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An overview
Ju l y 2019
The school
education
system in India
An overview
Ju l y 2019
The school
education
system in India
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the following
individuals for their role in reviewing the report:
Ashwath Bharath, Deepali Dharmaraj, Jenny Elliott,
Jayshree Oza, Ashok Pandey, Gauri Puranik and
Savita Venkat. They would also like to recognise
Rittika Chanda Parruck and Arijit Ghosh for their
work on an earlier report, on which this one is
partly based (see Parruck and Ghosh, 2014).
Contents 1
Contents
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................................................................................4
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
India demographics ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Overview of the K-12 sector .................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Schooling at different levels ...................................................................................................................................................................16
Typical school weeks and years ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
Grades and promotion .........................................................................................................................................................................16
Syllabus, subjects and assessment at different grades ........................................................................................................ 17
Early childhood education ..................................................................................................................................................................18
Primary education ..................................................................................................................................................................................18
Upper primary education ....................................................................................................................................................................19
(Lower) secondary education ........................................................................................................................................................... 19
Higher secondary education ............................................................................................................................................................20
School ownership and management..................................................................................................................................................21
Government educational institutions ............................................................................................................................................23
Private aided (or government-aided) institutions ....................................................................................................................23
Local body institutions .........................................................................................................................................................................23
Private unaided institutions ...............................................................................................................................................................23
The increase and impact of private school education in India ..........................................................................................24
School Management Committees ...................................................................................................................................................24
Languages in education in India.......................................................................................................................................................... 26
Language diversity and the three-language formula .............................................................................................................26
The rise of English medium instruction ........................................................................................................................................27
Translingual practices in the classroom .......................................................................................................................................27
Technology in education in India ........................................................................................................................................................ 28
Teacher education and evaluation in India ...................................................................................................................................30
Pre-service teacher training and qualifications ........................................................................................................................30
In-service teacher development and support ........................................................................................................................... 31
Online resources for teacher support ...........................................................................................................................................32
Teacher evaluation .................................................................................................................................................................................33
Indian education policy: a timeline .................................................................................................................................................... 34
2 Contents
Indian government education initiatives ........................................................................................................................................ 36
India’s commitment to UN development goals ..........................................................................................................................36
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan................................................................................36
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan ................................................................................................................................................................37
Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan ...................................................................................................................................................................37
National Education Policy 2019 ........................................................................................................................................................ 37
Other recent initiatives .........................................................................................................................................................................37
Apex educational organisations in India ........................................................................................................................................ 38
National Council of Educational Research and Training ........................................................................................................40
Regional Institutes of Education ......................................................................................................................................................41
Central Institute of Educational Technology ...............................................................................................................................41
National Council for Teacher Education ......................................................................................................................................42
National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration ..........................................................................................42
Educational boards in India .................................................................................................................................................................... 43
National boards .......................................................................................................................................................................................43
State government boards ....................................................................................................................................................... 43
The Central Board of Secondary Education ................................................................................................................... 43
The Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations .............................................................................................43
National Institute of Open Schooling .................................................................................................................................43
International boards ..............................................................................................................................................................................44
International Baccalaureate Organisation .......................................................................................................................44
Cambridge Assessment International Education .........................................................................................................44
The Council of Boards of School Education ................................................................................................................................44
Looking to the future ................................................................................................................................................................................. 45
References....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46
Appendices...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 49
Appendix 1: Comparative study of CBSE, CISCE, IB and CIE education boards in India .......................................... 49
Appendix 2: COBSE member boards .............................................................................................................................................52
Foreword 3
Foreword
The school education system in India is the largest
in the world, catering to over 260 million young
people each year. Jointly managed at the national
and state levels, many initiatives have been
undertaken to improve access to quality schooling
– particularly for those who are economically or
socially disadvantaged. With thriving competition
from private schools, there have been clear efforts
within the government sector to offer parents and
children what they most need and want: quality
education leading to improved life opportunities.
This report, five years after our first overview of
the education system in India, is being published
at a time when India appears to be at a significant
crossroads with its approach to education policy
and its implementation. Since the previous report
in 2014, significant changes have been made to
address issues of quality and equity of provision,
for example with the implementation of the Right
to Education Act and the widespread adoption of
new technologies and approaches to improve
teachers’ and learners’ access to resources and
content for learning.
The draft National Education Policy released in May
2019 further demonstrates an ongoing commitment
to quality provision, revising a policy which was last
updated in 1992. The draft includes a strong focus
on teachers’ continuing professional development
and a push towards greater access for mother-
tongue-based instruction – both areas that the
British Council understands as fundamental to
educational success.
