Post-independent Scenarios of Adult Education M A 1st Post-independence India inherited a system of SE education which was characterized by large scale M inter and intra-regional imbalances. PA PE The system educated a select few, leaving a R- wide gap between the educated and the illiterate. 2 The country's literacy rate in 1947 was only 14 L- per cent and female literacy was abysmally low at 1 8 per cent. 05 10 Only one child out of three had an opportunity 20 for enrolment in primary schools. 15 Educational inequality was aggravated by economic inequality, gender disparity and rigid social stratifications.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 1 Follow-up Actions
Eradication of illiteracy has been one of the major national concerns of the Government of India since Independence. The need for a literate population and universal education for all children in the age group 6- 14 was recognized as a crucial input for nation building and was given due consideration in the Constitution as well as in the successive five-year plans. A number of significant programmes have been taken up since Independence to eradicate illiteracy among adults.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 2 Some of the Important Programmes
I. Social Education II. Gram Shikshan Mohim III. Farmers' Functional Literacy Project IV. Non-formal Education V. Polyvalent Adult Education Centres VI. Education Commission (1964-66) VII. Functional Literacy for Adult Women (FLAW) VIII.National Adult Education Programme (NAEP): IX. Rural Functional Literacy Project (RFLP) X. State Adult Education Programme (SAEP) XI. Adult Education through Voluntary Agencies
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 3 Brief of the Programmes
I. Social Education: The main elements were literacy, extension, general education, leadership training and social consciousness. The programme was implemented in the First Five-Year Plan (1951-56).
II. Gram Shikshan Mohim: Movement for literacy in the rural areas was started in 1959 in Satara district of Maharashtra, and was later extended to other parts of the state. The programme aimed at imparting basic literacy skills within a period of about four months and by 1963, it spread to all the districts of the state. The programme, however, suffered from a lack of systematic follow-up and consequently, relapse to illiteracy was massive.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 4 III. Farmers' Functional Literacy Project: Started in 1967- 68 as an inter-ministerial project for farmers' training and functional literacy, the project aimed at popularization of high yielding varieties of seeds through the process of adult education. The programme was confined to 144 districts of the country where nearly 8,640 classes were organized for about 2.6 lakh adults.
IV. Non-formal Education: In the beginning of the Fifth Plan, a programme of non-formal education for 15- 25 age-group was launched. Although the scope, content and objective of the non-formal project was clearly spelt out, its understanding in the field was very limited and the programmes actually organized indistinguishable from the conventional literacy programmes.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 5 V. Polyvalent Adult Education Centres: Workers' Social Education Institutes and Polyvalent Adult Education Centres were reviewed by a group in 1977, which recommended adoption of Polyvalent Adult Education Centres in the adult education programme for workers in urban areas. In pursuance of this decision, Shramik Vidyapeeths were set up in the states.
VI. Education Commission (1964-66): The appointment of the Education Commission (1964-66) was a significant event in the history of education in India. Among several measures, it recommended that high priority be accorded to ending illiteracy. It urged that adult education be promoted both through "selective" as well as "mass approach" and stressed on the active involvement of teachers and students and the wider use of the media for the literacy programme.“ The Education Commission also stated that in the world of science and technology, the main objective should be to relate it to life, needs and aspirations of the people so as to make it an instrument of socioeconomic and political change.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 6 VII. Functional Literacy for Adult Women (FLAW): The scheme of Functional Literacy for Adult Women (FLAW) was started in 1975-76 in the experimental ICDS project areas. It was gradually expanded along with the expansion of ICDS up to the year 1981-82.
Till then, 300 ICDS projects were approved. Sanctions were also given for FLAW scheme in these project areas. However, the Planning Commission decided to stop the expansion of FLAW scheme in ICDS project areas mainly due to a constraint of resources.
The aim of the FLAW scheme was to enable illiterate adult women to acquire functional skills along with literacy, to promote better awareness of health, hygiene, child-care practices and to bring about attitudinal changes. The target age group was 15-45, with greater attention to those in the 15-35 age groups.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 7 VIII. National Adult Education Programme (NAEP): The first nation-wide attempt at eradication of illiteracy was made through the National Adult Education Programme launched on October 2, 1978. It was a massive programme which aimed at educating 100 million non- literate adults in the age group of 15-35 years within a time frame of five years.
The objectives of the National Adult Education Programme were not merely to impart literacy in the conventional sense, but also to provide learners with functional awareness which were conceived as three integral components of the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. Functionality implied the ability to utilize and apply the skills acquired with a view to promote efficiency of the neo-literate. The social awareness component aimed at knowing, understanding and taking action on issues which affect the individual community and society.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 8 IX. Rural Functional Literacy Project (RFLP): This was a major centrally sponsored scheme started in 1978 for rural areas. The erstwhile 144 Farmers' Functional Literacy Projects and 60 Non-formal Education Projects were merged into it. Further, projects were added and the number of projects throughout the country in 1987 was 513, each having up to a maximum number of 300 adult education centres and each centre having 25-30 learners.
X. State Adult Education Programme (SAEP): The states also similarly took up centre based projects under the state plan funds on the lines of RFLPs.
XI. Adult Education through Voluntary Agencies: To ensure greater participation of voluntary agencies, the Central Scheme of Assistance to Voluntary Agencies was revived in April 1982. Under this scheme, registered societies were sanctioned Centre-based projects for functional literacy and post-literacy, where they were allowed to run projects in a compact area.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 9 Review of the National Adult Education Programme
Intended to be a mass programme, the National Adult Education Programme (NAEP), however, remained a traditional centre-based programme, which was also honorarium based, hierarchical and government-funded and government controlled. As against the target of 100 million, a total of 44.22 million learners were enrolled in adult education centres in different years up to March 1988. On the basis of sample evaluation studies, it has been estimated that only about 45 per cent of the enrolled learners attained literacy. Thus, the level of achievement of this programme in relation to the target set for it was only about 20 per cent. The centre-based programme was reviewed and evaluated by several institutes of social science research and later, the Government of India also appointed a review committee headed by Prof. DS Kothari to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the programme.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 10 Strengths
Women's motivation and participation had been high; Coverage of weaker sections of the society (SCs and STs) was higher than the target; The project approach to management adopted for adult education programme is feasible; The quality of teaching-learning materials prepared by the National Resource Centre and the State Resource Centres was found to be positive; The programme worked well where special recruitment procedures were adopted.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 11 Weaknesses
Quality of training of the functionaries was poor; The learning environment in the adult education centres was poor; Mass media did not provide appreciable support; Voluntary agencies did not receive willing co- operation from State Governments. The existing procedures for their involvement were discouraging. There was no linkage between basic literacy, post- literacy, follow-up and continuing education, resulting in the relapse of large number of neo- literates into illiteracy; Achievement levels of literacy were below the desired level; Training of adult education functionaries at all levels lacked participatory and communicative techniques; Political and administrative support of the State Governments and the Panchayati Raj institutions was not forthcoming.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 12 Adult Education in India MHRD, GoI defines Adult Education as that which "aims at extending educational options to those adults, who have lost the opportunity and have crossed the age of formal education, but now feel a need for learning of any type, including, basic education (literacy), skill development (vocational education) and equivalency.
Adult education is a key requirement in developing countries that still struggle with issues such as poverty, growing populations and poor infrastructure. In India, in the area of adult education, ambitious targets were made in the Five Year Plans, the quantum of actual progress falls significantly, more so when it comes to literacy among Indian women. Sensing the need in this area, several NGOs and public-private partnerships have emerged to contribute to the cause of improving literacy rates. As a benefit to the promotion of literacy among women in India, the Government in 2009 announced that literacy would be its key programme instrument for emancipation and empowerment of women, and this would be done through focused efforts by the National Literacy Mission (NLM). The NLM has now taken steps to strengthen its partnership with NGOs for furtherance of the cause of literacy and adult education.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 13 What do the statistics say? Adult Illiteracy The 2001 India Census attached adult illiteracy at an shocking 34%, i.e. one-third of the total population over the age of 15, on an average. There is a notable disparity among men and women in the country: adult non-literates being 23.3% among males and 45.1% among females (almost double).
Compare this to two other countries in the region: China and Indonesia, both having established their governments, as they stand today, around the same time as India1.
A study showed that while all three countries had astronomically high illiteracy rates in the 40's and 50's (80-90%), China and Indonesia have made rapid progress, with their 2001 illiteracy rates brought below 10%, significantly lower than India's 34%.
