CHAPTER 19

PART A

SOCIAL SECTORS IN INDIA - HEALTH &

EDUCATION

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Contents
1 What is Education? ............................................................................................................................................... 3
2 Status of Education in India: ................................................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Literacy Rates in India: .................................................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Education related data in Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011: ...................................................... 4
2.3 Constitutional and legal provisions relating to Education in India: .............................................................. 5
3 Apex Institutions: .................................................................................................................................................. 5
4 Fundamental Rights: ............................................................................................................................................. 6
4.1 Constitutional Provisions for weaker sections: ............................................................................................ 6
4.2 Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009: .............................................................................................................. 6
4.3 Important update: ........................................................................................................................................ 7
4.4 Important highlights of the Bill: .................................................................................................................... 7
5 Elementary Education in India: Its present status and problems:........................................................................ 7
5.1 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER): .................................................................................................. 8
5.2 National Achievement Survey: ..................................................................................................................... 8
6 Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in India (IX to XII): .......................................................................... 8
6.1 The following are the important data points mentioned in the U-DISE 2015-16: ....................................... 9
7 Higher Education in India: .................................................................................................................................... 9
7.1 All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE):.............................................................................................. 9
8 Global Ranking of Universities: ...........................................................................................................................10
8.1 QS World University Rankings: ...................................................................................................................10
8.2 The Times Higher Education World University Rankings: ..........................................................................10
8.3 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU):.....................................................................................10
9 Adult Education: .................................................................................................................................................10
10 National Literacy Mission Authority ...............................................................................................................11
11 National Education Policy of India: .................................................................................................................11
11.1 Key Legacies of NEP I and NEP II: ................................................................................................................11

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1 What is Education?
• Education is a process in which and by which the knowledge, characters and behavior of the
human being are shaped and molded.
• Education leads to the enlightenment of mankind.

2 Status of Education in India:

2.1 Literacy Rates in India:

• 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.
• As per provisional population totals of Census 2011, literates constitute 74 per cent of the
total population aged seven and above and illiterates form 26 percent.
• Literacy rate has gone up from 64.83 per cent in 2001 to 74.04 per cent in 2011 showing an
increase of 9.21 percentage points.
• Compared to the adult literacy rate here the youth literacy rate is about 9% higher.
• The literacy rate for males and females works out to 82.14 per cent and 65.46 per cent
respectively. The increase in literacy rate in males and females during 2001-2011 is in the
order of 6.88 and 11.79 percentage points respectively.
• But still there is a ray of hope as out of total of 217,700,941 literates added during the
decade, female 110,069,001 outnumber male 107,631,940.
• A significant milestone reached in Census 2011 is that a decline of 31,196,847 among
illiterates is noted.
• Out of total decrease of 31,196,847 in number of illiterates, the female 17,122,197
outnumber males 14,074,650.
• Ten States and Union Territories viz., Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Tripura, Goa, Daman &
Diu, Puducherry, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands have achieved
literacy rate of above 85 per cent.
• The gap of 21.59 percentage points recorded between male and female literacy rates in
2001 Census has reduced to 16.68 percentage points in 2011.
• The States/Union Territories which have achieved male-female gap in literacy rate of 10
percentage points or less are Chandigarh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya,
Lakshadweep, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

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2.2 Education related data in Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011:

From the above given information, it can be concluded that: Working in anything other than
agriculture will be a tough ask, given the level of education – fewer than 10 per cent make it to
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higher secondary or above and just 3.41 per cent of households have a family member who is at
least a graduate.

2.3 Constitutional and legal provisions relating to Education in India:

Education: Shift from State List to Concurrent List:

• Education was originally included in the State List of the Constitution of India.
• Under the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976, education was transferred to the Concurrent List in
the Seventh Schedule, within the competency of both the Centre and the State
Governments, but with residual powers vesting with the Union Government.
• This implies that, in case of a conflict, laws passed by the Parliament shall prevail over those
made by State Legislatures, and that, any State law shall be void to the extent of repugnancy.