In our 70 years in India, we have been privileged
to work with hundreds of thousands of teachers,
teacher educators, school leaders, administrators
and policymakers, bringing together expert
practitioners from India and the United Kingdom to
support multiple programmes and initiatives seeking
to improve educational outcomes. We are looking
forward to continuing to build these connections to
enable mutual learning and development, benefiting
millions of young people from across the country.
This report will provide a useful overview of this
complex system for those who are interested
to learn about the structure, mechanisms and
policies that ultimately drive both individual
and national development.
Barbara Wickham obe
Director India
British Council
4 Abbreviations
Abbreviations
ABL Activity-based learning
ASER Annual Status of Education Report
ADEPTS Advancement of Educational Performance through Teacher Support
AINET All India Network of English Teachers
AISSCE All India Senior School Certificate Examination
AISSE All India Secondary School Examination
BEd Bachelor of Education
CAIE Cambridge Assessment International Education
CBSE Central Board of Secondary Education
CCE Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
CIET Central Institute of Educational Technology
CISCE Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations
COBSE Council of Boards of School Education
DIET District Institute of Education and Training
ECE Early childhood education
ELTA I English Language Teachers Association of India
EM English medium
EMI English medium instruction
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HM Hindi medium
IB International Baccalaureate
IBO International Baccalaureate Organisation
ICSE Indian School Certificate Examinations
ICT Information and Communications Technology
IGCSE International General Certificate of Secondary Education
INSET In-service teacher training
MEd Master of Education
MHRD Ministry of Human Resource Development
MOI Medium of instruction
NCERT National Council of Educational Research and Training
NCF National Curriculum Framework
NCTE National Council for Teacher Education
NDP No Detention Policy (under RTE)
NEP National Education Policy
NGO Non-governmental organisation
NIEPA National Institute of Educational Policy and Administration (also NUEPA)
NIOS National Institute of Open Schooling
NPE National Policy on Education
Abbreviations 5
NSSO National Sample Survey Office
NUEPA National University of Educational Policy and Administration (also NIEPA)
PINDICS Performance Indicators (for teacher evaluation)
RMSA Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
RTE Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
SC Scheduled Caste
SCERT State Council for Educational Research and Training
SMC School Management Committee
SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
SSC Secondary School (Completion) Certificate
ST Scheduled Tribe
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
6 The school education system in India
Introduction
India, with over 1.5 million schools, over 8.7 million
primary and secondary teachers and more than
260 million enrolments,
1 is home to the largest
and most complex education system in the world.
This report provides an overview of this system,
including the following:
key facts and figures on the school sector
overviews of schooling at each level
language in education policy and practice
teacher education and evaluation
a history of recent education policies
main government initiatives since independence
details of the major national and international
boards of school education.
It also provides discussion of recent successes
and ongoing challenges in the education sector,
making it of use to readers seeking both to
understand the development of education in India
since independence and its future trajectory.
Immediately after independence from British rule
in 1947, the Department of Education was set up
under the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD), with a mandate to increase both access
to education and quality, leading to the first National
Policy on Education in 1968. Initial expansion of the
education sector was limited by India’s economic
growth but continued steadily until the end of the
20th century. Since committing to the Millennium
Development Goals in 2000, India has made great
progress towards achieving universal primary
education. The World Bank reports that between
2000 and 2017, elementary school enrolment
increased by more than 33 million: from 156.6 million
in 2000–01 to 189.9 million in 2017–18.
2 While
achievement varies greatly between India’s
29 states and seven union territories, two-thirds
of these have claimed to have achieved universal
primary enrolment.
Two prominent initiatives of the Indian government,
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA – ‘Education for All
Campaign’ in Hindi) in 2001 and the Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE)
Act, 2009, have promoted greater foci on issues
of access, inclusivity and quality in education. The
mean years of schooling of the working population
(those over 25 years old) increased from 4.19 years
in 2000 to 6.4 years in 2017.
3 India has also
committed to the achievement of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals, with the initiation of several
further large-scale and ambitious programmes
in recent years to help achieve these objectives.