Comparing the efforts between the three countries, the study observed that, "India in no case was lagging behind in terms of formulating policies in this regard, but the greatest lacuna was witnessed in implementation of policy and planning."
1 China in 1949, overcoming imperial rule, Japanese occupation and civil war; 2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM Indonesia in 1945, declaring independence from the Dutch and Japanese. 14 Additional perspective on the literacy rates In terms of level of education, the 2011 Census indicates that out of all literates in the country,
i. 56% are only till the primary level education,
ii. An additional 16% and 14% are educated till the middle school or secondary school level respectively.
iii. Only a meager 14% have received an education above secondary school level.
iv. So, while the literacy rates are showing improvement, the progress in terms of meaningful development of the human resources of the country does not look so promising.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 15 Understanding Adult Illiteracy in the Global Context
The United Nations' "Education for All - Global Monitoring Report (2010)" declared India as the country with the highest number of illiterate adults. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) estimates the illiteracy rate among adults (over 15 years of age) in South and West Asia to be around 38% currently, and is projected to drop to around 27% by 2015. This level of illiteracy is at the same level as Sub-Saharan Africa, and is significantly lower than all other regions in the world. Two-thirds of these illiterates are women.
India is slightly better in terms of adult illiteracy rates, but owing to the size of the population, still leads by a huge margin when it comes to absolute number of illiterate adults. India has about 287-300 million illiterate adults, way ahead of the next two countries on the list - China with 62 million and Pakistan with 50 million illiterate adults (UIS, 2012). In fact, India's illiterate adults form about 57-60% of the illiterate adult population of the Asia Pacific region (507 million). This is cause for alarm and a call to action. In India, like any other place, illiteracy is a function of poverty, with the concentration of illiterate adults being found in rural areas.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 16 Certain religious minorities and scheduled castes and tribes have much higher levels of adult illiteracy, again especially among women.
Illiterate adults struggle with unemployment, or are demoted to degrading jobs, oppressed by employers and moneylenders, thus being further sucked into the vortex of poverty and exploitation.
UNESCO's Education For All (EFA) targets aim to bring down the number of adult illiterates in India to about 135 million by 2015. This will still be around 53% of the 253 million illiterate adults projected for the Asia Pacific region in that time frame, but is nevertheless, a very ambitious target to achieve.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 17 Organizations working for Adult Education Government 1. The National Literacy Mission (NLM), launched in 1988, is the program undertaken by the Government for adult education. 2. It has been the topic of discussion at various United Nations forums, and was awarded the UNESCO Noma Literacy Prize in 1999. 3. By the end of the 10th Plan Period (2002-2007) the NLM had made 127.45 million persons literate, of which 60% were females. 4. To further strengthen 'Adult Education and Skill Development', the Government also introduced two new schemes, namely Saakshar Bharat and Scheme for Support to Voluntary Agencies for Adult Education and Skill Development, during the 11th Plan. Saakshar Bharat is the world's largest adult education programme, which envisages making 70 million adults literate by 2017.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 18 Excerpt from the World Education Forum (UNESCO)'s Education For All Assessment Report: 1. "The goal of NLM is to attain full literacy (with the sustainable threshold level of 75 per cent). 2. NLM envisages that focusing on imparting of functional literacy to non-literates in the 15-35 age group would help achieve this goal. This age group has been selected because they are in the productive as well as the reproductive period of life. 3. NLM seeks to bring non-literates to a level of self-reliance in the three R's (Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic). 4. It also provides them facilities for skill development to improve their economic status and well-being. 5. It enables them to imbibe values of national integration, conservation of the environment, women's equality and observance of small family norms. 6. And finally, it facilitates their participation in the development process. 7. Functional literacy, surrounding all of the above, is the overall goal of NLM."
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 19 NGOs and other initiatives
The Indian Adult Education Association, probably the oldest organization dedicated to the cause, was established in 1939. Dr. Zakir Hussain, former President of India, who served on the committee of the IAEA for 10 years as its Vice President, is quoted as saying, "The history of the IAEA is the history of adult education in India," from which it can be concluded that very little was done in this space prior to the IAEA's formation.
IAEA organizes conferences and training programmes for adult educators in the country, as well as functionaries in the Government, and enrolls high-profile Government officials, educators and social workers. The International Institute of Adult and Lifelong Education (IIALE) was set up by the IAEA in 2002.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 20 1. NLM & NGOs: As part of the revision of the NLM programme in 1999, NGOs were given a major role in the plan for adult education, either by partnership with the State Resource Centres, or by running their own continuing education programs, vocational training, etc. It was then expected that "NGOs would take up more innovative projects, which would serve as examples for making policy changes by the NLM." For this, NGOs were invited to apply for grants from the NLM.
2. Public-Private Partnership (PPP): A number of public sector enterprises (GAIL, HPCL, PFC, CCIL, ONGC) have extended their support to the Saakshar Bharat Program. There are partnerships with the private sector as well, for example, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) which has supported the campaign for literacy with its Computer Based Functional Literacy Program that has now been accepted as part of the 12th 5-year plan of the Government of India. The PPP model is emerging as an important channel in development, especially through the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF). 2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 21 3. Indian Literacy Project (ILP) and other organizations: Formed in 1990 in the USA, ILP partners with local NGOs to "Play the role of a catalyst for literacy". ILP has supported nearly 100 projects since its inception, benefitting around 2,20,000 children, youth and adults. There are also NGOs working in this space, such as Tara Akshar, Nirantar and CORO for Literacy. 4. Night Schools: There are around 200 independently functioning night schools in Maharashtra (150 of which are in Mumbai). The advantage of night schools is that they provide an opportunity for youth and adults who have to work during the day, to still pursue their education during post work hours. 5. Though the concept of night schools is unique to only a few states (mainly Maharashtra), it would be beneficial to replicate the night school model across the country. Masoom is an NGO that works with night schools in Mumbai, and has developed a model for improvement of the night school education system.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 22 Ways to Support the Cause While the current figures for illiteracy are still daunting, it is heartening to know that the Government through its Literacy Mission, as well as citizens through various forums and organisations, are now systematically approaching the issue and bringing down the adverse rates steadily. Measures such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Right to Education Act are wide-scale initiatives to ensure that the future generations of Indians will be given better access to education, and, therefore, not be as susceptible to illiteracy as their predecessors.
It is important to mobilize support for the promotion of literacy and adult education, especially in the following ways:
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 23 1. Public-Private Partnerships: Other organizations in the private sector can take the example of TCS and use their resources to develop valuable aids to assist the Government in imparting education to adults across the country. Technology-based solutions, especially mobile phone-based ones, are most likely to successfully reach out to a large portion of the population at a much lower cost.
2. Awareness & Fund Raising: Partnering with NGOs to create awareness for the cause – for example the "Back-a-thon" (backwards walk) organized by the NGO Make a Difference (MAD) in 20 cities across the country to raise public awareness on illiteracy. Fundraising initiatives would also go a long way in providing NGOs with financial resources to implement their programs, as well as draw attention and support to their work. Companies can also consider options like "payroll giving" and regular NGO visits for their employees.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 24 3. Volunteering: Assisting NGOs by enrolling as volunteers to teach the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. Professionals from all walks of life can also volunteer their services to help build the capacity of the NGOs in areas such as strategy, financial management, human resource management, etc. Strengthening the NGO as an organization would help set a strong foundation and enable higher productivity and success of the program.
