2 Structure and Problems of School Education in India

Rekha Chavan

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Content Outline

 

  1. Learning Objectives
  2. Introduction
  3. Structure of School Education in India
  4. Functions of School Education
  5. Problems faced by Indian School Education System
  6. Conclusion

 

  1. Learning Objectives

 

After studying this module learners will be able to,

 

Ø Explain the Structure of School Education

Ø Explain Functions of School Education

Ø Explain Functions of Education towards individual

Ø Explain Functions of Education towards society

Ø Explain Functions of Education towards nation

Ø Discuss Problems faced by Indian School Education System

 

  1. Introduction

 

Education in India has become fundamental right of every citizen in India. It is provided by the public sector as well as private sector with control and funding coming from centre, state and local level. Under article 45 free and compulsory education is provided to children of the age group 6-14 years.

Education is commonly divided formally into stages such as preschool or kindergarten, primary, secondary, higher secondary and then college, university.

Under the current legislation, Article 45 under the Directive Principles of State policy in the Indian Constitution, provides free and compulsory education for all children aged between 6 to 14 years is called elementary education.

 

  1. Structure of School Education in India

 

School education is divided into following categories:

 

1.Preschool / Pre primary education – It is not compulsory and normally caters to children between the ages 3 to 6 years. Pre school education is divided in two stages i.e LKG and UKG. LKG comprises children of age group 3-4 years and UKG comprises children of age group 4-5 years. Pre school education prepares and help children to develop emotionally, mentally, socially and physically. The education pattern at this stage helps children to get accustomed to reading and developing writing skill. Pre school education forms the very basis for learning.

 

  1. Elementary/ Primary education – After finishing UKG child enters class I. Elementary education begins with class I and ends with class VIII. It covers eight years of schooling. Standard I to IV is considered as lower primary and standard V to VIII is considered as upper primary.
  2. Secondary education– Secondary education follows just after primary education. Secondary education begins at grade IX. It includes education of two years. Standard IX and X is called as secondary education and standard XI and XII is known as higher secondary education. By the end of grade X students decide whether they will follow a primarily academic programme leading to further education at the college level, vocational training programme leading to employment or specialised post-secondary training or general programme combining elements of both academic and professional programmes.
  1. Functions of School Education

 

Education can be used for many different purposes. We call these purposes as functions of education. Function refers to what education actually does. Education serves a number of functions in our society beyond just transmitting academic knowledge and skills. Education performs various functions towards the individual, towards the society and towards the nation.

 

  1. Function of education towards Individual
  • Education for integrated growth

 

Education is a process which is deliberately planned to train the child to lead group life and to effectively adjust to the human environment. It refines and culturizes the child.

 

  • Education for preparation for adult life

 

The child of today is citizen of tomorrow. Therefore it is the chief function of education to prepare child for his future life. Education develops abilities and capabilities in child which helps him to face all the problems of life.

  • Education for socialisation

Education is a process by which individuals acquire a personal identity and learn the knowledge, language, and social skills required to interact with others. Childalso learn social rules and expectations from interactions with others.

 

  • Education for development of higher values of life

 

Education helps in developing and cultivating good and higher values like truth, sympathy, love, cooperation, etc. in child. Through different social interactions and moral teachings, it spreads the message of righteous living in a society.

 

  • Vocational training

 

Through different activities, school provides training in different vocations. It also cultivates the values of dignity of work and labor. It prepares children to face any challenge in the future to fulfil their bare necessities.

 

  • Education for all-round development

 

For all-round development of the individual school has a package of programmes. Through its different activities, it draws out the hidden potentialities of the child and develops them in a proper way. Cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains are developed through education.

 

  1. Function of education towards Society
  • Education for development of social responsibility

 

School is called a society in miniature. Because in school child shares his feelings with various children coming from different strata. So he learns the lessons of social duty, responsibilities and understanding the feelings of others. So school helps in social change and social control.

 

  • Education for citizenship training

 

School creates the first civic society for the child. Child learns the duty and civic rights for the country as a responsible citizen. So school trains the lessons of citizenship to a child.

 

  • Education for adjustability in society

 

School prepares child to face the problems of the society. So proper adjustment and application of learned knowledge can be checked and guided by school. So the main function of the school is to develop adjustment capacity of an individual.

 

  • Education for conservation and promotion of culture

 

Besides socialization, education helps in transmission of cultural norms and values to new generations .The school conserves the valuable culture, tradition, values of the society and helps in promoting and developing these with the rolling of the time. It also spreads the store of culture to the next generation. Schools help to mould a diverse population into one society with a shared national identity and prepare future generations for their citizenship roles.

 

  1. Function of education towards Nation
  • Education for increasing productivity

 

Science education has become integral part in school education. It provides scope for experimentation, inventions, discoveries.Inventions in science and technology helps in increasing production. Integrating work with education helps in making the person self reliant and contributes in country’s economic growth.

