Indian Education System | Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) Second to Livelihood

Indian Education System | Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) Second to Livelihood

INTRODUCTION

We can easily realize that Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) has become a global concern today. The UEE has been set as one of the important Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is considered second to livelihood, to be achieved within 15 years (this period is getting over soon) by more than two hundred countries in the world. India was also a party to this decision. You will see that our consistent efforts to eradicate illiteracy and to achieve UEE for last half a century, have started bearing fruits now. We have a huge system of education established for a large population with improved enrollment, retention and teacher- pupil ratio, higher literacy rate, better infrastructural facilities and their growth, etc. However, despite the national initiatives like literacy movement, NAEP, DPEP, SSA, RTE, etc., millions of our children are still out of schools, thousands of teachers are required to be recruited and about 10 lakh untrained teachers remain to be trained before 2015.

Here, we will give you a brief historical perspective of Indian education, right from ancient times to pre-independence period.

You know from the history that Indian culture is one of the oldest cultures in the world. The cultural spirit of any civilization and the ideals of the nation are reflected through their educational institutions and the practices they follow. Actually, as you know, in the civilized society, institution of school and the process of education are started for the purpose of creation, development and sustenance of the society and the culture of that community. It happened in our country also. Indian education system is embedded in its rich cultural heritage. Despite many deficiencies, it always remained a powerful tool of social reconstruction and development.

You will find it interesting to review briefly, educational practices in ancient India and see how the teacher and educational institutions in those historical periods, tried to make education, part of day to day life of masses, when there was no facility of printing, nor any information and communication technology (ICT), was available. You can trace back the roots of Indian education in the past and examine their relevance today, in the global perspective of 21st century.

Here, we will review briefly the educational practices in ancient India. We will also see the changing role and responsibilities of the Guru, the teacher. We will further review and evaluate the major recommendations of different commissions and committees during the British Raj for their bearing on the developments in Indian education. We will see how education, especially elementary education, developed in this country till we became a free, independent nation, in 1947.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you should be able to:

1. discuss the educational practices in ancient India,
2. evaluate the role and status of Guru in ancient Indian culture;
3. identify the trends, issues and challenges faced by education in historic periods;
4. analyze the historical events leading to the present status of elementary education;
5. discuss the impact of the recommendations of various Commissions and Committees on elementary education

INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM -1

1. Ancient Indian Education- A brief overview - Click Here

1. Concept of ‘Guru’ of the yore - Click Here

1. Role and responsibilities of Guru - Click Here

1. Professional teacher of today | Characteristics, roles and responsibilities of teacher - Click Here

1. Genesis of the Indian Education Today: Pre-independence period - Click Here

• Macaulay’s Minute 
• Wood’s Dispatch
• Hunter Commission
• Universities Commission
• The Sadler Commission
• The Hartog Committee
• The Sapru Committee
• The Abbot-Wood Report
• Zakir Hussain Committee’s Report
• Sergeant Report