Education for all” declares that everyone has a right to education.

Its aim is to give everyone a Chance to

learn and benefit from basic education – not as an accident of circumstance, or as a Privilege, but as a
RIGHT

Abstract:

This paper aims to review the Education system in India and to examine the Issues & Challenges in
Education .A number of programmes have been initiated to achieve the goal of universalisation of
elementary education in India. The present paper reviews the education system ,policies & programmes,
literacy rate in india ,statewise literacy rate including male and female literacy level in the rural and
urban india .Then the current attendance in school, Enrolment, Gender disparity dropouts, never
attendance & Non Enrolment were analysed.

The paper examined the physical attainments in terms of three basic principles of educational
development consistent to the objectives of educational policy and planning namely access, equity and
quality with the help of selected indicators of progress to the extent of the availability of data. This
paper attempts to examine the actions taken and status achieved relating to school education in India.
The challenges also looked into and remedies offered. Admitting that providing resources for educating
the masses is the biggest challenge, the study emphasizes the need for better access through improved
quality and providing incentives for enrolment and attendance. Besides creating environment for public
awareness, training and human security, the appropriate strategy for education at school level also
called for sustainable Development. The paper uses a review of published statistics and extant literature
on Indian Education System, History, Provision, and Regulatory Mechanism, Literacy rate, Issues &
Challenges in Education.

Introduction

Education, as a discipline, is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in schools or school-like
environments as opposed to various nonformal and informal means of socialization (e.g., rural
development projects and education through parent-child relationships).Education can be thought of as
the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In this sense, it is equivalent to
what social scientists term socialization or enculturation. Education is designed to guide them in learning
a culture, molding their behavior in the ways of adulthood, and directing them toward their eventual
role in society. In the most primitive cultures, there is often little formal learning—little of what one
would ordinarily call school or classes or teachers.

Instead, the entire environment and all activities are frequently viewed as school and classes, and many
or all adults act as teachers. As societies grow more complex, however, the quantity of knowledge to be
passed on from one generation to the next becomes more than any one person can know, and, hence,
there must evolve more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission. The outcome is formal
education—the school and the specialist called the teacher. Education has always been considered as
the only key component of human development and greatest liberating force. Hence, traditionally,
education has always held the most venerable position in our society. It is considered as fundamental to
all round development of the individual both at material and spiritual levels. Education is intrinsically
intertwined with the development process and constitutes the instrumentality of modernization of
tradition (Raza, 1990).

The role of education in economic development has been noted by the researchers (Sodhi, 1985 &
Singh, 1974). At the micro level the direct and indirect role of education through value-orientation in
economic development has already been established (Bhagat, 1989). Education is also vital to sustain
competitive markets and viable democracy. Researchers have shown that increasing the average
primary schooling of the labour force by one year can increase output substantially. Even at the macro
level, social benefits of elementary education are immense. Educated parents send their children to
school; elementary education leads to perpetuation of benefits from one generation to another (Sinha,
2004, P. 628).

Need and Importance of Education

On the need for education, I wish to quote our Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who once said
that

“Education not only moulds the new generation, but reflects a society’s fundamental assumptions about
itself and the individuals which compose it”.

The famous philosopher Einstein while discussing the need for education has projected the following
fundamentals:

To educate the individual as a free individual; to understand and use critical thinking skills.

To educate the individual as a part of society – virtually all our knowledge, our clothes, our food is
produced by others in our society, thus, we owe Society and have responsibility to contribute back to
Society.

Through education, knowledge must continually be renewed by ceaseless effort, if it is not to be lost. It
resembles a statute of marble which stands in the desert and is continually threatened with burial by
the shifting sand. The hands of service must ever be at work, in order that the marble continue to
lastingly shine in the sun.(Dr K C Chakrabarty,2011)

While discussing the importance of education, Dr.K.C.Chakrabarty,Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank
of India, state that schools have become the most important means of transforming wealth of
knowledge and skills from one generation to another. However, the role of institutions becomes more
challenging in the modern world with innovations and technological development.

Education provides children with life skills that will enable them to prosper later in life. It equips children
with the skills to maintain a healthy and productive existence, to grow into resourceful and socially
active adults, and to make cultural and political contributions to their communities. Education also
transmits more abstract qualities such as critical thinking skills, healthy living, resilience, and self-
confidence. An educated adult population is vital for strong economic development. It also lays the
foundations for greater overall economic productivity, and the full use of new technologies for
development. A system of compulsory schooling helps fight child labour.