4. Advocacy: Outreach and impact can be significantly expanded when NGOs partner with the Government and avail the benefits of the various schemes and budgets that can be utilized for program implementation. For this, strategic advocacy efforts are required on the part of NGOs in this space.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 25 5. Collaboration of NGOs: NGOs that are involved in similar causes would stand to benefit by collaborating their efforts and building on each other's learning and proven successes in the field. Endeavours must be made to identify such NGOs and find a way to synergize their programs for perhaps a more efficient and wider outreach. Adult education programs ought to be treated slightly differently given the special needs of their beneficiaries. They should have more of a vocational training focus to them, to enable these adults to start making a living from their education as soon as possible. This will not only retain their interest in the program, but will also serve as examples to other non-literates in the community. While NGOs may work towards these goals, programs in adult education can only be truly successful with support from the Government and from other members in the community. Going by the progress made by the National Literacy Mission and the growing support from the private sector, we can perhaps optimistically look forward to a literate India in the fairly near future.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 26 1 Indian Adult Education Association www.iaea-india.org 2 Department of School Education and Literacy http://mhrd.gov.in/adulteducation 3 Saakshar Bharat 1) www.saaksharbharat.nic.in 2)http://www.ummid.com/news/2013/September/08.09.2013/zarina- benefits-from-power-of-litracy.html 4 MHRD Statistics 1)http://mhrd.gov.in/statistics_data / 2)http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/EAG_2012.pdf
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 27 5 2001 Comparative Study between 3 countries 1)http://www.cccindia.co/corecentre/Database/Docs/DocFiles/adult_educ ation.pdf 2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_China#Modern_China 3)http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?v=39&c=ch&l=en 4)http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?page=2 5)http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/archive/editorial-ridding-indonesia-of- illiteracy-and-poverty/ 6)http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/10/comparing-india- and-china 6 International Institute of Adult and Lifelong Education www.iiale.org 7 UNESCO Report on Adult Learning and Education (2012) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002224/222407E.pdf
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 28 8 UNESCO - International Round Table on Literacy 2012 - Action Plan India http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/pdf/India.pdf 9 Census 2011 1)http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/literacy_and_level_of_educa tion.aspx 2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_census_of_India#Literacy 10 World Education Forum (UNESCO)'s Education For All Assessment Report http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/india/contents.ht ml#cont
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 29 11 Current scenario of illiterate adults - report by Asia South-Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) http://www.aspbae.org/sites/default/files/pdf/The%20Power%20of%20Literacy.pd f 12 Role of NGOs in NLM 1)http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/10th/volume2/v2_ch2_6. pdf 2)http://www.nlm.nic.in/support_to_ngos__innovative_proj.htm 13 Public Private Partnership 1) http://mhrd.gov.in/voc_eduu 2)http://www.tata.com/ourcommitment/articles/inside.aspx?artid=YYVxC5nZ2t4= 3)http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/pdf/India.pdf
For the full list of NGOs in partnership with the Government, across all sectors, please visit: http://ngo.india.gov.in/ngo_sector_ngo.php
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 30 Major Adult Education Programmes for Literacy in India
In the history of adult education, the concept of adult education has constantly changed and developed under various nomenclatures. The key concept used up to 1947 was basic education which was based on traditional approach and focused on the programme of night schools.
Between 1949 and 1966, the concept used was ci ic literacy which was based on life-oriented approach and focused on social education. Be- tween 1967 and 1977, fu ctio al literacy concept based on work- oriented approach came to be emphasized in adult education which focused on functional literacy programme, farmer’s education and Shramik Vidyapiths. From 1978 onwards, developmental literacy concept based on social change approach came to be used more which focused on total literacy campaigns.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 31 The basic literacy concept evolved with the expansion of night schools which received grants-in-aid from 1929. The course in this scheme was spread over a period of two years and included simple lessons in 3 R’s, stories of historical importance, and elementary lessons in health, hygiene and first-aid. The instruction was imparted for 2-3 hours in the evening. During 1938-39, a series of Provincial Mass Literacy Campaigns were organized by different provincial governments. It was estimated that during 1938-42, about 1.38 crore persons became literate.
The concept of civic literacy was conceived in 1949 and modified in 1952 when it was integrated with Community Development Programme. It was implemented all over India during the first two Five Year Plans. It was estimated that nearly 35 lakh illiterates became literate during the First Five Year Plan and about 40 lakh during the Second Plan.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 32 The concept of functional literacy emerged during the 1960s. Defined as literacy integrated with the occupation of the learner and directly related to development , functional literacy was translated into action in 1968. Initially it was introduced in three districts but it expanded during next ten years and covered 144 districts out of 397 by 1977. During the Fourth Plan, nearly 30 lakh farmers joined the functional literacy classes.
By early 1970s, the concept of development literacy came to be evolved. Literacy was described not just the process of learning the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic but a contribution to the liberation of women and men and to their full development. In 1978, the government formulated the National Adult Education Programme (NAEP). The 1980s also witnessed the expansion of University Adult Education in India when the University Grants Commission (UGC) provided grants to 93 universities. Source : Shah, Indian Adult Education: A Historical Perspective, Directorate of Adult Education, New Delhi, 1993)
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 33 National Adult Education Programme (NAEP)
The NAE programme was launched on October 2, 1978 with the aim of providing education and promoting literacy among all illiterate persons, particularly in the age group of 15-35 years. The programme is a joint and collaborative effort of the central government, state governments, union territory administrations, voluntary agencies, universities, colleges and youth centres.
The education under the NAE programme is a package which envisages: i. Imparting literacy skills to the target illiterate population, ii. Their functional development, and iii. Creation of awareness among them regarding laws and policies of the government for the efficient implementation of the strategy of redistributive justice. iv. Special emphasis is being placed on the education of women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections of society, who comprise the bulk of illiterate population in India.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 34 Rural Functional Literacy Programme (RFLP)
The RFL programme is a sub-programme of the Adult Education Programme which is fully funded by the central government and implemented by the states and union territories.
The broad objectives of this programme are:
I. To develop abilities in the learners to read and write, and II. To create awareness among the learners about their rights and duties and the benefits they can draw from various schemes of socio-economic development being implemented by the government.
The RFLP was launched in May 1986 by involving the NSS and other student volunteers in colleges and universities on the principle of Each One Teach One . Starting on a modest scale of 2 lakh volunteers, it went up to 4.50 lakh in 1990 covering over 4.20 lakh learners. The programme has been designed keeping in view the needs and languages of the learners. The government has selected 40 districts to improve the quality of adult education. It is only after evaluation of the impact that the programme will be taken up in a big way to spread literacy in the minimum possible time.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 35
The process of the Mass Programme of Functional Literacy involves a number of stages. These stages are: a) selecting master trainers who are to train the student volunteers; b) selecting, motivating and mobilizing the student volunteers who are genuinely and sincerely committed to literacy work; c) identifying illiterate persons in the age group of 15-35 who may be staying in the neighbourhood of an educational institution; d) creating a link between the student volunteers and the illiterate persons and assigning an area of operation for each volunteer; e) monitoring of the programme of the student volunteers by senior teachers/headmasters of schools; f) coordination with various development departments/agencies by way of visits of functionaries to the place where the volunteer is imparting literacy, telling the learners about the advantages of being literate, making available charts, posters and other materials to the learners and identifying genuine difficulties of the learners; and g) providing post-literacy activities for the neo-literates through libraries and reading rooms. Coverage and support by the media and evaluation of the overall impact of the programme through University Departments of Adult and Continuing Education is of crucial importance.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 36 National Literacy Mission (NLM)
In accordance with the directives of the National Policy on Education and the implementation strategies envisaged in the Programme of Action, the government formulated a comprehensive programme and constituted National Literacy Mission (NLM) with a view to achieving literacy goals through setting into motion Total Literacy Campaigns (TLCs) all over the country in a phased manner. The NLM was launched in May 1988 to achieve the goal of imparting fu ctio al literacy to 80 million illiterate persons in the 15-35 age groups by 1995.
The Mission, thus, aimed at achieving 80 per cent literacy in 1995 in comparison to 36 per cent in 1981. The NLM aimed at involving the youth and voluntary agencies in the programme. In 1990, there were 513 projects in operation in various states and union territories. Likewise, presently, there are 500 voluntary agencies working in the field.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 37 National Literacy Mission (NLM)
In addition, Shramik Vidyapeeths and 16 state resource centres are functioning in different states to cater to the workers education and to provide technical resource support to the programme. The TLC phase is to be followed up and strengthened by post-literacy (PL) and continuing education (CE) phases. The NLM while laying emphasis on acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills seeks to create awareness among illiterate people, leading to their empowerment.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 38 Evaluation of Measures Undertaken
The attempts made by the government in the fifties, sixties and seventies for eradicating illiteracy could not succeed possibly because the nation then was pre-occupied with problems of food, employment and self- reliance. Besides, an account of the increase in population also, the number of illiterates in the country progressively increased from 29.4 crore in 1951 to 32.5 crore in 1961, 37.6 crore in 1971, 42.4 crore in 1981, and 48.1 crore in 1991.