At the time of writing, the education system in India
is at a significant crossroads. A draft version of the
revised National Education Policy (NEP – Ministry
of Human Resource Development, 2019) has been
released for comment, with expectations that it will
take effect later in 2019−20. If fully implemented,
the proposed policy will change the governance
structure of the education system, revise the RTE
Act (Ministry of Law and Justice, 2009) and impact
on several other key areas. In addition, the National
Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) has announced a comprehensive review
of the 2005 National Curriculum Framework (NCF) –
another initiative which has the potential to bring
considerable changes to practices in schools and
classrooms across the country. As far as possible,
as well as providing an overview of the system as
currently enacted, this report aims to highlight where
proposed changes may affect current provision.
1 http://mospi.nic.in/
2 See https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/india/overview#3 and https://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=2&country=IND#
3 http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/IND.pdf
The school education system in India 7
This report also discusses some of the challenges
faced by the Indian education system today. While
mean years of schooling has greatly improved, this
still lags behind those of other emerging market
economies such as China (7.8 years in 2017) and
Brazil (7.8 years in 2017).
4 While pupil retention rates
have improved over the last ten years in both urban
and rural areas,
5 dropout rates from government
schools remain comparatively high (12.3 per cent
at primary level in 2016
6) and enrolment gaps from
primary to secondary are matters of concern. While
official and independent statistics vary, survey data
from 2014 reported that over 50 per cent of ‘ever-
enrolled persons’ did not continue their study
beyond upper primary; the most common reason
given for dropping out of school was engagement
in economic activities for males and engagement
in domestic activities for females.
7
Disadvantaged groups continue to face greater
challenges,
8 despite a number of government
initiatives to reduce differences, with achievement
levels lower and dropout rates higher
9 particularly
for students from Scheduled Castes (SC) and
Scheduled Tribes (ST) (two official indicators of
disadvantaged status in India).
10 While of ficial pupil–
teacher ratios are improving (from 40:1 in 2000 to
35:1 in 2016
11) these tend to fluctuate locally, leading
to significant challenges in some contexts. Other
challenges currently faced by the Indian school
education system include a large urban–rural
achievement gap,
12 the low school readiness of
many primary learners,
13 a shortage of professionally
trained teachers,
14 low learner proficiency in media
of instruction
15 and overly ambitious curricula –
a matter of particular concern in rural areas.
16 These
challenges are compounded by the structure of the
system itself, which involves both centralised and
devolved elements, government, private and partly
private initiatives that interact in complex ways,
making it more of an organic, evolving ecosystem
than a single, centrally managed operation.
4 http://hdr.undp.org
5 AS ER (2 019).
6 http://data.uis.unesco.org
7 www.icssrdataservice.in/datarepository/index.php/catalog/14
8 www.ncert.nic.in/departments/nie/esd/pdf/NASSummary.pdf (2015 figures)
9 https://www.thehindu.com/education/percentage-of-school-dropouts/article25909306.ece
10 Sched uled C aste (S C) and Sc hedul ed Tribe (S T) refer to group s of peop le who ha ve been h istor icall y disa dvant aged du e to previous and ex isting soci al str uctur es,
as recog nised by the Con stitu tion of India . A third ter m, ‘Other Ba ckwa rd Cast es’ (OBC) i s also used to den ote thos e who are a lso dee med to have b een
disadvantaged but who are not defined as such in the Constitution.
11 ht tps://data.worldbank.org
12 www.ncert.nic.in/departments/nie/esd/pdf/NASSummary.pdf
13 Bhattacharjea and Ramanujan (2019).
14 https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/1-in-6-elementary-school-teachers-not-professionally-trained-in-india-119013100138_1.html
15 Bora h (2018).
16 Ba ner ji ( 2019).
8 The school education system in India
India demographics
India’s population in 2020 is estimated at 1.38 billion,
predicted to overtake China’s 1.42 billion in the near
future.
17 However, due to the higher percentage of
younger people, it already has the largest number
of schools (over 1.5 million) and school-goers (over
260 million):
0–14 years: 26.6 per cent (male 194 million,
female 174 million)
15–24 years: 17.9 per cent (male 131 million,
female 117 million)
25–54 years: 41.1 per cent (male 294 million,
female 275 million)
55–64 years: 7.8 per cent (male 55 million,
female 54 million)
65 years and over: 6.6 per cent (male 43 million,
female 47 million).
18
While India is demographically one of the youngest
countries in the world, evidence of declining birth
rates
19 can be seen when the 0–9 age group
(241 million) is compared with the 10–19 age group
(252 million) – India today may therefore be at the
peak of its demand for educational provision.