Education in India

The school education in India has a long history. The concept of the provision of elementary education
to all children has its root in the beginning of Indian civilization. In the Vedic Aryan times education for
children was not provided by the state but was more in the form of a religious practice. Education began
with Upanayana ceremony ( hinduism.iskcon.org/practice/602.htm), the practice of taking the pupil to
the teacher or guru for education.( L.N.Bhagat,1989)

During pre-independence period the British build up an elementary education system for training
natives for administrative work under the empire. A tremendous progress made with the transfer of
elementary education to Indian control under the Dyarchy

(1921-37) when the value-education was stressed, universal participation in education for all attempted
and expenditure allocation increased.

The post independence period saw a very strong demand by the people for free and compulsory
universal elementary education for national development. Free and compulsory education for all
children up to the age of fourteen years is the Constitutional commitment in India (Article 45). At the
time of the adoption of the Constitution in 1950, the aim was to achieve the goal of Universalisation of
Elementary Education (UEE) within the next ten years i.e. by 1960. Keeping in view the educational
facilities available in the country at that time, the goal was far too ambitious to achieve within a short
span of ten years. To facilitate the achievement of UEE goal, the National Council of Educational
Research & Training (NCERT), the National Institute of Educational Planning & Administration (NIEPA)
and many other institutes were set up in 1960’s as resource, research and training centers.
In order to give access to elementary education for all children up to 14 years of age and for universal
participation till they complete the elementary stage of educational programs, the National Policy on
Education (NPE) in 1968, the NPE in 1986, the Program of Action (POA) elaborated in the NPE of 1986
and the updated form of the NPE in 1992 gave an unqualified priority to the Universalization of
Elementary Education (UEE) program.

At the time of Independence in the year 1947, India inherited a system of education which was not only
quantitatively small but also characterized by the persistence of large intra- and inter-regional as well as
structural imbalances. Only 14 percent of population was literate, and one child out of three had been
enrolled in the primary school. The need for a literate population and universal education for all in the
age group of 6- 14 was recognized as a crucial input for nation building and was given due consideration
in successive five year plans.

The NPE, 1968 stressed on the elimination of disparities in the educational system and on the
improvement in the quality of the school. The emphasis was more on retention rather than merely on
enrollment. Between 1950 to 1968, there was substantial increase in the number of primary schools,
but records shows that in 1967-68 the retention rate came down to 35%. This shows that the policy
statement did not get translated into a detailed strategy of implementation. As a result, problems of
access, quality, quantity, utility and financial outlay, have accumulated over the years, to reach massive
proportions.

The Fifth All India Educational Survey-1986 mentions that, the disparity in enrollment still persisted
between the states at the primary level. To tackle these problems, the Govt. of India formulated a new
education policy in 1986. In this policy, along with the universal access, enrollment and universal
retention of children up to 14 years of age, a substantial improvement in the quality of education, was
emphasized. This policy gave the highest priority to solving the problem of children dropping out of the
school. This is evident from the emphasis given on non-formal education in the policy.

At the same time it was decided that the various parameters of implementation of New Policy must be
reviewed after every five years. This would ascertain the progress of implementation of the policy and
focus on the emerging trends in the area of education.

The NPE, 1986 which was modified in 1992 as a ‘Program of Action (POA) made certain modifications in
the earlier policy. The POA, 1992 emphasized three aspects: universal access and enrollment; universal
retention of children up to age 14 years; and a substantial improvement in the quality of education to
enable all children to achieve essential levels of learning at the primary education levels.( Sangeetha
Shirname (2007): “Education for All” in India: Historical development, especially in the light of gender
equality and impact on the present day situation ) http://dise.in/Downloads/Use%20of%20Dise
%20Data/Sangeeta% 20Shirname.pdf.

Literacy in India

India is the largest democracy with remarkable diversity among its population of 1.2 billion which
makes up about 17% of the world’s population. The 15th official census in India was calculated in the
year 2011. In a country like India, literacy is the main foundation for social and economic growth. When
the British rule ended in India in the year 1947 the literacy rate was just 12%. Over the years, India has
changed socially, economically, and globally.

After the 2011 census, literacy rate India 2011 was found to be 74.04%. Compared to the adult literacy
rate here the youth literacy rate is about 9% higher. Though this seems like a very great
accomplishment, it is still a matter of concern that still so many people in India cannot even read and
write. The numbers of children who do not get education especially in the rural areas are still high.
Though the government has made a law that every child under the age of 14 should get free education,
the problem of illiteracy is still at large.