The literacy programme in the last two decades (70s & 80s) has not achieved much. If we accept the official figures, the literacy campaign in the country so far has made 2.20 crore people literate. And the country took 50 years to achieve this landmark figures. In the process, Rs. 2,483.07 crore were spent on the adult education alone, and another Rs. 9,201 crore on the elementary education.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 39 The programme on adult education aimed at persuading illiterates to voluntarily undergo instruction to read and write. The Functional Literacy Programme was expected to lower the rate of infant mortality, reduce the number of school drop¬outs, improve health, produce better environmental conditions, create awareness of rights, help neo-literates acquire skills to improve their economic standing, motivate them to adopt small family norms and better the status of women. But have we been able to make any dent in the situation? Why is adult literacy programme not picking up fast in India? The main criticism is that the adult education movement does not have the support from the grassroots. The planning is more at the state level and there is nothing yet like a detailed programme of action district by district, village by village, and area to area, with weak areas and difficult problems carefully identified and provided for and resources firmly assured. Much time has been spent on pedagogy and local and regional invocations and freedom of choice have been effectively discouraged. Instead of welcoming all the available options, including the so-called ce tre approach, each one teach one or each one teach many , the concerned central agency puts increasing obstacles in the way of voluntary and local agencies bringing learners together into ce tres and imparting to them both literacy and other skills and socially useful knowledge.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 40 Thus, five maladies in the bombing of NAE programme may be listed: i. not involving community, ii. lack of political and administrative support, iii. lear ers irregular motivation, iv. poor quality of training, and v. absence of post-literacy programme. N.B. Our country does not have a coherent and well-worked out plan of action which will unite the centre and states, local bodies and voluntary organizations and constructive workers in a cumulative, all-embracing national effort. As if the past failures are not warning enough, the Ramamurti Committee also put the clock further back. In its Perspective Paper on Education presented in September 1990, the Committee observed: In the case of adults, inability to read and write has not necessarily meant lack of education . The intention perhaps is not to romanticize illiteracy but rather to underscore the need to redesign adult education programme meaningfully. But the Committee, in its full report entitled Towards an Enlightened and Human Society submitted in December 1990, did not offer any meaningful scheme of work. It merely recommended that after the Eighth Five Year Plan, an independent study group should evaluate the programme now under way and propose appropriate strategies to remove adult illiteracy in the quickest possible time.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 41 The Committee further recommended that the evaluation may also look into the various alternative models and study their relevance with respect to diverse socio-cultural and political conditions in different parts of India. The minimum objective of this study should be to find out on objective basis what approaches do not yield results, so that, at least those models may not be e couraged . Does this not show that the Ramamurti Co ittee s report leaves one with a feeling of utter dismay? The Ramamurti Co ittee s report further recommended that adult education programmes could be successful only when the other basic needs were linked simultaneously. These needs were defined as: health, nutrition, housing and employment. In fact, the report seemed to stress that instead of starting literacy programmes, the illiterate people be made aware of their basic needs. The second suggestion was that adult literacy models which failed to have the desired impact in five years ought to be scrapped. Knowing fully well the importance of work and nutrition, could it be said that the adult literacy programme should be postponed till we achieve the targets of employment, nutrition…?
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 42 And, then started a fresh controversy. A suggestion was given by the University Grants Co issio s Ex-Chairman, Professor Yashpal to close down universities and colleges for one year so as to involve teachers and students in a campaign for literacy. This suggestion was discussed by the Vice-chancellors of various universities in a meeting held at Delhi on March 8, 1991 organized by the Association of Indian Universities in co-operation with the Planning Commission. They suggested that literacy be made a component of college and university curriculum and students be involved in literacy programmes during summer holidays. Students remain free after their examinations for three to four months from mid- April to mid-July. During Dussehra vacations in October and winter vacations in December, school and college/ university work is not so demanding and rural adults also have relatively free time. There are some 80 holidays in a year in schools and colleges. Adding 60 to 75 days of vacations, the total period in a year for which the students remain free comes to about 150 days or five months. If the holidays are made flexible to suit the convenience of the rural populace and if students devote about two months out of these five months in making illiterates literate and if credits are awarded to students for involving themselves in literacy programmes, removing illiteracy in a period of five years or so may not be difficult.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 43 Of course, suspending teaching for a year for national regeneration is an impractical and wasteful suggestion. When academic sessions in several universities are already behind schedule because of one or the other agitation, foregoing a year s academic life to participate in literacy programmes will be unacceptable to students and their parents. A shorter time frame like the summer vacation would be more feasible. The Union Human Resources Development Ministry had set up an expert group under the chairmanship of Prof. Arun Ghosh in 1993 to evaluate the on-going literacy programmes. This group submitted its report in early 1995. It has pricked the grossly inflated balloon of the claims made by NLM. The group notes: We have reasons to record serious reservations about the number of persons made literate by the NLM . The group held that NLM s assessment should have normally been based on a sample size varying from 5 to 10 per cent, but more than 50 per cent of the evaluation was executed on the strength of sample size below 1 per cent. The NLM had drawn up its report on the basis of 14 external evaluation reports covering more than 30 lakh learners on the basis of 0.15 per cent sample size. Further, the evaluators had studied a particular block in a particular district and then declared the findings true for the entire district. This gross avoidance of figures has been severely criticized by the expert group. It has described the total literacy campaign of neo-literacy a ridicule. The expert group advised the government to forsake the politically motivated figure of achieving the target of universal education by 2000 A.D.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 44 Arun Ghosh led expert group has recommended: a) A strong political commitment to the whole effort, b) Integration of literacy campaigns with non-formal education programmes, c) Carrying out a door-to-door survey of illiteracy in the country, d) Concentration on the Hindi belt, e) Emphasis on the voluntary character of the programme, and f) Proper assessment of the content of learning.
Besides the above critical evaluation of the literacy programmes, we may also identify the following hurdles in the successful implementation of the adult education programme (Sood, 1988:4).
(1) Though the literacy programme was supposed to have three dimensions of literacy, awareness and functionality but in practice the programme has tended to become mainly a literacy programme, as most of the adult education centres are least equipped to deal with the other two basic components of AEP. The adults find no incentive in going to these centres as they do not consider these programmes useful in the context of their environmental needs.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 45 (2) The important factors which prevent adult illiterates from going to centres are: i. time constraint, ii. economic pressures, iii. fatalistic attitude nurtured by centuries of enslavement and exploitation, iv. lack of leisure, v. family resistance, vi. geographical distance, vii. absence of material incentives, viii. negative attitude towards o e s literacy and unawareness of the programme.
(3) Lack of commitment, interest and missionary zeal among key functionaries entrusted with the task of implementation of the programme pose a major challenge to the successful implementation of AEP.
(4) The threat posed by the vested interests has also negatively affected the programme, as it may deprive them of the cheap labour or potential vote banks. Therefore, veiled resistance and implicit indifference to the programme from a sizeable section of the community are stumbling blocks in the path of popularizing the programme.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 46 (5) The progra e s effectiveness is also impaired owing to some practical difficulties like: a) overemphasis on rules, b) voluntary agencies not receiving cooperation from state governments, c) absence of coordination among various agencies, d) lack of effective support from mass media, e) poor quality of training of functionaries, f) absence of proper evaluation, and l g) lack of support by panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) in a sustained manner.
Besides the above causes, four more causes may also be pointed out for the failure: I. the fixed period of six months stipulated in the NLM scheme is too long a period because a good number of learners leave the programme in the middle and the unpaid instructors are also not able to sustain the interest. It would, therefore, be more reasonable to fix the period of only two months. II. The literacy norms fixed are also too high. Arithmetic should be separated from reading and writing. By this, it is not being suggested that learning arithmetic is not the important component of adult education. The suggestion merely is separating arithmetic from basic literacy its teaching may be deferred to the post- literacy phase.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 47 The learners themselves will then demand the learning of arithmetic. Separating the two (arithmetic and basic literacy), would also lead to decreased dropout rate. Even the UNESCO has not included Arithmetic in the definition of a literate person. Thus, lightening the learning load and shortening the learning period will make it easy on both learners and instructors. III. Unless olu taris in National Literacy Mission is replaced by co pulsio , we will not be able to achieve the fixed target of raising literacy level. IV. Lastly, incentive in some shape must be given to instructors because genuine voluntarism is dead. Even our politicians who claim to enter politics and contest elections for ser i g the community get emoluments and huge allowances besides various perks.
Why then expect unemployed youth or young students to work free for a programme which pays its army of tehsil coordinators, block coordinators, supervisors, etc., a heavy monthly salary? Learners too would appreciate an incentive even if it is no more than group medical insurance for their families.
If incentives are not possible and voluntary effort is undependable, let government boldly make it mandatory for college/university students to teach and illiterate adults to learn on pain of disincentives. Source : C.P. Jain, The Hindustan Times, May 22, 1995
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 48
An educational summit conference of nine highly populated countries was held in India in December 1993.