3 Apex Institutions:
• Various apex institutions have been vested by Acts of Parliament with the responsibility to
regulate the standards of education.
• The University Grants Commission (UGC) is empowered to coordinate and maintain
minimum standards of university education.

Note:
In the year 2018, a draft bill – The Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University
Grants Commission Act) Bill 2018 was released by the Union Government of India.
The draft bill seeks to repeal the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 and set up a Higher
Education Commission.

What would be the functions of the Higher Education Commission?

✓ Specifying learning outcomes for courses in higher education;
✓ Laying down standards for teaching, curriculum development, and skill development;
✓ Specifying norms for granting autonomy to universities, and
✓ Framing guidelines for determination of fees chargeable by higher education institutions.

• The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established in 1994 to
assess the standards of quality and accredit Universities along with their constituent and
affiliated colleges.
• The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was established in 1987 for planned
and coordinated development of the technical education system in the country.
• The National Board of Accreditation (NAB) has been set up to assess and accredit technical
institutions in the country and make recommendations for recognition and de-recognition of
qualifications.
• Other Statutory bodies: Further, there are apex statutory bodies, like the National Council of
Teacher Education (NCTE), Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI),
Indian Nursing Council (INC), Council of Architecture, Bar Council of India (BCI), Pharmacy

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 Council of India (PCI), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Rehabilitation Council
of India, Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) and Central Council of Indian Medicine
(CClM), Distance Education Council, National Council for Vocational Training, etc., which
regulate the standards of education in various professional fields.

4 Fundamental Rights:
• Several provisions relating to Fundamental Rights in the Constitution impact on education. Of
these, the most important are the Right to Education, Religious Instruction in Educational
Institutions and the Right of Minorities to Establish and Administer Educational Institutions.
• Article 28 provides for “Freedom of attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in
certain educational institutions” as a Fundamental Right.
• Article 29 (1) guarantees the protection of the linguistic rights of minorities. Any section of
citizens with their own distinct language, script or culture has the Fundamental Right to
conserve it.
• Under Article 29 (1), the Constitution recognizes the study and preservation of one’s mother
tongue as a Fundamental Right.
• Article 29 (2) provides, as a Fundamental Right, that no citizen shall be denied admission to
any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on
grounds only of religion, race, caste, language.
• Article 30 relates to cultural and educational rights of minorities. It lays down that all
minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice.

4.1 Constitutional Provisions for weaker sections:

• The Constitution makes special provision for safeguarding the educational interests of the
weaker, socially and educationally backward sections of society and members of Scheduled
Castes and Tribes.
• Article 15 empowers the State to make any special provision, by law, for the advancement
of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes with regard to their admission to educational institutions, including private
educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, with the exception of
minority educational institutions.
• Article 46 enjoins the State, as a Directive Principle of State Policy, to promote the
educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular,
of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes with special care, and to protect them
from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

4.2 Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009:

• The RTE was originally included as a non-justifiable Right under the Directive Principles of
State Policy.
• The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21A in the
Constitution as a Fundamental Right, mandating that “The State shall provide free and

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 compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the
State may, by law, determine.”
• The consequential legislation envisaged to give effect to Article 21 A was: “The Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act)”, giving every child the right
to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school
which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.

The RTE Act provides for the following:

• Right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education
in a neighbourhood school.
• Private schools will have to take 25% of their class strength from the weaker section and the
disadvantaged group of the society through a random selection process. Government will
fund education of these children.
• No child can be held back, expelled and required to pass the board examination till the
completion of elementary education.
• It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs),
buildings and infrastructure, school-working days, teacher-working hours.
• It prohibits (a) physical punishment and mental harassment; (b) screening procedures for
admission of children; (c) capitation fee; (d) private tuition by teachers and (e) running of
schools without recognition.

