Department of Education

Lady Irwin College

University of Delhi

F 1- Education in Contemporary India

REPORT ON
SCHOOLS IN INDIA

SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO

Aarushi Kumar Ms Mani Bhasin

Ankita
Bhakti Kashyap
Gunjan Kundra
Khushboo Rawat
Mansi Bhadana
Priya Tiwari
Sakshi
Simran Shany
Shanika Rana
 INTRODUCTION

Education is a process which represents and preserves a society. Education in a social institution that
through the years-long transmission of knowledge, culture, skills (both social and personal), values,
etc. develops a new social being. In an institution such as schools, universities, etc., education occurs
systematically and officially utilizing facilities that are specifically designed for the purpose. It entails
the purposeful dissemination of principles, skills, and knowledge. By organizing the process, assigning
the personnel to carry it out, developing the standards, providing the necessary tools, and other means,
society institutionalizes these facilities.

Educational institutions impart knowledge of a variety of types and train people in various skills so
that they can fill the manifold adult roles in society, that these institutions are endowed with the
responsibility of creating and expanding knowledge, and also that education contributes towards
socialization by providing its pupils with the context and experience of adult roles in a social
framework. The nature of the relationship between education and other social institutions is reciprocal
see figure 1.1. Education affects other social institutions and vice- versa. To the extent that all these
social institutions are interwoven, changes in one will definitely have an impact on others either
directly or indirectly. For instance, the influence of education on rural populations seeking employment
outside of their homes and villages has led to the replacement of the joint family structure with a
nuclear family. Education has reduced the birthrate in families and improved the position of women
within them, both of which have impacted the makeup and dynamics of families. Similarly education
affects religion, society, and the economy. There are different modes of education, formal, non-formal
and informal.

Society
(Large System

Education
Culture (Sub-system) Family

Economy State Religion

Figure 1: Relationship of Education with Society and other Social Institutions

 SCHOOL AS A FORMAL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Education is controlled and planned consciously, by the state or its designated agency such as the
school with certain specific objectives is formal education. In such an educational system, there are
strict guidelines for admission age, course content and duration, assessment procedures, elective
subject choices, etc. The school-system is a formally-organized institution, it is bureaucratized, as other
organizations in a modern society. Bureaucracy involves increasing specialization of work, and at the
same time coordination of specialized activities into a functioning whole. Among other processes,
bureaucratization involves centralization of authority and the standardization of work routines. Every
school has a pattern of social relations that is not only unique but which persists through time, so that
the pattern is not radically changed even when different individuals enter or leave it.

Social Structure of the School

The school is a social organization in which numerous groups are connected through a ranking and
prestige system. School, as a social structure, has four major levels of hierarchy within it. The school
board is at the top of the structure, making school policy, selecting the manager, and deciding on school
expenditures. The school board represents the broader community. School administrators/
superintendents/principals/supervisors are the second most important level. The third level of the
system is made up of teachers, with some holding higher ranks than others. The fourth level of the
system is made up of students, who are the school's clientele.

TYPES OF SCHOOLS IN INDIA

Government Schools

The majority of children attend government schools, where poor and vulnerable students receive free
education until the age of 14. According to data from the Education Ministry, 65.2 percent (113
million) of all school children in 20 states attend government schools (c. 2017). These include schools
run by the state and local government as well as the centre government. As per the latest Central
Government record, 10,83,678 government schools in India.

Kendriya Vidyalaya in urban areas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya for gifted students, Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalaya for girls from vulnerable SC/ST/OBC classes, and Indian Army Public Schools run
by the Indian Army for the children of soldiers are examples of large central government run school
systems. Kendriya Vidyalaya project was started for the employees of the central government of India,
who are deployed throughout the country. The government started the Kendriya Vidyalaya project in
1965 to provide uniform education in institutions following the same syllabus at the same pace
regardless of the location to which the employee's family has been transferred.

Advantages of Government Schools:

• The fees are very affordable

• Provide free education for those who can’t afford
• Free mid-day meals
• Provide free uniform to children
• Reserved sears for the underprivileged
• Provide the basic sports facilities and physical education to the students
• Minimum infrastructure to meet basic needs

Disadvantages of Government Schools:

• Government schools are not clean properly due to those students are facing health problems.
• Teachers not teaching properly to students.
• Lack of discipline in school premises.

Government aided Private Schools

These are usually charitable trust run schools that receive partial funding from the government. Largest
system of aided schools is run by D.A.V. College Managing Committee. As per the latest Central
Government record, 3,25,760 government aided schools in India.