About 70 per cent of illiterate adults are found in these nine nations.
This conference emphasized the need for educatio for all by the end of this century.
It also held that development at the national level, raising the life-style, control on population growth, and co-operation, peace and toleration at the international level can be achieved only by achieving the goal of education for all.
The highest importance was recommended for primary education.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 49 Adult Education in India - Old & Pre-Independence Era
The history of education in the South Asia began with teaching of traditional elements such as Indian religions, Indian mathematics, Indian logic at early Hindu and Buddhist centres of learning such as Taxila (Now-a-days in Pakistan) and Nalanda (in India) before the common era.
Islamic education became ingrained with the establishment of the Islamic empires in the Indian subcontinent in the Middle Ages.
The coming of the Europeans later bought Western Education to colonial India.
A series of measures continuing throughout the early half of the 20th century ultimately laid the foundation of education in the Republic of India, education in Pakistan and much of South Asia.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 50 Jain astronomical work Surya Prajnapti Sutra on paper, Western India, ca. 1500, in Devanagari script.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 51 Early History
Early education in India commenced under the supervision of a guru. Initially, education was open to all and seen as one of the methods to achieve Moksha, or enlightenment. As time progressed, due to superiority complexes, the education was imparted on the basis of caste and the related duties that one had to perform as a member of a specific caste. I. The Brahmans learned about scriptures and religion II. The Kshatriya were educated in the various aspects of warfare. III. The Vaishya caste learned commerce and other specific vocational courses. IV. Education was largely denied to the Shudras, the lowest caste. The earliest venues of education in India were often isolated from the main population. Students were expected to follow strict monastic guidelines prescribed by the guru and stay away from cities in ashrams. As population increased under the Gupta empire centres of urban learning became increasingly common and Cities such as Varanasi and the Buddhist centre at Nalanda became increasingly visible. 2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 52 The Mohra Muradu monastery at Taxila, in modern day Pakistan.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 53 Education in India in its traditional form was closely related to religion.
Among the Heterodox schools of belief were the Jain and Buddhist schools.
Heterodox Buddhist education was more inclusive and aside of the monastic orders.
The Buddhist education centres were urban institutes of learning such as Taxila and Nalanda where grammar, medicine, philosophy, logic, metaphysics, arts and crafts etc. were also taught.
Early secular Buddhist institutions of higher learning like Taxila and Nalanda continued to function well into the Common Era and were attended by students from China and Central Asia.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 54 On the subject of education for the nobility Joseph Prabhu writes: "Outside the religious framework, Kings and Princes were educated in the arts and sciences related to government: Politics (Dandaniti), Economics (Vartta), Philosophy (A ıksiki), and Historical traditions (Itihasa). Here the authoritative source was Kautilya s Arthashastra, often compared to Niccolò Machia elli s The Prince for its worldly outlook and political scheming." The Rgveda mentions female poets called brahmavadinis, specifically Lopamudra and Ghosha. By 800 BCE women such as Gargi and Maitreyi were mentioned as scholars in the religious Upnishads. Maya, mother of the historic Buddha, was an educated queen while other women in India contributed to writing of the Pali canon. Out of the composers of the Sangam literature 154 were women. However, the education and society of the era continued to be dominated by educated male population. It is possible that later historian twisted the truth that the so-called lower castes in the society were denied the right to education only in order to pitch for better concessions and create a feel good factor to the leaders of society so they may corner the valuable mass support.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 55 If one did not learn how to kill a wild boar without being geared or gather honey without being strung by it or harvest or make tools and implements, the society would have perhaps gone without food or shelter.
It is wrong to say that the teaching existed only in schools run by the upper cast teachers in their so-called Gurukuls. The society was teaching its subjects in the exact and required skills as appropriate to the time.
It is widely acclaimed now that the class room education does not teach the actual required skill sets either for life as it is perceived now or add value to the humanity at large.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 56 Early Common Era—High Middle Ages Chinese scholars such as Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) and Yi Jing arrived in Indian institutions of learning to survey Buddhist texts. Yi Jing additionally noted the arrival of 56 scholars from India, Japan, and Korea. The Buddhist institutions of learning were slowly giving way to a resurgent tradition of Brahmanism during that era. Scholars from India also journeyed to China to translate Buddhist texts. During the 10th century a monk named Dharmadeva from Nalanda journeyed to China and translated a number of texts. Another centre at Vikramshila maintained close relations with Tibet. The Buddhist teacher Atisa was the head monk in Vikramshila before his journey to Tibet. Examples of royal patronage include construction of buildings under the Rastrakuta dynasty in 945 BCE. The institutions arranged for multiple residences for educators as well as state sponsored education and arrangements for students and scholars. Similar arrangements were made by the Chola dynasty in 1024 CE, which provided state support to selected students in educational establishments.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 57 Temple schools from 12–13th centuries included the school at the Nataraja temple situated at Chidambaram which employed 20 librarians, out of whom 8 were copiers of manuscripts and 2 were employed for verification of the copied manuscripts. The remaining staff conducted other duties, including preservation and maintained of reference material. Another establishment during this period is the Uddandapura institute established during the 8th century under the patronage of the Pala dynasty. The institution developed ties with Tibet and became a centre of Tantric Buddhism. During the 10–11th centuries the number of monks reached a thousand, equaling the strength of monks at the sacred Mahabodhi complex. By the time of the arrival of the Islamic scholar Al Biruni India already had an established system of science and technology in place. By the 12th century, invasions from India's northern borders disrupted traditional education systems as foreign ar y s raided educational institutes, among other establishments.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 58 Late Middle Ages—Early Modern Era
Portrait of a young Indian scholar, Mughal miniature by Mir Sayyid Ali, ca. 1550.
2/15/2018 4:15:09 AM 59 With the advent of Islam in India, the traditional methods of education increasingly came under Islamic influence. Pre-Mughal rulers such as Qutb-ud-din Aybak and other Muslim rulers initiated institutions which imparted religious knowledge. Scholars such as Nizamuddin Auliya and Moinuddin Chishti became prominent educators and established Islamic monasteries. Students from Bukhara and Afghanistan visited India to study humanities and science. Islamic institution of education in India included traditional madrassas and maktabs which taught grammar, philosophy, mathematics, and law influenced by the Greek traditions inherited by Persia and the Middle East before Islam spread from these regions into India. A feature of this traditional Islamic education was its emphasis on the connection between science and humanities. Among the centres of education in India was 18th century Delhi was the Madrasa Rahimiya under the supervision of Shah Waliullah, an educator who favored an approach balancing the Islamic scriptures and science. The course at the Madrasa Rahimiya prescribed 2 books on grammar, 1 book on philosophy, 2 books on logic, 2 books on astronomy and mathematics, and 5 books on mysticism. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 60 Another centre of prominence arose in Lucknow under Mulla Nizamuddin Sahlawi, who educated at the Firangi Mahal and prescribed a course called the Dars-i-Nizami which combined traditional studies with modern and laid emphasis on logic. The education system under the rule of Akbar adopted an inclusive approach with the monarch favoring additional courses: medicine, agriculture, geography, and texts from other languages and religions, such as Patanjali's work in Sanskrit. The traditional science in this period was influenced by the ideas of Aristotle, Bhāskara II, Charaka and Ibn Sina. The more conservative monarch Aurangzeb also favored teaching of subjects which could be applied to administration. The Mughals, in fact, adopted a liberal approach to sciences and as contact with Persia increased the more intolerant Ottoman school of manqul education came to be gradually substituted by the more relaxed maqul school. The Middle Ages also saw the rise of private tuition in India. A tutor, or Riyazi, was an educated professional who could earn a suitable living by performing tasks such as creating calendars or generating revenue estimates for nobility. Another trend in this era is the mobility among professions, exemplified by Qaim Khan, a prince famous for his mastery in crafting leather shoes and forging cannons. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 61 Colonial Era The colonial era saw huge differences of opinion among the colonialists themselves about education for Indians. This was divided into two schools - the orientalists, who believed that education should happen in Indian languages (of which they favoured classical or court languages like Sanskrit or Persian) or utilitarians (also called anglicists) like Thomas Babington Macaulay, who strongly believed that India had nothing to teach its own subjects and the best education for them should happen in English. Thomas Babington Macaulay introduced English education in India, especially through his famous minute of February 1835. He called an educational system that would create a class of anglicized Indians who would serve as cultural intermediaries between the British and the Indians. Macaulay succeeded in implementing ideas previously put forward by Lord William Bentinck, the governor general since 1829. Bentinck favoured the replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the use of English as the medium of instruction, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers. He was inspired by utilitarian ideas and called for "useful learning. However, Bentinck's ideas were rejected by the Court of Directors of the East India Company and he retired as governor general. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 62 Frykenberg examines the 1784 to 1854 period to argue that education helped integrate the diverse elements Indian society, thereby creating a new common bond from among conflicting loyalties. The native elite demanded modern education. The University of Madras, founded in 1857, became the single most important recruiting ground for generations of ever more highly trained officials. This exclusive and select leadership was almost entirely "clean-caste" and mainly Brahman. It held influence in both the imperial administration and within princely governments to the south. The position of this bureaucrat class was never seriously challenged until well into the twentieth century. Ellis argues that historians of Indian education have generally confined their arguments to very narrow themes linked to colonial dominance and education as a means of control, resistance, and dialogue. Ellis emphasizes the need to evaluate the education actually experienced by most Indian children, which was outside the classroom. Public education expenditures varied dramatically across regions with the western and southern provinces spending three to four times as much as the eastern provinces. The reason involved historical differences in land taxes. However the rates of attendance and literacy were not nearly as twisted.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 63 Villages