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Now, if we consider female literacy rate in India, then it is lower than the male literacy rate as many
parents do not allow their female children to go to schools. They get married off at a young age instead.
Though child marriage has been lowered to very low levels, it still happens. Many families, especially in
rural areas believe that having a male child is better than having a baby girl. So the male child gets all the
benefits. Today, the female literacy levels according to the Literacy Rate 2011 census are 65.46% where
the male literacy rate is over 80%. The literacy rate in India has always been a matter of concern.

Here are some facts about different states literacy rate, Kerala is the only state in India to have 100%
literacy rate. It is followed by Goa, Tripura, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, and Maharashtra, Sikkim. The
lowest literacy rate in India is seen in the state of Bihar. We also need to think why is the literacy rate is
low here in India compared to other developed countries. Basically the population in India is very high.
Being the 7th largest country its population stands 2nd in the world after China. There are over 1 billion
people in India. The number of schools and educational centers especially in rural areas is less. Even
today many people are below the poverty line. Also people aren’t aware that children should get free
education according to the law. ( Main article: Indian states ranking by literacy rate, Census of India
2011 & National Family Health Survey 2011.)

Issues & Challenges of Education

Current Enrolment & Attendance Status

General school education is divided into primary, middle or upper primary, secondary and Higher
secondary levels. In most states these terms refer to Classes I V, VI VIII, IX X and XI XII respectively, but
the number of years corresponding to primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary levels is not
uniform in all the states. So class wise grouping is more appropriate for studying current enrolment/
attendance rates. Age specific current attendances in education are studied with age groups formed
according to the official ages for each class group. In most of the official educational statistics, enrolment
ratios are taken as important indicators which give an idea of the proportion of a population enrolled in
educational institutions. Gross enrolment ratio,age specific enrolment ratio and net enrolment ratio are
taken as three principal indicators.

As per administrative statistics of the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of
India, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for Grade I V in India has already overshot the 100 percent mark
for both girls and boys. GER for Grade I V unlike NER (Net Enrolment Ratio) tends to exceed 100% due to
enrolment of children beyond the age group 6 10 years in the primary level education.

The Population Censuses and the major household surveys like National Sample Survey Organization
(NSSO) surveys on ‘Participation and Expenditure in Education’ or National Family Health Surveys,
because of their household approach, collect information on attendance, rather than that on enrolment,
in the educational institutions. Therefore, instead of enrolment ratios, the corresponding attendance
ratios can be obtained. From the latest such large scale statistical exercises, e.g. Population Census 2001,
NFHS 3 (2005 06) and NSSO survey on ‘Participation and Expenditure in Education’ (July 2007 June
2008) depict the changing scenario of attendance in elementary education in the new millennium.
(Statistics on Literacy & School Education in the New Millennium Issues, Challenges & Suggestions ,
(2011) )

With the launch of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the Government of India’s flagship programme for
achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, mandated by
86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to the children of 6
14 years age group, a Fundamental Right, the current educational attendance status of children in this
age group assumes great significance. The programme also seeks to open new schools in those
habitations which do not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through
provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement
grants.

The Population Censuses collect information on percentage of children in the age group 6 10 years
(official age group for primary classes) and in the age group 11 14 years (official age group for middle
level classes) who are attending schools. NHFS 3 gives age specific attendance rates, as percentage of
children attending education in the age groups 6 10, 11 14, 15 17 years and NSSO gives age specific
attendance rates for the age groups 6 10, 11 13, 14 17 years etc. (Report on Children in India 2012 – A
Statistical Appraisal ).

Drop out

Population Census 2001 did not release tabulated data on drop out or non enrolment. The National
Family Health Survey (2005 06) collected and tabulated data on main reason for not attending school
sought for all children age 6 17 years who were not attending school during the 2005 06 school year. It
gives the percent distribution of children aged 6 17 years who have dropped out of School at some time
before the 2005 06 school year by the main reason for not attending school.

NSSO survey (2007 08) (Statistics on Literacy & School Education in the New Millennium Issues,
Challenges & Suggestions , (2011) )

captured very useful information on the two major critical issues plaguing our education system, viz. non
enrolment and dropping out. The survey reveals that the most common reasons for school drop out
among persons of age 6 17 years for dropping out of school are the following:

‘not interested in studies’ reported for 36 % boys and 21 % girls.

‘costs too much’ for 18% each of boys and girls,

‘required for household work’ for 15% girls and 7% boys.

