 1993.
The revised policy proposes to enlarge the scope of "Opera-
tion Blackboard" from two class rooms and two teachers to three
classrooms and three teachers. It will be extended from the primary
level to the upper-primary stage also. At least 50 per cent of
teachers recruited in future will be women.
The policy proposes to launch a national mission to achieve
free and compulsory education up to 14 years by the turn of the
century. The POA perceives the problem of universalisation of
education as, in essence, the problem of the girl child and stresses
the need to increase participation of girls at all stages of education
particularly in streams like science, vocational, technical and
commerce education where girls are grossly under-rated.
The target of vocationalisation has also been revised to cover
10 per cent higher secondary students by 1995 and 25 per cent by
2000. The dates laid down in the NPE (1986) were 1990 and 1995
respectively.
Stressing the need for promotion of adult literacy the revised
policy lays emphasis on giving it an employment - cum-self em-
ployment orientation.
The policy says that yoga, which it describes as a system
which promotes integrated development of body and mind, should
be introduced in all schools and teacher training courses.
Although Education is a concurrent subject in the Constitu-
tion the Central Government comes into the picture at the secon-
dary level and in higher education. Primary education is con-
trolled by the states.
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Investment in education was 3.5% of GDP in 1990-91. The
budget on education in the Centre and States for 1990-91 was Rs.
16,312 crores. The Gross Domestic Product for 1990-91 was
estimated at Rs. 472660 crores.