Social scientist argues that local schools for pre-adolescent children were in a flourishing state in thousands of villages of Bihar and Bengal until the early decades of the nineteenth century. They were village institutions, maintained by village elders with local funds, where their children (from all caste clusters and communities) could, if the father wished, receive useful skills. However, the British policies in respect of education and land control adversely affected both the village structure and the village institutions of secular education. The British legal system and the rise of caste consciousness since the second half of the nineteenth century made it worse. Gradually, village as the base of secular identity and solidarity became too weak to create and maintain its own institution by the end of the nineteenth century and the traditional system decayed. British education became solidified into India as missionary schools were established during the 1820s. New policies in 1835 gave rise to the use of English as the language of instruction for advanced topics.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 64 Universities
India established a dense educational network (very largely for males) with a Western curriculum based on instruction in English. To further advance their careers many ambitious upper class men with money, including Gandhi, Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah went to England, especially to obtain a legal education at the Inns of Court. By 1890 some 60,000 Indians had matriculated, mainly in the liberal arts or law. About a third entered public administration, and another third became lawyers. The result was a very well educated professional state bureaucracy. By 1887 of 21,000 mid-level civil service appointments, 45% were held by Hindus, 7% by Muslims, 19% by Eurasians (European father and Indian mother), and 29% by Europeans. Of the 1000 top -level positions, almost all were held by Britons, typically with an Oxbridge degree.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 65
Victoria gate, named after the Empress in 1914, at Aligarh Muslim University
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 66 The British Raj, often working with local philanthropists, opened 186 colleges and universities. Starting with 600 students scattered across 4 universities and 67 colleges in 1882, the system expanded rapidly. More exactly, there never was a "system" under the British Raj, as each state acted independently and funded schools for Indians from mostly private sources. By 1901 there were 5 universities and 145 colleges, with 18,000 students (almost all male). The curriculum was Western. By 1922 most schools were under the control of elected provincial authorities, with little role for the national government. In 1922, there were 14 universities and 167 colleges, with 46,000 students. In 1947, 21 universities and 496 colleges were in operation. Universities at first did no teaching or research; they only conducted examinations and gave out degrees.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 67 The Madras Medical College opened in 1835, and admitted women so that they could treat the female population who traditionally shied away from medical treatments under qualified male professionals. The concept of educated women among medical professionals gained popularity during the late 19th century and by 1894, the Women's Christian Medical College, an exclusive medical school for women, was established in Ludhiana in Punjab. The British established the Government College & University in Lahore, of present-day Pakistan in 1864. The institution was initially affiliated with the University of Calcutta for examination. The prestigious University of the Punjab, also in Lahore, was the fourth university established by the colonials in South Asia, in the year 1882. MAO College, founded in 1875, was the first modern institution of higher education for Muslims in India. By 1920 it became The Aligarh Muslim University and was the leading intellectual center of Muslim political activity. The original goals were to train Muslims for British service and prepare elite that would attend universities in Britain. After 1920 it became a centre of political activism. Before 1939, the faculty and students supported an all-India nationalist movement. However, when the Second World War began political sentiment shifted toward demands for a Muslim separatist movement. The intellectual support it provided proved significant in the success of Jinnah and the Muslim League.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 68 Engineering The East India Company in 1806 set up Haileybury College in England to train administrators. In India, there were four colleges of civil engineering; the first was Thomason College (Now IIT Roorkee), founded in 1847. The second was Bengal Engineering College (now Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur and later IIEST). Their role was to provide civil engineers for the Indian Public Works Department. Both in Britain and in India, the administration and management of science, technical and engineering education was undertaken by officers from the Royal Engineers and the Indian Army equivalent, (commonly referred to as sapper officers). This trend in civil/military relationships continued with the establishment of the Royal Indian Engineering College (also known as Cooper's Hill College) in 1870, specifically to train civil engineers in England for duties with the Indian Public Works Department. The Indian Public Works Department, although technically a civilian organisation, relied on military engineers until 1947 and after.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 69 Growing awareness for the need of technical education in India gave rise to establishment of institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science, established by philanthropist Jamshetji Tata in 1909.
By the 1930s India had 10 institutions offering engineering courses.
However, with the advent of the Second World War in 1939 the "War Technicians Training Scheme" under Ernest Bevin was initiated, thereby laying the foundation of modern technical education in India.
Later, planned development of scientific education under Ardeshir Dalal was initiated in 1944.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 70 Science
A file photo of University of Bombay's Fort Campus taken in the 1870s.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 71 During the 19th and 20th centuries most of the Indian princely states fell under the British Raj. The British rule during the 19th century did not take adequate measures to help develop science and technology in India and instead focused more on arts and humanities. Till 1899 only the University of Bombay offered a separate degree in sciences. In 1899 B.Sc. and M.Sc. courses were also supported by the University of Calcutta. By the late 19th century India had lagged behind in science and technology and related education. While some science related subjects were not allowed in the government curriculum in the 1850s the private institutions could also not follow science courses due to lack of funds required to establish laboratories etc. The fees for scientific education under the British rule were also high. Even the natives who did manage to attain higher education faced issues of discrimination in terms of wages and privileges. England itself was gradually outpaced in science and technology by European rival Germany and a fast-growing United States. British turn to professional education during the 1860s and the French initiatives at raising awareness on science and technology in French colonies.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 72 World History of Education
The systematic provision of learning techniques to most children, such as literacy, has been a development of the last 150 or 200 years, or even last 50 years in some countries. Schools for the young have historically been supplemented with advanced training for priests, bureaucrats and specialists.
School of Aristotle, fresco by Gustav Spangenberg 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 73 Indian Subcontinent
In ancient India, during the Vedic period from about 1500 BC to 600 BC, most education was based on the Veda (hymns, formulas, and incantations, recited or chanted by priests of a pre-Hindu tradition) and later Hindu texts and scriptures. Vedic education included: proper pronunciation and recitation of the Veda, the rules of sacrifice, grammar and derivation, composition, verification and measuring device, understanding of secrets of nature, reasoning including logic, the sciences, and the skills necessary for an occupation. Some medical knowledge existed and was taught. There is mention in the Veda of herbal medicines for various conditions or diseases, including fever, cough, baldness, snake bite and others. Education, at first freely available in Vedic society, became over time more discriminatory as the caste system, originally based on occupation, evolved, with the Brahman (priests) being the most privileged of the castes. The oldest of the Upanishads - another part of Hindu scriptures - date from around 500 BC. These texts encouraged an exploratory learning process where teachers and students were co-travellers in a search for truth. The teaching methods used reasoning and questioning. Nothing was labeled as the final answer. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 74 The Gurukul system of education supported traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery. Education was free, but students from well-to-do families paid "Gurudakshina," a voluntary contribution after the completion of their studies. At the Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge of Religion, Scriptures, Philosophy, Literature, Warfare, Statecraft, Medicine, Astrology and History. The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as technical scientific, philosophical and generally Hindu religious texts, though many central texts of Buddhism and Jainism have also been composed in Sanskrit. Two epic poems formed part of ancient Indian education. The Mahabharata, part of which may date back to the 8th century BC, discusses human goals (purpose, pleasure, duty, and liberation), attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'Self') and the workings of karma. The other epic poem, Ramayana, is shorter, although it has 24,000 verses. It is thought to have been compiled between about 400 BC and 200 AD. The epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma. An early center of learning in India dating back to the 5th century BC was Taxila (also known as Takshashila), which taught the three Vedas and the eighteen accomplishments. It was an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist centre of learning from the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 75 China
During the Zhou Dynasty (1045 BC to 256 BC), there were five national schools in the capital city, Pi Yong (an imperial school, located in a central location) and four other schools for the aristocrats and nobility, including Shang Xiang. The schools mainly taught the Six Arts: rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. According to the Book of Rituals, at age twelve, boys learned arts related to ritual (i.e. music and dance) and when older, archery and chariot driving. Girls learned ritual, correct deportment, silk production and weaving. It was during the Zhou Dynasty that the origins of native Chinese philosophy also developed. Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) founder of Confucianism, was a Chinese philosopher who made a great impact on later generations of Chinese, and on the curriculum of the Chinese educational system for much of the following 2000 years. Later, during the Ch'in dynasty (246-207 BC), a hierarchy of officials was set up to provide central control over the outlying areas of the empire. To enter this hierarchy, both literacy and knowledge of the increasing body of philosophy was required: "....the content of the educational process was designed not to engender functionally specific skills but rather to produce morally enlightened and cultivated generalists".