4.3 Important update:

• There has been a bill introduced for the amendment of the RTE Act, 2009 in the Parliament.
The bill is named as ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second
Amendment) Bill, 2017.
• The Current status of the bill: Passed by the Lok Sabha on 18th July, 2018.

Note: Kindly refer EduTap’s ESI and Finance in news monthly Current Affairs magazine for any
further updates related to this bill.

4.4 Important highlights of the Bill:

• The Right to Education Act, 2009 prohibits detention of children till they complete
elementary education i.e., class 8. The Bill amends this provision to state that a regular
examination will be held in class 5 and class 8 at the end of every academic year. If a child
fails the exam, he will be given additional instruction, and take a re-examination.
• If he fails in the re-examination, the relevant central or state government may decide to
allow schools to detain the child.

5 Elementary Education in India: Its present status and problems:

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Note: In the section below, we have mentioned various surveys that give us an understanding of
the status of education in India.

5.1 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER):

• Beginning in 1996, the non-government organization Pratham has worked with children in
thousands of villages and urban slums across India. For much of this period, the focus of this
work has been on helping children master basic skills in reading and arithmetic.
• Every year, it brings out its Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) since 2005, on the basis
of extensive household surveys conducted to assess children’s schooling status and basic
learning levels in reading and arithmetic.

5.2 National Achievement Survey:

• At the disaggregated level, The National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) has conducted National Achievement Surveys (NAS) periodically since 2001 for
Classes 3, 5 and 8.
• The NAS is a school-based national survey covering all States and Union Territories and
focusing on specific classes in particular years.
• It is carried out by NCERT under the mandate of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme to
“monitor improvement in children’s learning levels and to periodically assess the health of
the government education system as a whole.

Note: Important change:

• So far four rounds of National Achievement Survey (NAS) have been conducted for class V
and three rounds for classes III & VIII. These surveys give an insight into the learning
achievements of the students in various subjects.
• From the year 2018, the Government has also decided to conduct a National Achievement
Survey with the district area as its sample base and not the State as a unit.
• This will ensure that all districts are not only represented but the data will be robust to reflect
a decentralized picture of the quality of school education.

Note: For further updates regarding the conduct of this survey, kindly refer EduTap’s ESI and
Finance Monthly Current Affairs magazine.

6 Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in India (IX to XII):

The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) of boys and girls at secondary level is brought out as per the
Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE).
What is U-DISE?
• U-DISE is the Unified District Information System for Education.
• It has been established through the integration of District Information System for Education
(DISE) of the Elementary level and the Secondary Education Management Information
System (SEMIS) of the Secondary level.

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6.1 The following are the important data points mentioned in the U-DISE 2015-16:

Note: The latest available data is that of U-DISE 2015-16.

• As per Unified-District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2015-16, the Gross
Enrolment Ratio (GER) of boys and girls at secondary level is 79.16 % and 80.97%
respectively and GER of boys and girls at Senior Secondary level is 55.95% and 56.41%
respectively.
• Hence there is no massive gap in GER of boys and girls at secondary and senior secondary
level in the country.
• Over the years, there has been significant and rapid increased participation of the private
sector and NGOs, in secondary education.
• Currently, approximately 51% of the secondary schools and 58% of the higher secondary
schools are privately managed.

Note: Kindly refer EduTap’s ESI and Finance in news monthly Current Affairs magazine for all the
updates related to the latest data brought out as per the U-DISE.

7 Higher Education in India:

There has been an upsurge in the demand for higher education after independence, resulting in a
virtual explosion in the number of universities and colleges in the country.

The institutions of higher learning in India consist of:

1. Central Universities established by an Act of Parliament;
2. State Universities established by State Legislatures;
3. Deemed Universities recognized as such by the Central Government on the
recommendation of the UGC;
4. Private Universities established by various State Governments through their own legislation;
and
5. Institutes of National Importance declared as such by the Government of India by an Act of
Parliament.