Private Schools (unaided)

According to current estimates, 29% of Indian children are privately educated. With more than 50%
children enrolling in private schools in urban areas, the balance has already tilted towards private
schooling in cities; and, even in rural areas, nearly 20% of the children in 2004-5 were enrolled in
private schools. Most middle-class families send their children to private schools, which might be in
their own city or at distant boarding schools. As per the latest Central Government record, 84,614
private schools in India and more than 27000 schools affiliated with CBSE in India.
Advantages

• May have more sophisticated teaching methods

• Smaller class sizes
• Better individual learning experience
• More independent from local municipality budgets
• Higher level of flexibility regarding the curriculum
• Private schools may provide special additional classes
• Alternative teaching methods
• Children may be more eager to learn
• Private schools do not require taxpayers’ money
• Networking opportunities
• Use of latest technologies
• Better education on average
• Higher chances to get into top universities
• Private schools may offer a safer environment for kids

Disadvantages

• Private schools can be expensive

• Students may have to stay on campus longer
• Religious beliefs often play a major role
• Lack of regulation regarding qualification levels of teachers
• Low salary for private teachers compared to public schools
• May be harder to get in
• Private schools may experience funding problems
• Private schools may suffer from a lack of diversity
• Less extracurricular activities
• High level of pressure

International Schools

India had 410 international schools as of January 2015, according to the International Schools
Consultancy (ISC). According to ISC, a "international school" is one that "delivers a curriculum to any
combination of pre-school, primary, or secondary students, wholly or partially in English outside of
an English-speaking country, or if a school in a country where English is one of the official languages
offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country's national curriculum and is international
in its orientation.

Advantages

• Children to international schools to benefit from their multicultural environment and extra-
curricular activities.
• International schools also have excellent facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts and
art centres.
• All international schools offer ESL (English as a Second Language) classes that aim to help
integrate students whose mother tongue is not English as quickly as possible.
• Most international schools follow the Cambridge IGCSE and IB curricula.
• International Schools generally have small class sizes so that it’s not so overwhelming for new
children and allows them to become familiar with their new surroundings slowly.

Disadvantages

• Expensive: Tuition fees at international schools range from US$5,000 to $22,000 per year
depending on the level/class/grade.
• Can isolate expat children and families
• Can stop them learning the local language
• Children might not adjust as quickly- Children can often find it hard to settle into a new
environment and culture and it can take some time for them to adjust.

TYPES OF SCHOOL AFFILIATIONS

Affiliation is the most popular way of getting associated and connected with the renowned organization
or a Board. It is like a partnership based on some specified support services and benefits. Affiliation
board provides various advantages to the schools affiliated like they conduct the examination, provides
the certification with external validity and helps in providing the school curriculum. In Indian
Education Sector, Government Schools do not necessarily need to be affiliated with any institution but
for private schools it is important to get affiliation. School Affiliation in India is very important as an
affiliated school gets high standards for quality education supported by the board. Schools with CBSE,
ICSE affiliations and state boards are considered the premier schools.
CBSE is the most popular Affiliation Board that conducts examinations for class 10th and class 12th for
various schools. It conducts examinations for class 10th under AISSE (All India Secondary School
Education) and examination for class 12th under AISSCE (All India Senior School Certificate
Examination). The medium of instruction for Curriculum and examination is both English as well as
Hindi. On the other hand, ICSE is a private board which conducts examination for Class 10th in various
schools. The Medium of Instruction in this Board is only English and ICSE Board is considered to be
much detailed and tougher than CBSE.

School Affiliation also helps in determining the standards of education in India as the school affiliated
to the Board needs to conform to the rules and regulations set by the Board. For instance, ICSE grants
affiliation to those schools who meet the requirements given in the byelaws. There are set rules,
regulations and laws that control the terms and conditions of school affiliation and are to be strictly
followed by the school.

There are three types of affiliations

1. Provisional Affiliations,
2. Regular Affiliations
3. Permanent Affiliations.

To get affiliation, a school needs to fulfill following requirements.

• Proper office maintenance
• Maintenance of registers (admission and withdrawal)
• Maintenance of service records of the teachers.
• Proper admission procedures for teachers.
• Provision for quality Math lab, Science Lab and Computer lab.
• Obey the Bye-laws of the board in implementing the CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation)

TYPES OF SCHOOLS ENTERPRISES IN INDIA

Figure 2 illustrates the various educational enterprises in charge of running these institutions. Out of
these seven types of enterprises, around 41% of primary and upper primary schools are managed fully
by the Centre or State governments. Local governments control about 47.5 % of elementary schools
and 30 % of upper primary schools. Only a small percentage between 2 and 6 % secondary schools
are overseen by local governments, with the majority being run by private organizations. Schools
managed by private bodies also receive grants from the government. In addition, there is considerable
investment from the private sector in school education.