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 76 During the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 221 AD), boys were thought ready at age seven to start learning basic skills in reading, writing and calculation. In 124 BC, the Emperor Wudi established the Imperial Academy, the curriculum of which was the Five Classics of Confucius. By the end of the Han Dynasty (220 AD) the Academy enrolled more than 30,000 students, boys between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years. However education through this period was a luxury.
The Nine rank system was a civil service nomination system during the Three Kingdoms (220-280 AD) and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589 AD) in China. Theoretically, local government authorities were given the task of selecting talented candidates, then categorizing them into nine grades depending on their abilities. In practice, however, only the rich and powerful would be selected. The Nine Rank System was eventually superseded by the Imperial examination system for the civil service in the Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD)
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 77 Greece and Rome
In the city-states of ancient Greece, most education was private, except in Sparta. For example, in Athens, during the 5th and 4th century BC, aside from two years military training, the state played little part in schooling. Anyone could open a school and decide the curriculum. Parents could choose a school offering the subjects they wanted their children to learn, at a monthly fee they could afford. Most parents, even the poor, sent their sons to schools for at least a few years, and if they could afford it from around the age of seven until fourteen, learning gymnastics (including athletics, sport and wrestling), music (including poetry, drama and history) and literacy. Girls rarely received formal education. At writing school, the youngest students learned the alphabet by song, then later by copying the shapes of letters with a stylus on a waxed wooden tablet. After some schooling, the sons of poor or middle-class families often learnt a trade by apprenticeship, whether with their father or another tradesman. By around 350 BC, it was common for children at schools in Athens to also study various arts such as drawing, painting, and sculpture. The richest students continued their education by studying with sophists, from whom they could learn subjects such as rhetoric, mathematics, geography, natural history, politics, and logic.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 78 Some of Athens' greatest schools of higher education included the Lyceum (the so-called Peripatetic school founded by Aristotle of Stageira) and the Platonic Academy (founded by Plato of Athens). The education system of the wealthy ancient Greeks is also called Paideia. In the subsequent Roman Empire, Greek was the primary language of science. Advanced scientific research and teaching was mainly carried on in the Hellenistic side of the Roman Empire, in Greek. The education system in the Greek city-state of Sparta was entirely different, designed to create warriors with complete obedience, courage, and physical perfection. At the age of seven, boys were taken away from their homes to live in school dormitories or military barracks. There they were taught sports, endurance and fighting, and little else, with harsh discipline. Most of the population was illiterate. The first schools in Ancient Rome arose by the middle of the 4th century BC. These schools were concerned with the basic socialization and rudimentary education of young Roman children. The literacy rate in the 3rd century BC has been estimated as around one percent to two percent. There are very few primary sources or accounts of Roman educational process until the 2nd century BC, during which there was a proliferation of private schools in Rome.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 79 At the height of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, the Roman educational system gradually found its final form. Formal schools were established, which served paying students (very little in the way of free public education as we know it can be found). Normally, both boys and girls were educated, though not necessarily together. In a system much like the one that predominates in the modern world, the Roman education system that developed arranged schools in tiers. The educator Quintilian recognized the importance of starting education as early as possible, noting that e ory … not only exists even in small children, but is specially retentive at that age . A Roman student would progress through schools just as a student today might go from elementary school to middle school, then to high school, and finally college. Progression depended more on ability than age with great emphasis being placed upon a stude t s ingenium or inborn gift for learning, and a more tacit emphasis on a stude t s ability to afford high-level education. Only the Roman elite would expect a complete formal education. A tradesman or farmer would expect to pick up most of his vocational skills on the job. Higher education in Rome was more of a status symbol than a practical concern.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 80 It has been argued that literacy rates in the Greco-Roman world were seldom more than 20 percent; averaging perhaps not much above 10 percent in the Roman Empire, though with wide regional variations, probably never rising above 5 percent in the western provinces, and that the literate in classical Greece did not much exceed 5 percent of the population. The argument for these claims is that ancient governments did not invest in public education.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 81 Formal education in the Middle Ages (500–1600 AD) Europe
The Abbey of Cluny was one of the most influential 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 82 During the Early Middle Ages, the monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church were the centres of education and literacy, preserving the Church's selection from Latin learning and maintaining the art of writing. Prior to their formal establishment, many medieval universities were run for hundreds of years as Christian monastic schools (Scholae monasticae), in which monks taught classes, and later as cathedral schools; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the early 6th century. The first medieval institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology. These universities evolved from much older Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools, and it is difficult to define the date on which they became true universities, although the lists of students generally for higher education in Europe held by the Vatican are a useful guide. Ireland became known as the island of saints and scholars. Monasteries were built all over Ireland and these became centres of great learning.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 83 Northumbria was famed as a centre of religious learning and arts. Initially the kingdom was evangelized by monks from the Celtic Church, which led to a flowering of monastic life, and Northumbria played an important role in the formation of Insular art, a unique style combining Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Byzantine and other elements. After the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD, Roman church practices officially replaced the Celtic ones but the influence of the Anglo-Celtic style continued, the most famous examples of this being the Lindisfarne Gospels. The Venerable Bede (673-735) wrote his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731) in a Northumbrian monastery, and much of it focuses on the kingdom. During the reign of Charlemagne, King of the Franks from 768 – 814 AD, whose empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, there was a flowering of literature, art, and architecture known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Brought into contact with the culture and learning of other countries through his vast conquests, Charlemagne greatly increased the provision of monastic schools and scriptoria (centres for book-copying) in Francia. Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 84 Charlemagne took a serious interest in scholarship, promoting the liberal arts at the court, ordering that his children and grandchildren be well- educated, and even studying himself under the tutelage of Paul the Deacon, from whom he learned grammar, Alcuin, with whom he studied rhetoric, dialect and astronomy (he was particularly interested in the movements of the stars), and Einhard, who assisted him in his studies of arithmetic. The English monk Alcuin was invited to Charlemagne's court at Aachen, and brought with him the precise classical Latin education that was available in the monasteries of Northumbria. The return of this Latin proficiency to the kingdom of the Franks is regarded as an important step in the development of mediaeval Latin. Charlemagne's chancery made use of a type of script currently known as Carolingian minuscule, providing a common writing style that allowed for communication across most of Europe. After the decline of the Carolingian dynasty, the rise of the Saxon Dynasty in Germany was accompanied by the Ottonian Renaissance.
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Cambridge University
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 86 Cathedral schools and monasteries remained important throughout the Middle Ages; at the Third Lateran Council of 1179 the Church mandated that priests provide the opportunity of a free education to their flocks, and the 12th and 13th century renascence known as the Scholastic Movement was spread through the monasteries. These however ceased to be the sole sources of education in the 11th century when universities, which grew out of the monasticism began to be established in major European cities. Literacy became available to a wider class of people, and there were major advances in art, sculpture, music and architecture.
