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India has a population of more than 1 billion, and its universities turn out 260,000 graduates a year. Many of these graduates are children educated at private schools. There are corporations are setting up their new manufacturing and electronics industry to take advantage of well-trained Indian technicians and workers. Many companies located in Ameruca and Europe are taking advantage of this talent pool exporting jobs to India. We do not yet have detailed information on Indian schools. Available information, however, suggests that India may have the most inadequate school system of any important country. A HBC reader writes in 2005, "India spends just 1.9 percent of its gross domestic product on elementary education, about two-thirds of what it needs to educate all its children. One result is that over 40 percent of the population is illiterate. On average, Indians spend just over 2 years in school�-compared with the average of 5 years in China and more than 9 years in South Korea." Despite recent economic progress, it is not clear that India is closing the education gap although economic success is making increased resources available.
The British founded India's first secular schools, but they did not found a public school sdystem which would have been hugely expensive. The Indian public school system was founded by the new national Government after independence (1947). The country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, made this a priority. It was an enormous undertaking. It meant creating the second largest public education system in the world. Only China at about the same time began building a larger public school system. Maulana Azad was India's first education minister and He envisaged a vast public education system with a centralized curriculum controlled by the national government in Delhi. [Sripati and Thiruvengadam, p. 150.] This did not come to pass. India was simply too diverse, with vast cultural, linguistic, religious, and other differences, for a highly centralized education system. As a result, in independent India, the different states assumed responsibility for education, although the central governmrnt assisted with finance. The central government did assume responsibility for tertiary education, especially dealing with science and technology. The national government did set a range of national educatiional policies. Creating such a vast public school system required massive public investment. Unfortunately the national goivernment's propensity to pursue a socialist, statist approch to ecomomic developent resulted in economic failure. This severely limited the resources available for public education. India's new leaders looked to the Soviet Union as an economic model. As a result, they were shocked to find that the economic boom they assumed a socialist model in independent India would produce, simply did not occur. Rather they presided over failed state projects and a stagnant economy. The government thus did not have the financial capability of adequately funding the massive new public education system they set out to create. The national Government first formulated a National Policy on Education (NPE) (1968) and revised them (1986). They reinforced the Programme of Action (POA) (1992). Free market economic reforms unleased the national economy (1990s). The resulting economic successes have increased the resources availavle for public education. The Government launched a number of important initatives (2008). Two of the most important were the District Primary Education Programme (DEEP) and India's initiative of Education for All (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan--SSA). Another important effort was to selective schools (such as Navodaya Vidyalaya) in every district. Efforts were also made to promote female education, incourage inter-disciplinary research, and establish open universities. The NPE was a step toward establishing a National System of Education that promotes a degree of uniformity while allowing for regional education needs. An important element of the NPE was increased sopending. The spebding target was set at more than 6 percent of Gross Domestic Product. [India 2004, p. 208] This would require very substantial increases in spending. Indian authorities have given priority science and technology while recognizing that a more comprehensive reform and much greater resources are needed.
In addition to the public school system, there are many private schools in India. These include many diverse schools. There are secular schools on the British model as well as a wide range of religious schools. Some schools have been founded by Christian churches are similar to the secular private schools with a modest religioys education component. Schools are also sponsored by the major Indian religious groups, espically Hindus and Moslems. These schools also vary. Some are associated with religion, but most of the curriculum is secular. Others are are traditional schools with religion at the heart of the curiculum. These traditional schools are commonly attached to temples and mosques. Some are run as Indian schools were for centuries. The Islamic schools are called madrasa and have been studied more than the Hindu schools.
The Hindu schools vary as to the caste group they serve. Some of the Hindu schools look similar to the secular schools. Others look like the schools that existed centuries earlier. We do not know a great deal about the curiculum. One source tells us that learn Hindu chants in the ancient language of India, Sanskrit. They are taught strict dietary rules, abstaining from eating meat and strictly vegetarian foods. History is an important part of the curiculm. The children are regaled with the legends of brave Hindu warriors and saints and learn about the ravages of the Muslim emperor, Babur, and subsequent repression by his discendents. We are not sure to what extent secular subjects are included in the curiculum or how state authorities may or may not regulate what is taught. A reader writes, "I suspect that the Indian Government requires some teaching about secular subjects, but the principal subject is the religion and especially the worship. The Brahmins are not monks and this is not an Ashram. They are priests and lead
the worship." Here we hope to obtain some detailed information from our Indian readers. Some observers believe that religion in India has become more militant in recent decades with religious identities becoming more divided and strident. As a result, the concern has been expressed that the religious schools are stoking the flames of Hindu nationalism and Islamic militancy.
Sripati, V. and Thiruvengadam, A.K. "India: Constitutional Amendment Making The Right to Education a Fundamental Right", International Journal of Constitutional Law Vol. 2, No. 1 (2004), pp. 148�158.
India 2004: A Reference Annual (53rd edition)
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