School managed by
Educational Enterprises

a. Public Enterprises b.Quasi-Public c. Private Enterprises

Enterprises

Central Government Individual Philanthropis

Local Bodies

State Govenment Social Organizations

Educational
Trusts

Religious Organizations

Figure 2: Types of School Enterprises in India

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF SCHOOL EDUCATION

AT THE STATE LEVEL

At the State level a Minister of Education oversees the State Ministry of Education in various States,
which is responsible for the state's entire educational system. For other sectors, such as higher
education, technical education, etc., there may be separate ministries. The Minister or Ministers is/are
member(s) of the State Legislative Assembly. The Minister is responsible to the State Legislature.
Numerous Directorates work under their respective Ministries of Education. The Minister oversees the
development of educational policies as well as their execution and supervision. Other Ministers and
Departments are in charge of technical, agricultural, medical, industrial, and other kinds of education.
The structure of school education at the state level has been presented in Figure 3 below

Figure 3: Structure of Education at State Level

It can be seen from Fig. 3 that under the education minister, there is a Secretariat. The Secretary is the
administrative head of the Secretariat. He is directly responsible to the Minister for policy making and
its execution at the school level. He generally belongs to the Indian Administrative Service and is
assisted by Joint/Deputy/Under Secretaries. States have established Directorates of Education for
different sectors such as Elementary, Secondary and Higher Secondary. In the Directorate, the Director
is the executive head. He/She is assisted by Joint Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors etc.

States are often organized into educational circles based on the districts' geographical proximity. A
Circle Inspector or Circle Education Officer is in charge of each circle. He oversees schools in his/her
circle with the assistance of State District Education Officers/District Inspectors; Block Education
Officers and School Inspectors are in charge of certain geographical zones. It should be noted that not
all states have the same administrative organization. In certain states, the administrative structure is
limited to two levels: the State Department of Education and the Zonal or District Education Officer.
In others there might be an intermediary set up between the Department and the District level
arrangement. There are, therefore, variations in the administrative structure of school education at the
State level.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT

School education is under the direct control of State Governments. They prepare educational plans in
relation to their needs and conditions by taking into consideration the plan frame and policies prepared
at the Centre. The following are the responsibilities of the State Governments.

1. To establish and maintain educational institutions.

2. To give recognition for the establishment of schools.
3. To provide grants to schools managed by private bodies.
4. To pass laws for different types of school education.
5. To supervise schools through DEOs and Supervisors at Block level.
6. To recruit and place teachers in schools.
7. To prescribe the syllabus and supply books.
8. To establish school boards to conduct examinations.
9. To provide special assistance to poor and backward students.
10. To organize training programmes for teachers and supervisors.
11. To initiate action against teachers and schools in case of any lapse.
12. To feed information to the Centre about schools.
13. To provide academic and training support to schools through its institutions created for the
purpose.
14. To promote research and development in education.

STATE PROVISIONS FOR SCHOOL EDUCATION

The educational structure at the State level includes the Ministry of Education, Secretariat,
Directorates, State Institute of Education, State Council of Educational Research and Training,
Textbook board, and Board of School Education etc.

I. State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT)

In some of the states SCERT is known as State Institute of Education (SIE). It is an integral part of the
Directorate of Education and is the academic wing of the State Department of Education. It provides
academic guidance to the Regional Officers, District Education Officers, Block Education Officers,
and Principals of Schools. SCERTs are headed by Directors and under them are the Joint Directors of
different sections which include: Physical Education, Audio-Visual Education, Institute of English,
Vocational Guidance, Examination Unit, Science Division, Curriculum Development, Teacher
Education, Textbooks Production and Non-formal Education etc. The functions of SCERT are as
under:

a) It provides in-service training to teachers, primary and secondary schools and to District
Education Officers (DEO's), Block Education Officers (BEO's) and School Inspectors,
b) It supports teacher-training programme of primary and secondary levels in the state and
also frames the teacher education curriculum,
c) It prepares the curriculum and textbooks for school education,
d) It collects data and conducts research on school education and feeds it to the Secretariat for
policy making execution; and evaluation,
e) It looks into the scholarship, stipends, and other incentives to be provided to the children
of minority groups and ST, SC, OBC etc.,
f) It supports the improvement of instructional process in all school subjects with the help of
modern technologies and audio-visual aids, and
g) It develops academic linkages with NCERT, NOTE and other Central level organizations.
 II. Board of Secondary Education (BSE)

Most State governments have Boards of Secondary (School) Education. These Boards were established
in pursuance of the recommendation of the Secondary Education Commission (1952-54). The Board
generally consists of a chairman and members. Members represent school and university teachers of
the state and also nominated members. The Boards prescribe syllabi and textbooks for schools under
their jurisdiction. The Boards are mainly advisory in character, they provide recognition/affiliation to
schools and conduct public examinations. Schools, irrespective of their management, send their pupils
for final examination conducted by the School Board. However, in States some schools are affiliated
to the CBSE which conducts public examinations and prescribe the syllabus.

a) to grant affiliation/recognition to schools.

b) to prescribe syllabi and textbooks for schools.
c) to conduct public examination at Standard X and XII at the state level.
d) to maintain standards of secondary schools in the state.
e) to improve evaluation practices at secondary school level.
f) to cooperate with the State Institute of Education to provide in-service training to school
teachers,
g) to organize training programmes for paper setters and examiners,
h) to conduct research relating to problems of examinations at school stage,
i) to conduct special examinations for the award of scholarships and talent search
examinations, and
j) to maintain close relation with the state Department of Education.

III. State Textbook Board

The state prescribes textbooks for elementary, secondary, and higher secondary schools throughout
the state, taking into account the state's aims, objectives, needs, and challenges. So, for production and
supply of textbooks at affordable prices, each state of India has created its own textbooks board. The
Textbook Board is a state government statutory organization that is normally led by a chairman. It
usually has experts in school education and distinguished educationists and experienced teachers as its
members. The following are the primary functions of a Textbook Board:

a) to appoint subject experts to write, edit, review and evaluate textbooks in all school
subjects.
 b) to publish or get published textbooks.
c) to supply textbooks to schools.
d) to conduct and support research relating to curriculum and textbooks.
e) to establish close relation with the SCERT, Ministry of Education, Directorate and
Secretariat.
f) to organize training programmes and workshops for teachers, textbook writers and experts
for textbook production.

Example- The Delhi government schools- Sarvodaya kanya bal , Rajkiya

Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV), Model school (No. of model schools: 54)

Advantages
• Maintaining cleanliness
• Distributing sanitary pads trying to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene among girl
students by holding interactive sessions and distributing sanitary napkins as well.
• Good Monitoring System
• 'No Detention Policy' - The government-introduced scheme 'Chunauti' categorised the students
based on their skills and helped those students who had a lack in their basics
• After covid Learning Loss -Intensive bridge courses and accelerated learning programmes
developed in consultation with experts in the field to make up for the learning loss and bring
students to the level of learning of each class.
• Developing entrepreneurs keeping an eye on making some successful entrepreneurs from its
government allotted budget and EMC curriculum. Under this scheme, the students from class 11
and 12 will receive a seed capital worth of Rs 1000 which they can invest in their innovative ideas.
• Teacher innovation programme helping to improve the teaching-learning process in the
classrooms through innovations
• Performance of students increased
• Government - school synergy government contract employees working in sync with
administration staff saving time as well as helping to address all sorts of issues. Government is
providing a lot of economic support.
• Education minister's contribution concerns are addressed
• Infrastructure: Up to Rs 25 crore allocated for construction of new classrooms, repair of existing
building
• Teacher training: Principals and teachers sent on a 12-day training session to Cambridge
University and five-day training session to IIMS
• Extra-curricular activities: Classes by external experts on music, dance (classical and
contemporary), theatre, fine arts (including craft), creative writing and photography
• Vocational education: Courses in retail, travel and tourism, information and technology (IT),
beauty and wellness, financial market management, and security introduced in model and 150 other
schools.

CONCLUSION

All the aforementioned institutions make an effort to promote access to education and improve the
quality of school education by looking into different aspects of education like examination, textbooks,
scholarships, syllabus, teacher education, etc.

REFERENCES

NCERT. (2016). Retrieved 14 July 2022, from https://ncert.nic.in/all-india-school-education-

survey.php?ln=

Retrieved 14 July 2022, from https://bharatshikshapuraskar.com/types-of-schools.html

Gore, M.S. (1994) : Indian Education — Structure and Process, Rawat Publication, Jaipur, New Delhi.

(2020). Retrieved 14 July 2022, from https://allschoolsinindia.in/how-many-government-and-private-

schools-in-india/

https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/reasons-why-delhi-government-
school-tops-india-rankings-1603826-2019-09-27

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/india/family/schooling-education/international-schools