 

  • Education for achieving national integration

 

India is multicultural nation with many sided diversities in terms of different cultures and traditions, language, religion etc. This marked divergence at times creates disintegration.Education helps in reduction of this disintegration.

  • Education for ascertaining process of modernization

Education in modern society is no longer concerned mainly with imparting the knowledge but the awakening of curiosity , the development of proper interest and attitude and building of essential skills , capacity to think and judge are developed through education which helps in accelerating the process of modernization.

 

 

  1. Problems faced by Indian School Education System

 

No Quality education

 

The biggest challenge that lies within the education system in India is the quality of education that is been delivered to the students, as most of the education that is delivered to students in India is generally theoretical in nature, its lacks the practical aspect. It is based on rote memorisation of facts and provides only bookish knowledge.In schools lots of attention is given to theory and books and practical knowledge is completely ignoredMaintaining standard of Education in more than million schools nationwide, offering training programs to teachers, and keeping good balance with Education system worldwide is a big challenge.School vary in size and are forced to compromise in all round development opportunities they must provide to students. Education provided is not meeting needs of students. It is not allowing them to enhance their skills and get better employment opportunities.

 

Non Accessibility of education

 

Though education is free and compulsory, it is not reaching to the masses. There are still some segments of the society (women, minorities, poor) who are deprived of education. Having infrastructural constraints and social issues, it becomes harder to make Education accessible to all segments of the society. We need to ensure quality in education as well as quantity.

Drop out and stagnation

Having infrastructural constraints and social issues, education is not attracting students. Education is not looked up as an enjoyable activity. Faulty and monotonous methods of teaching doesn’t creates interest among students for learning as a result there are absenteeism which leads to problems of drop out and stagnation.

Gender issues

 

Indian society suffers from many kind of discrimination so there are many hurdles in education of unprivileged sections of society like women, SC, ST and minority. Girls are still not allowed to take education. Gender differences are still existing for making education   available.

 

Non uniformity of curriculum and outdated syllabus

 

There are number of different boards like SSC, CBSE, ICSE,IB offering school education.Number of boards causes non uniformity of curriculum throughout India so maintenance of quality standard is quite difficult.Students are getting the knowledge from outdated syllabus. Lots of technological and scientific improvements are taking place in India and therefore the courses must be updated as per the industrial and technological development.

 

Cost of education

 

The cost of Education is very high even for the people and places where it is accessible. There are difference in fees as per different boards and type of schools. The competitive pressure on students and parents forces them to appoint private tuitions and trainings to supplement the school Education.

 

Inadequate government Funding

 

The demand for financial resources far exceeds the supply. Very small amount is available for innovative programs and ideas. Lack of funds, the schools in India lack funds, they don’t have enough funds to enhance the quality of education and hence lacks in the infrastructure facility, teaching environment and quality teachers. Infrastructure facilities at schools across rural areas dispense very poor quality of education. The teachers are not paid adequately, as they are not much qualified so they are not willing to work hard.

 

Gap between education provided and industry required education

 

Industry faces a problem to find suitable employee as education provided is not suitable for directly working in industry so before that a company is required to spend large amount on providing training for employee. There is mismatch between demand and supply.

 

Lack of infrastructure

Approximately 95.2 per cent of schools are not yet compliant with the complete set of RTE infrastructure indicators according to survey conducted in 2010.They lacks drinking water facilities, a functional common toilet, and do not have separate toilets for girls.

Social and Cultural barrier

The ethnic diversity in India poses challenges to implement consistent Education nationwide. There are more than 300 languages spoken in the country and makes it difficult to offer Education tailored to specific social segment. Educating women in some societies is a big issue. Children of poor families are forced to work and miss out the learning opportunities. Illiterate adults have very limited opportunities to get educated at later age in their lives.

 

 

  1. Conclusion

 

Education system of India is one of the largest of its kind in the world. We spend only few percent of our GDP on education, so our government should make education its first priority and try to address these issues.

 

 

 

 

 

you can view video on General Introduction to the Structure and Problems of School Education in India

 

References

 

  • Ø Aggarawal, J.C (2004) Development of Education System in India, Shipra Publications, New Delhi.
  • Ø Aggarawal, J.C (2010) Educational Reforms in India for the 21st century, Shipra Publications, New Delhi.
  • Ø Dash, B.N (2004) Theories of Education and Education in the Emerging Indian Society, Dominant Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi.
  • Ø Ghanta, R and Dash, B.N (2005) Foundations of Education, Neelkamal Publications pvt ltd, New Delhi.
  • Ø Rao, B.D and Rao, S (1994) Current Trends in Indian Education, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi.
  • Ø Sharma, Y (2007) Foundations in Sociology of Education, Kanishka Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi.