On August 15, 1947 India attained independence from the British domination. This gave the people

of the country the first fullest opportunity to mould their educational policy according to the needs of the

nation in the fast changing times. But this opportunity was not free from heavy responsibilities that lay ahead

for reorienting the entire system of education, which apart from enabling the coming generations to develop

their natural faculties may also enable them to rebuild a new India. The content of learning, which from the

very beginning of the British era had been mainly of a general and theoretical nature, had to be given a

practical basis. The country needed a large number of technicians, engineers, doctors, scientists and other

skilled workers who could impart a new shape to various things in the developing economy of the country,

which had been languishing under colonial exploitation for about two centuries.

The most important problems in the field of education before the national government were the

expansion of facilities for mass compulsory elementary education, reform of the secondary and university

educational systems, to develop vocational and technical education at various levels, to encourage women

education and also to reorganize the structure of educational administration. With a view to fulfill all these

objectives, the Central and State Governments have been endeavouring to give a concrete shape to various

programmes under the Five-year Plans.

Soon after gaining independence in 1947, making education available to all had become a priority for

the government. As discrimination on the basis of caste and gender has been a major impediment in the

healthy development of the Indian society, they have been made unlawful by the Indian constitution. The

86th constitutional amendment has also made elementary education a fundamental right for the children

between the age group 6 to 14. According to the 2001 census, the total literacy rate in India is 65.38%. The

female literacy rate is only 54.16%. The gap between rural and urban literacy rate is also very significant in

India. This is evident from the fact that only 59.4% of rural population is literate as against 80.3% urban

population according to the 2001 census.

The present education system in India mainly comprises of primary education, secondary education,

senior secondary education and higher education. Elementary education consists of eight years of education.

Each of secondary and senior secondary education consists of two years of education. Higher education in

India starts after passing the higher secondary education or the 12th standard. Depending on the stream,

completing graduation in India can take three to five years. Postgraduate courses are generally of two to

three years of duration. After completing post graduation, scope for doing research in various educational

institutes also remains open.

There are quite a good number of educational institutes in India that can compete with the best

educational institutes of the world. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of

Management (IIMs), Indian Institutes of Science, National Law Schools, Jawaharlal Nehru University are

some such institutes. The growing acceptance of distance learning courses and expansion of the Open

3

University system is also contributing a lot in the democratization of higher education in India.

Higher Education: Situation after independence

Since the beginning of modern university education in India towards the middle of the 19th century,

universities have been criticized for their shortcomings and limitations. Universities are the seats of higher

learning from where the society gets its leaders in sciences, arts and various other fields of national life. “If

India is to confront the confusion of our times, she must turn for guidance, not to those who are lost in the

mere exigencies of the passing hour, but to her men of science, to her poets and artists, to her discoverers

and inventors. These intellectual pioneers of civilization are to be found and trained in universities, which

are the sanctuaries of the inner life of the nation.” The aim and purpose of higher education is to provide an

integrated and coherent picture of the creation. It is through education that we must obtain a sense of

perspective, a synoptic vision and