7.1 All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE):

• To portray the status of higher education in the country, Ministry of Human Resource
Development has endeavoured to conduct an annual web-based All India Survey on Higher
Education (AISHE) since 2010-11.
• The survey covers all the Institutions in the country engaged in imparting of higher
education. Data is being collected on several parameters such as teachers, student
enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance, infrastructure.

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 • Indicators of educational development such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio,
Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure will also be calculated from
the data collected through AISHE.
• These are useful in making informed policy decisions and research for development of
education sector.

Important fact: The government has set a target of gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education
of 30% by 2020.

Note: Kindly refer EduTap’s ESI and Finance in news monthly Current Affairs magazine for the
latest AISHE report released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

8 Global Ranking of Universities:

• The global ranking of universities is a useful indicator of their institutional performance,
based on a relative assessment in the areas of research and teaching, reputation of faculty
members, reputation among employers, resource availability, share of international students
and activities and other factors.
• There are rankings released each year by some of the prominent organizations and
institutions:

Some of the rankings released are:

8.1 QS World University Rankings:

It is an annual publication of university ranking by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

The QS is a British company specializing in education. The company was founded in 1990 by Nunzio
Quacquarelli.

8.2 The Times Higher Education World University Rankings:

Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by
The Times Higher Education (THE) magazine.

8.3 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU):

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as Shanghai Ranking, is one of the
annual publications of world university rankings. Shanghai Ranking Consultancy is an independent
organization focusing on higher education.

9 Adult Education:
• Education is the basis of the economic and cultural development of a country.
• The vast mass of people living in rural areas forms the majority of the population of the
country.

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 • If they remain illiterate, no upliftment of the country is possible.
• These rural masses are mostly very poor. They are ill-fed, ill sheltered, untreated in illness
and above that are illiterate.
• Besides empowering youth and adults through a variety of educational programmes,
achieving universal adult literacy is a fundamental goal of Adult Education.

10 National Literacy Mission Authority

• National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) has been set up as an independent and
autonomous wing of the Department of Secondary Education and Literacy to promote
literacy and adult education and to achieve the goals spelt out in the National Policy on
Education.
• Note: We shall be having a look at the National Policy on Education in the sections below.
• It is the operating and implementing organization at national level for all the activities
envisaged in National Literacy Mission and has to undertake such other activities for adult
education as are considered appropriate.

11 National Education Policy of India:

• India had two policies on education in the past- in 1968 and 1986.
• It serves as a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the
country and offers the government of the day an opportunity to leave its imprint on the
country’s education system
• The policy provides a broad direction and state governments are expected to follow
it. However, it’s not mandatory. For eg. Tamil Nadu, even today, does not follow the three-
language formula prescribed by the first education policy in 1968.

11.1 Key Legacies of NEP I and NEP II:

• The 10+2+3 (10 yrs secondary school + 2 years high school + 3 yrs of undergraduate
education) structure of education, and the three-language formula followed by a majority of
schools are among the most enduring legacies of the first national education policy.
• The prioritisation of science and mathematics in education is another.
• The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS schools),
Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV schools) and use of IT in education are a result of the NEP of 1986.

Note: In 2016, a committee headed by TSR Subramanian had come up with a draft proposal for the
new education policy.

Note:
• The HRD ministry has appointed a new nine-member panel, headed by space
scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan in June 2017, to work on a New Education Policy (NEP).
• HRD ministry has chosen experts and educationists from wide-ranging backgrounds to be
part of the panel that is expected to recast India's education policy.

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 • The HRD ministry had a couple of years ago formed a panel under former cabinet secretary T
S R Subramanian on the New Education Policy. Inputs from the Subramanian panel report
would also be utilized.

Note: Kindly refer EduTap’s ESI and Finance in news monthly Current Affairs magazine for updates
regarding the NEP.

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