‘required for outside work for payment in cash or kind’ for 9% boys etc.

‘required for work on family farm/family business’ for 7% boys.

‘repeated failures’ for 6% each of boys and girls.

‘got married’ for 5% girls etc.

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It also tabulates the major reasons for discontinuing studies among ever enrolled persons of Age 5 29
years as below:

Financial constraints 21%

Child not interested in studies 20%

Unable to cope up or failure in studies 10%

Completed desired level or class 10%

Parents not interested in studies 9%

Ministry of Human Resource Development brings out its annual publication ‘Selected Educational
Statistics’ (2006 07) indicate the drop out rates in different class groups as below

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A stable high Net Enrolment Ratio in elementary education will however, largely depend on sustained
improvement in survival rate especially in the primary stage (i.e. proportion of pupils starting Grade I
who reach the last grade of primary). DISE 2007 08 finds out the survival rate at primary level up to
Grade V. During 2007 08 more than 9% of children enrolled in Grades I to V dropped out from the
system before completion of primary grade and there were no major differences in drop out rate among
boys and girls. The corresponding percentage during 2005 06 and 2004 05 were 9% and 10%
respectively. However, specific cohort based estimates of primary completion rate, attendance rate,
dropout rate, survival to grade V rate are presently not available from statistical surveys, particularly at
sub national levels.

Non Enrolment

SSO survey ( 2007 08) tabulates the percentage of never enrolled children in different age gr. to find out
that 9% of children between age 6 10 years and 6% of children of age 11 – 13 years.

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Considering the most important reason for non enrolment for each of the never enrolled persons the
three most frequently given reasons for non enrolment were

Parents not interested in education of their children (33 %)

Financial constraints (21%) and

Education not considered necessary (22%).

For females in both rural and urban India, it was the attitude of the parents towards the need for
education of their girl children, which had in the majority of cases denied them their education. But for
urban males ‘financial constraints’ was most commonly given as the reason for non enrolment. The
proportion of never enrolled persons across consumption expenditure deciles classes clearly depicts the
high rates of non enrolment among persons of lower expenditure classes.

Thus, it can be seen that although education is highly subsidized in India, our education system has been
characterized by a high rate o f drop outs. Again, there is a sizeable portion of population who are not
entering the education system at all. For both the phenomena, it was economic reasons (e.g. financial
constraints, need to join the labour force early etc.) were found to be of prime significance.

Challenges in Education

The Challenges in school education are examined in two parts. Firstly in terms of physical attainments
and secondly in terms of implications through inter-relations.

Physical Attainments

Physical attainments are examined in terms of three basic principles of educational development
consistent to the objectives of educational policy and planning namely access, equity and quality with
the help of selected indicators of progress to the extent of the availability of data. By accepting the three
principles of access, equity and quality, the education would be used as an agent of basic change in
developing all individuals to be fully functioning, actively interacting with the condition, process and
stimuli in environment. This would also ensure that they would grow to be happily and contented
individuals and not disgruntled and disappointed and would radiate this happiness at home, in work
place and society and build a healthy, congenial environment to live in and think for better future.

1. Access to Schools

Availability of school is one important factor affecting access to education and attendance. The SSA
programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations which do not have schooling facilities and
strengthen existing school infrastructure through provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking
water, maintenance grant and school improvement grants.In the NSS survey (2007 08) information was
obtained from all the sample households on their distance from the nearest school providing school
education at (a) primary (b) middle and (c) secondary level.

More than 98% of rural as well as urban households reported having a school with primary classes
within 2 kms.

Of the rural households, more than 21% did not have a school with middle level classes within 2 km and
17% did not have a school with secondary level classes within 5 kms.

In the urban areas, the situation was much better with only 3% not having a school with middle level
classes within 2 km and 1% not having a school with secondary level classes within 5 kms.

Among states, in West Bengal, Jharkhand besides one or two tiny states, more than 30% of rural
households did not have a school with middle level classes within 2km.

Access improvement is examined through supply side and demand side interventions presented below

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2. Equity

Considerable improvements in the number of schools and enrolments have been observed in the last
few years. Yet a large number of children are still remained out of school education. The glaring
disparities in access and participation in certain sections of the population is another problem. There is
tremendous need in the present context to rectify inequities through their equator addressable in the
policy framework on education. The main categories of population that have generally been left out of
mainstream education are (a) Scheduled Cast and Scheduled Tribe, (b) Girls and (c) Children with
disabilities.

