Recent trends and developments in primary and secondary education in India

Abstract

Education in the pre-independence days was confined to limited ob? jectives of educating the selected people and not the masses. It was not conceived to develop an informed democracy or to meet the national needs and goals. There was no attempt to universalise education, provide freedom to teachers and schools to experiment with new ideas or launch programmes of improvement. The methods of teaching were formal, syllabi were pre? pared and prescribed by the State and teachers had no freedom to change them. The nationalist movement was a cry against this state of affairs in education. The country's leaders were concerned about it and immediate attention was paid to the proper development of education with the dawn of independence. The first and most important trend of the post-independence period has been the emphasis on providing extensive facilities for the rapid expansion of education. The Constitution of India incorporated a directive the only directive principle that "The State shall endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of this constitution, free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14." This constitutional directive has not yet been fulfilled and the Education Commission (1966) has observed, "We believe that the provision of free and universal education for every child is an educational objective of the highest priority, not only on grounds of social justice and democracy, but also for raising the competence of the average worker and for increasing national productivity." Although the targets have not been reached, there has been an unprecedented explosion in student population. In classes I-IV the enrolment in 1946-47 was 14.11 million; in 1965-66 it was 50 million and in 1975-76 it is expected to be 72 million. In classes V-VII the enrolment in 1946-47 was 2 million; in 1965-66 it was 13 million; and in 1975-76 it is expected to be 32 million. In classes VIIIX the enrolment in 1950-51 was 1.5 million; in 1965-66 it was 6.1 million; it is expected to be 12.6 million in 1975-76.