Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

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.

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.