3. Quality of Education

The issue of quality education is appropriate not only because India is reaching the goal of universal
education but also because the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) seeks to provide quality education and life
skills. As of now, learning achievements, when compared with expected notional levels for primary
grade students, are quite unsatisfactory as is revealed by ASER 2009. It has been seen that almost half of
the students studying in Class V cannot read and comprehend a Standard II text and more than 60 %
cannot do a simple division. However most of the official statistics available today does not cover much
information on this aspect.

The quality of education is linked to its relevance to life of the learner. It is extremely necessary that the
education provided be relevant and related to the life of the learner, rather than becoming a ritual in
their own environment. There is no single factor representing quality education. However, there are
certain directional indicators that characterize quality education. They are (a) improvement in provision
of infrastructure and human resources for elementary education, (b) provision of improved Curriculum
and teaching learning materials, (c) attention to teacher development and (d) provision of value-
education and in the courses of studies. The two indicators of quality education are presented below in
Table.

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Table shows the percentage of teachers provided in-service training which is 37.37. It is not very
satisfactory; the rural emphasis is however, reflected. The utilization of teaching learning material grant
improves quality and efficiency. The percentage of schools that received and utilized Teaching Learning
Material (TLM) grant, as shown in Table – 61.81 which is also not very satisfactory.

Challenges and Remedies

The goal of universalisation of elementary education has not yet been achieved. The problem of left-out
and drop-out still remains to be solved. The most serious challenge is to educate these persons. The
non-formal education schemes with emphasis on Vocational Training and, of course, with greater
magnitude of incentives may be of some help in this direction. The local bodies and voluntary
organizations may be of great help in solving this problem. Even the compulsory education legislation
already in use in many countries may not be helpful in developing countries like India. In fact, it is often
stated that “ these lows were introduced in most countries in response to international convention and
pressure and hence they had little impact on the actual enrolment of children is schools (Colclough,
1993,p.261).”

Providing sufficient number of teachers from another challenge. Besides increasing the number of
schools and teachers including Headmasters wherever required, the number of female teacher should
be increased to make it at least 50 percent of the total teacher. Gradually all schools should be
converted into co-education school. This will have significant impact on the overall personality
development of the girl student, which is the future need for the nation. Every school teacher should be
assigned with the task of counseling a group of students who will take care of their studies, attendance
and overall guidance for better future. This may help in increasing the retention rate and achieving
excellence in school education.

Coping with the worldwide development of science and technology is yet another challenge. In fact, we
don’t have any systematic planning for mobilizing the talent from the Schools for use of national
interest. We have scientist but are sciencetist by chance and not by choice. What is needed is to
identify a group of talented students taken proportionately from rural and urban areas and educate
them centrally through MHRD under fully subsidized residential programme for preparing them for
higher education and research in the field of science and technology according to their intrinsic aptitude
and interest. This will help in attaining the goal of better future and sustainable developments.

Various educational policies and programmes implemented after post-independence period have
resulted in improved access of elementary education. The efforts to attain equity and quality is also
praise worthy. But universalisation of education at the elementary level has not yet been achieved. The
study emphasizes the need for providing more emphasis on demand-side interventions for better
access. Besides creating environment for public awareness, training and human security, the
appropriate strategy for the education and at the school level also called for, for sustainable
development.

Conclusion

Education is a Fundamental Right of every citizen of our country. But unfortunately, despite several
commissions appointed to improve the state of education in our country since independence, not much
headway has been made towards making it relevant to the needs of the time. Parrot learning and
reproducing half-baked ideas in the examination halls has been the yardstick of assessing the quality of
school goers in all levels whether it is Primary, Secondary or College Education.

Although education has a significant influence on life, the average education is not the same in different
areas. There are still some places where the inhabitants are almost completely uneducated, causing a
serious lack of knowledge. There are various factors that need attention like the student dropout ratio,
the student teacher ratio, student – teacher relationship, availability of resources , low enrolment rates
at the primary level, wide disparities between regions and gender, lack of trained teachers, deficiency of
proper teaching materials and poor physical infrastructure of schools etc…. that indicate the poor
performance of this sector.

Providing free and quality education to children reflects the fact that every child is entitled to
fundamental human rights and is to be treated with dignity. Where children are exposed to poverty,
violence, abuse, or exploitation, those rights demand our urgent protection. Education supports children
at a critical time in their physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth. More broadly, education is a
key tool for development, and an invaluable means of addressing structural inequality and
disadvantage.