Education as Vision for Social Change (original) (raw)

From policy to practice : a story from Uttarakhand

2018

The discourse around the dwindling state of our Public Education System is endless and is heard everywhere irrespective of the depth of the analysis. The state of education affects everyone, consequently, everyone seems to have an opinion about it. Our judgements are often superficial and we miss taking into account the complexity of our Public Education System – right from the classroom to the educational policies. At one end of the spectrum is the classroom, which is an astoundingly heterogenous space with each student bringing to it hers or his own diversity in the form of social and economic background, emotional and intellectual temperament, response to learning, and a variety of interests, abilities and limitations. If we consider the education system of the country, the complexity in terms of creating and administering a huge system of Secretariats, Directorates, Board of Examinations at the state and central levels, the constitution of the basic functional structures at the ...

School System and Education Policy in India

Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia, 2021

India has had a long history of a larger institutionalized school system of more than 150 years, starting from the colonial times to the present. This system has not only been influenced by its colonial history but also been shaped by different sets of political, economic, and social changes ever since Independence. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the above trajectory with a more detailed focus on the changes that have taken place in the school system over the last three decades. These decades have seen unprecedented expansion of the school system; emergence of newer complexities in the reshaping of relations between the state, market, and non-state actors in education and also a sharpening of tensions between values of social justice and equity; and a rights-based mandate of education as a public good on the one hand and market-based reforms on the other. The chapter outlines the nature of these changes and the continuing challenges faced by the school education system within a framework of the constitutional provisions and the policy mandates that have been the guiding blocks for educational reform agendas.

1 India : Reform and the Politics of Gradual Accommodation

2006

India’s “Great Transformation” seems to be finally underway. During the last four years it has experienced growth rates of almost eight percent, and many analysts believe that this growth is sustainable. India has averaged a growth rate of six percent for almost two decades. While this seems less impressive in comparison to China, it is a considerable achievement in light of India’s own recent history. There is some dispute over the data, but it is generally agreed that the number of people living below poverty line fell to about twenty six percent and are expected to further fall by a percentage point each year. India’s human development achievements have been less impressive: it lagged behind China considerably in both health and education indicators. Although the state of public health remains a cause for concern, India may finally be on the verge of a transformation in primary education. India always had a significant tertiary education sector, but its primary education enrollme...

rethinking education and democratization of the public sphere in India

On_Education, 2022

Democratization has brought about a tremendous impact on the rigid social structure in postcolonial India. Modern education has been a key factor in transforming society, especially the deep-seated traditions of social inequality and harsh realities of discriminatory practices. Given the deepening and widening of inequality in the post-reform era, this paper seeks to explore the significance of rethinking the critical realm of education in transforming India's public sphere as a vital tool for the democratization of society and a proposal for an inclusive knowledge system.

A Study of India's New Policy Framework for Education

European Chemical Bulletin, 2023

The collection of laws and regulations that direct how the education system should be run are referred to as "education policy." Education policy is comprised of the guiding principles and policies of the government in the field of education. The legal complexities that surround the applicability of two operational policies, specifically the Right to Education Act of 2009 and the New Education Policy of 2020, have also been cited as a reason for the criticism levelled against the policy. In the long run, any potential ambiguity that may exist between the statute and the newly enacted policy will need to be ironed out by deliberating on particular provisions, such as the age at which children must first enroll in school. In light of this, it is important to point out that previous attempts to pass legislation through the legislative branch of government while operating under the previous regulatory structure were unsuccessful. Natural law states that everything must change, and this includes our societies, nations, and planet. A conceptual discussion is provided to highlight the concept of the national educational policy framework, different sections of the higher education policy of NEP 2020 are highlighted, and the new policy is compared to existing education policy. This research provides a comprehensive framework of the educational system, its policies, and the merits of both the new policy and the current policy.

Deconstructing a colonial legacy: An analysis of Indian secondary education policy

Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 2017

The Indian secondary education system has, since independence in 1947, strived to transform in terms of policy but failed to transcend in practice the challenges presented by the colonial legacy it inherited. This study draws on Hodgson and Spours (2006) analytical policy framework to critically examine three key Indian secondary education policy initiatives: the Mudaliar Commission Report (1952-1953); the Kothari Commission Report (1964 -1966); and the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-2017). The objectives of this study are to develop an insight into how three policy constructions of knowledge and intervention endeavor to: 1) impact access, governance, pedagogical approaches, curriculum reform and; 2) deepen an understanding of how this interplays with the challenges of inclusivity, equality, quality, equity, achievement and progression in Indian secondary education provision.