Sculpture, paintings and stained glass windows were vital educational media through which Biblical themes and the lives of the saints were taught to illiterate viewers.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 87 Islamic world During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Academy of Gundishapur, originally the intellectual center of the Sassanid empire and subsequently a Muslim centre of learning, offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculties were versed not only in the Zoroastrian and Persian traditions, but in Greek and Indian learning as well. The House of Wisdom in Baghdad was a library, translation and educational centre from the 9th to 13th centuries. Works on astrology, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, and philosophy were translated. Drawing on Persian, Indian and Greek texts—including those of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid, Plotinus, Galen, Sushruta, Charaka, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta—the scholars accumulated a great collection of knowledge in the world, and built on it through their own discoveries. The House was an unrivalled centre for the study of humanities and for sciences, including mathematics, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, zoology and geography. Baghdad was known as the world's richest city and centre for intellectual development of the time, and had a population of over a million, the largest in its time. The Islamic mosque school (Madrasah) taught the Quran in Arabic and did not at all look like the medieval European universities.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 88 In the 9th century, Bimaristan medical schools were formed in the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be a practicing Doctor of Medicine. Al- Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in 975, was a Jami'ah ("university" in Arabic) which offered a variety of post-graduate degrees, had a Madrasah and theological seminary, and taught Islamic law, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, early Islamic philosophy and logic in Islamic philosophy. Under the Ottoman Empire, the towns of Bursa and Edirne became major centers of learning. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the town of Timbuktu in the West African nation of Mali became an Islamic centre of learning with students coming from as far away as the Middle East. The town was home to the prestigious Sankore University and other Madrasas. The primary focus of these schools was the teaching of the Qur'an, although broader instruction in fields such as logic, astronomy, and history also took place. Over time, there was a great accumulation of manuscripts in the area and an estimated 100,000 or more manuscripts, some of them dated from pre- Islamic times and 12th century, are kept by the great families from the town. Their contents are informative, especially in the subjects of astronomy, music, and botany. More than 18,000 manuscripts have been collected by the Ahmed Baba centre.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 89 China
Although there are more than 40,000 Chinese characters in written Chinese, many are rarely used. Studies have shown that full literacy in the Chinese language requires knowledge of only between three and four thousand characters. In China, three oral texts were used to teach children by rote memorization the written characters of their language and the basics of Confucian thought. The Thousand Character Classic, a Chinese poem originating in the 6th century, was used for more than a millennium as a primer for teaching Chinese characters to children. The poem is composed of 250 phrases of four characters each, thus containing exactly one thousand unique characters, and was sung in the same way that children learning the Latin alphabet may use the "alphabet song". Later, children also learn the Hundred Family Surnames, a rhyming poem in lines of eight characters composed in the early Song Dynasty (i.e. in about the 11th century) which actually listed more than four hundred of the common surnames in ancient China.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 90 From around the 13th century until the latter part of the 19th century, the Three Character Classic, which is an embodiment of Confucian thought suitable for teaching to young children, served as a child's first formal education at home. The text is written in triplets of characters for easy memorization. With illiteracy common for most people at the time, the oral tradition of reciting the classic ensured its popularity and survival through the centuries. With the short and simple text arranged in three-character verses, children learned many common characters, grammar structures, elements of Chinese history and the basis of Confucian morality. After learning Chinese characters, students wishing to ascend in the social hierarchy needed to study the Chinese classic texts. The early Chinese state depended upon literate, educated officials for operation of the empire. In 605 AD, during the Sui Dynasty, for the first time, an examination system was explicitly instituted for a category of local talents. The merit-based imperial examination system for evaluating and selecting officials gave rise to schools that taught the Chinese classic texts and continued in use for 1,300 years, until the end the Qing Dynasty, being abolished in 1911 in favour of Western education methods. The core of the curriculum for the imperial civil service examinations from the mid-12th century onwards was the Four Books, representing a foundational introduction to Confucianism.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 91 Theoretically, any male adult in China, regardless of his wealth or social status, could become a high-ranking government official by passing the imperial examination, although under some dynasties members of the merchant class were excluded. In reality, since the process of studying for the examination tended to be time-consuming and costly (if tutors were hired), most of the candidates came from the numerically small but relatively wealthy land-owning gentry. However, there are vast numbers of examples in Chinese history in which individuals moved from a low social status to political prominence through success in imperial examination. Under some dynasties the imperial examinations were abolished and official posts were simply sold, which increased corruption and reduced morale. In the period preceding 1040–1050 AD, prefectural schools had been neglected by the state and left to the devices of wealthy patrons who provided private finances. The chancellor of China at that time, Fan Zhongyan, issued an edict that would have used a combination of government funding and private financing to restore and rebuild all prefectural schools that had fallen into disuse and abandoned.[49] He also attempted to restore all county-level schools in the same manner, but did not designate where funds for the effort would be formally acquired and the decree was not taken seriously until a later period. Fan's trend of government funding for education set in motion the movement of public schools that eclipsed private academies, which would not be officially reversed until the mid-13th century.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 92 India
The first millennium and the few centuries preceding it saw the flourishing of higher education at Nalanda, Takshashila University, Ujjain, & Vikramshila Universities. Amongst the subjects taught were Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, mathematics, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine. Each university specialized in a particular field of study. Takshila specialized in the study of medicine, while Ujjain laid emphasis on astronomy. Nalanda, being the biggest centre, handled all branches of knowledge, and housed up to 10,000 students at its peak. Vikramashila Mahavihara, another important center of Buddhist learning in India, was established by King Dharmapala (783 to 820) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nāla dā. Indigenous education was widespread in India in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The schools were attended by stude ts representative of all classes of society.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 93 Japan
The history of education in Japan dates back at least to the 6th century, when Chinese learning was introduced at the Yamato court. Foreign civilizations have often provided new ideas for the development of Japan's own culture.
Chinese teachings and ideas flowed into Japan from the sixth to the 9th century. Along with the introduction of Buddhism came the Chinese system of writing and its literary tradition, and Confucianism.
By the 9th century, Heian-kyo (today's Kyoto), the imperial capital, had five institutions of higher learning, and during the remainder of the Heian period, other schools were established by the nobility and the imperial court. During the medieval period (1185-1600), Zen Buddhist monasteries were especially important centers of learning, and the Ashikaga School, Ashikaga Gakko, flourished in the 15th century as a center of higher learning.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 94 Central and South American civilizations Aztec Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology. Until the age of fourteen, the education of children was in the hands of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their calpōlli. Part of this education involved learning a collection of sayings, called huēhuetlàtolli ("sayings of the old"), that embodied the Aztecs' ideals. Judged by their language, most of the huēhuetlàtolli seemed to have evolved over several centuries, predating the Aztecs and most likely adopted from other Nahua cultures. At 15, all boys and girls went to school. The Mexica, one of the Aztec groups, were one of the first people in the world to have mandatory education for nearly all children, regardless of gender, rank, or station. There were two types of schools: the telpochcalli, for practical and military studies, and the calmecac, for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship, theology, and other areas. The two institutions seem to be common to the Nahua people, leading some experts to suggest that they are older than the Aztec culture.
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 95 Central and South American civilizations Aztec
Aztec teachers (tlatimine) propounded a spartan regime of education with the purpose of forming a stoical people. Girls were educated in the crafts of home and child raising. They were not taught to read or write. All women were taught to be involved in religion; there are paintings of women presiding over religious ceremonies, but there are no references to female priests.
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2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 98 The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán (at modern Mexico City) was founded in 1325 on a muddy island in the lake that at that time filled the Basin of Mexico. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 99 Art
2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 100 Map 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 101 Inca
Inca education during the time of the Inca Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries was divided into two principal spheres: education for the upper classes and education for the general population. The royal classes and a few specially chosen individuals from the provinces of the Empire were formally educated by the Amautas (wise men), while the general population learned knowledge and skills from their immediate forbears.
The Amautas constituted a special class of wise men similar to the bards of Great Britain. They included illustrious philosophers, poets, and priests who kept the oral histories of the Incas alive by imparting the knowledge of their culture, history, customs and traditions throughout the kingdom. Considered the most highly educated and respected men in the Empire, the Amautas were largely entrusted with educating those of royal blood, as well as other young members of conquered cultures specially chosen to administer the regions. Thus, education throughout the territories of the Incas was socially discriminatory, most people not receiving the formal education that royalty received. 2/15/2018 4:15:10 AM 102 The official language of the empire was Quechua, although dozens if not hundreds of local languages were spoken. The Amautas did ensure that the general population learns Quechua as the language of the Empire, much in the same way the Romans promoted Latin throughout Europe; however, this was done more for political reasons than educational ones.
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