I see that 'share your knowledge' forum has not been utilised much except for Dr.AR. I thought I would give Dr. a company by posting something here. I compiled the following summary on education in India based on Wikipedia info. Govt. of India's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSY) has to take the real shape for us to see better results. Let us hope to have a literate State.
Education in India – The road travelled and the road ahead
Past glory:
The Nalanda University was the oldest university-system of education in the world. Institutions of higher learning and universities flourished in India well before the Common Era, and continued to deliver education into the Common Era. By the time of the visit of the Islamic scholar Alberuni (973-1048 CE), India already had a sophisticated system of mathematics and science in place, and had made a number of inventions and discoveries.
Definition of literacy:
According to the Census of 2001, "every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write in any language is said to be literate". According to this criterion, the 2001 survey holds the National Literacy Rate to be around 64.84%.
The Economist reports that half of 10-year-old rural children could not read at a basic level, over 60% were unable to do division, and half dropped out by the age 14.
Only one in ten young people have access to tertiary education. Out of those who receive higher education, Mercer Consulting estimates that only a quarter of graduates are "employable".
An optimistic estimate is that only one in five job-seekers in India has ever had any sort of vocational training.
Public schools – public shame:
According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government schools. One study found out that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers were absent during the survey. Among teachers who were paid to teach, absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Only 1 in nearly 3000 public school head teachers had ever dismissed a teacher for repeated absence. A study on teachers by Kremer etc. found that 'only about half were teaching, during unannounced visits to a nationally representative sample of government primary schools in India.’
A study of 188 government-run primary schools found that 59% of the schools had no drinking water and 89% had no toilets.
Lack of funds:
As a part of the tenth Five year Plan (2002–2007), the central government of India outlined an expenditure of
65.6% of its total education budget on elementary education;
9.9% on secondary education;
2.9% on adult education;
9.5% on higher education;
10.7% on technical education;
and the remaining 1.4% on miscellaneous education schemes.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student in the world.
Lack of resources:
As of 2008, India's post-secondary high schools offer only enough seats for 7% of India's college-age population, 25% of teaching positions nationwide are vacant, and 57% of college professors lack either a master's or PhD degree.
Politics in education:
A number of rules were formulated for the backward Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes of India, and in 1960 a list identifying 405 Scheduled Castes and 225 Scheduled Tribes was published by the central government. An amendment was made to the list in 1975, which identified 841 Scheduled Castes and 510 Scheduled Tribes.
Homeschooling:
Homeschooling is legal in India, though it is the less explored option. The Indian Government's stance on the issue is that parents are free to teach their children at home, if they wish to and have the means.
Mind-making or money-making?
Because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated. Even the poorest often go to private schools despite the fact that government schools are free. A study found that 65% of schoolchildren in Hyderabad's slums attend private schools.
Due to a declining priority of education in the public policy paradigm in India, there has been an exponential growth in the private expenditure on education also. As per the available information, the private out of pocket expenditure by the working class population for the education of their children in India has increased by around 1150 percent or around 12.5 times over the last decade.
The private education market in India is estimated to be worth $40 billion in 2008 and will increase to $68 billion by 2012.
Signs of hope:
India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States.
Three Indian universities were listed in the Times Higher Education list of the world’s top 200 universities — Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005 and 2006.
Six Indian Institutes of Technology and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science - Pilani were listed among the top 20 science and technology schools in Asia by Asiaweek.
The Indian School of Business situated in Hyderabad was ranked number 12 in global MBA rankings by the Financial Times of London in 2010 while the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been recognized as a global leader in medical research and treatment.
Education in India – The road travelled and the road ahead
Past glory:
The Nalanda University was the oldest university-system of education in the world. Institutions of higher learning and universities flourished in India well before the Common Era, and continued to deliver education into the Common Era. By the time of the visit of the Islamic scholar Alberuni (973-1048 CE), India already had a sophisticated system of mathematics and science in place, and had made a number of inventions and discoveries.
Definition of literacy:
According to the Census of 2001, "every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write in any language is said to be literate". According to this criterion, the 2001 survey holds the National Literacy Rate to be around 64.84%.
The Economist reports that half of 10-year-old rural children could not read at a basic level, over 60% were unable to do division, and half dropped out by the age 14.
Only one in ten young people have access to tertiary education. Out of those who receive higher education, Mercer Consulting estimates that only a quarter of graduates are "employable".
An optimistic estimate is that only one in five job-seekers in India has ever had any sort of vocational training.
Public schools – public shame:
According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government schools. One study found out that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers were absent during the survey. Among teachers who were paid to teach, absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Only 1 in nearly 3000 public school head teachers had ever dismissed a teacher for repeated absence. A study on teachers by Kremer etc. found that 'only about half were teaching, during unannounced visits to a nationally representative sample of government primary schools in India.’
A study of 188 government-run primary schools found that 59% of the schools had no drinking water and 89% had no toilets.
Lack of funds:
As a part of the tenth Five year Plan (2002–2007), the central government of India outlined an expenditure of
65.6% of its total education budget on elementary education;
9.9% on secondary education;
2.9% on adult education;
9.5% on higher education;
10.7% on technical education;
and the remaining 1.4% on miscellaneous education schemes.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student in the world.
Lack of resources:
As of 2008, India's post-secondary high schools offer only enough seats for 7% of India's college-age population, 25% of teaching positions nationwide are vacant, and 57% of college professors lack either a master's or PhD degree.
Politics in education:
A number of rules were formulated for the backward Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes of India, and in 1960 a list identifying 405 Scheduled Castes and 225 Scheduled Tribes was published by the central government. An amendment was made to the list in 1975, which identified 841 Scheduled Castes and 510 Scheduled Tribes.
Homeschooling:
Homeschooling is legal in India, though it is the less explored option. The Indian Government's stance on the issue is that parents are free to teach their children at home, if they wish to and have the means.
Mind-making or money-making?
Because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated. Even the poorest often go to private schools despite the fact that government schools are free. A study found that 65% of schoolchildren in Hyderabad's slums attend private schools.
Due to a declining priority of education in the public policy paradigm in India, there has been an exponential growth in the private expenditure on education also. As per the available information, the private out of pocket expenditure by the working class population for the education of their children in India has increased by around 1150 percent or around 12.5 times over the last decade.
The private education market in India is estimated to be worth $40 billion in 2008 and will increase to $68 billion by 2012.
Signs of hope:
India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States.
Three Indian universities were listed in the Times Higher Education list of the world’s top 200 universities — Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005 and 2006.
Six Indian Institutes of Technology and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science - Pilani were listed among the top 20 science and technology schools in Asia by Asiaweek.
The Indian School of Business situated in Hyderabad was ranked number 12 in global MBA rankings by the Financial Times of London in 2010 while the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been recognized as a global leader in medical research and treatment.