S D M COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Subject: Education 3.3
EDUCATION IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA
A SEMINAR ON
ISSUES IN RELATION TO
UNIVERSALISATION OF
EDUCATION
Presented on 5.4.18
by:
Radhika
INTRODUCTION:
India is a democratic country and has been a land
of learning since ages.
Elementary education is the foundation of the
entire super structure of the nation we intend to
build, for increasing national productivity.
The Article 45 of the Indian Constitution directs
that, “The state shall endeavour to provide within
a period of ten years from the commencement of
constitution for free and compulsory education for
all children until they complete the age of fourteen
years.”
• Since independence many steps have been taken
to achieve universalization of Primary Education.
But it is still far from the hope and the national
target.
Universalization of education aims at ‘Education
for all.’
but……. The fact is that,,,,,,,,
The Constitutional directive has not yet been
achieved because of the number of problems and
issues like,
• Medium of instruction
• Language problem
• Access
• Enrolment
• Drop out and Retention
• Stagnation and wastage
1. MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION.
• A medium of instruction is the language used in
teaching.
• India is a nation of multiple languages.
• Now a days English has been the connecting
language, on the other hand , All have their own
mother tongue languages.
• Psychologists and educationists advice schooling in
mother tongue, but it’s a critical issue in India.
Hence, medium of instruction may be in the
official language , the national language, state or
local language.
Dealing with subjects in mother tongues is quite
impossible in India
Using English as medium of instruction is also
unfavourable since many don’t follow it.
2. LANGUAGE FORMULA:
• In the section of the Indian Constitution dealing with
the languages for compulsory primary education, 15
languages have been mentioned,
• But in India as many as 845 languages and1652
dialects in the country are spoken.
• Some of these languages do not have any script or
their own literature. Therefore, it becomes a problem
to choose a language as medium of instruction.
3.ACCESS:
It means that a school should be within the easy
walking distance from the home of the child. It
enables the parents to send their children to
school.
There are still some backward and remote areas
where efforts to open schools are under way.
With the growth of population, there is a need of
more and more primary schools to be opened.
4.ENROLMENT:
• The New Education Policy, 1986 assures to enroll
all children up to age of 14
• After making provision for children, next thing is to
enroll all the students in primary schools who
attain educable age.
• It means that all children in the age group of 6-14
years should be enrolled by the primary schools.
• In order to achieve this end, states have brought
into force compulsory primary education Act.
Problems of universal enrolment :
• (i) poverty, Ignorance and illiteracy of parents.
• (ii) Lack of coordination between school and local
community,
• (iii) Indifferent attitude of high officers and school
authorities towards the desired enrolment.
• (iv) Lack of adequate funds
5.RETENTION:
Simply enrolling of children in school will not
suffice in the way of universalization.
The success of it lies when the enrolled children
remain in school stage till the completion of school
study.
But if the child leaves education before
completion, the idea of universalization of primary
education can not be successful.
Measures of schools for retention:
1. Supply of reading and writing materials
2. Making primary education interesting
3. Referring cases of ill health to the doctors, parents.
4. Organizing school hours to suit parents convenience
5. Providing special attention to slow learners
6. Teaching through direct experience
7. Efforts of SDMC’s and NGO’s.
6. DROPOUTS
The major concern in primary education in India in
general is the Out of School Children (OoSC). These
include the Drop outs and Never Enrolled children.
Even though drop out seems to be the
problem/issue of the child, it further may become
the problem of the community and then whole
society.
Main reasons for school dropout of the children:
Poverty of parents
Not interested in studies
Costs too much
Required for household work
Repeated failures
Lack of policies to make attendance in schools compulsory
Weak physical health of students
School too far away
Further education not considered necessary
Did not get admission
Traditionalism in school practices
7.STAGNATION AND WASTAGE:
Stagnation means failure in class.
Wastage means the dropping out of the pupils
from school.
It’s a great obstacle in universalization of
education.
Out of every 100 students enrolled in class I, 32
pupils reach class V and 26 to class VIII.
Causes for stagnation and wastage:
Irregular attendance,
Dull curriculum,
Uncongenial environment at home
Lack of facilities in school
Unsatisfactory physical health
Poor economic condition
CONCLUSION
Since free and compulsory education to all the
children up to the age 14 is the Constitutional
commitment in India, all efforts in the past were
focused on achieving the goal of universal
education.
As a result of universalization of education in India
94% of rural population has primary schools within
one km and 85% high schools within three kms.
Number of primary schools have reached from 2.1
lakh to 6.42 lakh from 1950 -2000.
The guiding principles in this regard are; Universal
Access, Equality and Social Justice.
Universalisation of Education gives opportunity, to
move towards equity and equality.