According to 2011 census data,
20 Uttar Pradesh is
the most populous state, accounting for 17 per cent
of the country’s total population, followed by
Maharashtra (nine per cent), Bihar (nine per cent)
and West Bengal (eight per cent). The same census
estimated the national literacy rate at 74 per cent,
with Kerala highest (at 94 per cent) of the 20 largest
states, followed by Delhi NCT (National Capital
Territory – 86 per cent) and Maharashtra (82 per
cent). The lowest literacy rate was reported in
Bihar (64 per cent), one of several states with high
rural population and low literacy rates, suggesting a
correlation between these two factors (see Figure 4).
These rates have increased significantly, by around
9.5 per cent since the 2001 census, when national
rates were reported at almost 65 per cent overall.
17 https://population.un.org
18 https://population.un.org
19 https://ourworldindata.org/indias-population-growth-will-come-to-an-end
20 http://censusindia.gov.in
Figure 1: India’s changing age demographic (2020, thousands)
Male Female
6,966
11,423
18,822
24,530
30,009
35,037
40,536
46,121
53,117
57,894
61,287
64,339
66,495
66,587
63,321
63,686
8,000
12,423
19,061
24,326
29,306
33,771
38,618
43,582
49,631
53,552
55,512
57,794
59,473
59,692
56,898
57,473
0-4
5-9
10- 14
15- 19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85-89
90-94
95-99
100+
The school education system in India 9
Figure 2: India’s 20 largest states by size (showing rural urban split): 2011 figures
0 50 100
(million)
150 200
Jammu and Kashmir
Delhi (NCT)
Haryana
Chhattisgarh
Punjab
Assam
Jharkhand
Kerala
Telangana
Odisha
Andhra Pradesh
Gujarat
Karnataka
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Madhya Pradesh
West Bengal
Bihar
Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh
Urban populationRural population
10 The school education system in India
Figure 3: Literacy rates by state in 2001 and 2011
Literacy rate (%) – 2011 CensusLiteracy rate (%) – 2001 Census
Literacy rate (%) – 2011 Census
(average for India)
Literacy rate (%) – 2001 Census
(average for India)
Bihar
Telangana
Arunachal Pradesh
Rajasthan
Andhra Pradesh
Jharkhand
Jammu and Kashmir
Uttar Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Assam
Odisha
India
Meghalaya
Karnataka
Haryana
Punjab
West Bengal
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Gujarat
Uttarakhand
Manipur
Nagaland
Tamil Nadu
Sikkim
Maharashtra
Himachal Pradesh
Delhi
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chandigarh
Daman and Diu
Goa
Tripura
Lakshadweep
Mizoram
Kerala
0 20 40 60 80 100
The school education system in India 11
Figure 4: Correlation between state literacy rates and percentage urban population 2011 (selected states highlighted)
60 65 70 75 80
Literary rate (%)
% Urbam
85 90 95 100
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Bihar
Telangana
West Bengal
Tamil Nadu
Himachal Padesh
Kerala
Goa
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
12 The school education system in India
Overview of the K-12 sector
It is widely agreed that the Indian education system
has made significant progress in recent years –
particularly in terms of access. Recognising the
importance of education in national development,
the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–2017), alongside
a continued focus on expanding education, also
included a clear focus on improving the quality
of education and on ensuring that access to
educational opportunities are provided to all
sections of society.
Expenditure on education has increased rapidly
in recent years, from Rs 97,000 crore (around
£11 billion) in 2004–05, to Rs 560,000 (around
£63 billion) in 2015–16, according to MHRD budget
analyses.
21 While this increase appears impressive,
when expressed as a percentage of gross domestic
product (GDP), spending on education can be seen
to have fluctuated since the turn of the century,
from 4.1 per cent in 2000–01 down to 3.3 per cent
in 2004– 05, back up to 4.4 per cent in 2013–14
22 and
down again to 3.3 per cent in 2019–20, according
to government figures.
23 UN figures indicate slight
increases from 3.2 per cent in 2005 to 3.8 per cent
in 2018.
24 However, recent strategy documentation
released by NITI Aayog
25 (the body that in 2015
replaced the Planning Commission responsible
for the five-year plans) has recognised the need to
increase this spending to six per cent of GDP by
2022. This is in line with recommendations from the
multilateral Education 2030 Framework for Action
26
that spend on education should be four to six per
cent of GDP or 15–20 per cent of overall spending,
and reflected in the Draft NEP (2019), which
envisions a doubling of spending on education
over a ten-year period (from ten to 20 per cent
of overall public expenditure).
27
According to World Bank statistics,
28 government
expenditure per student (primary) has also fluctuated
in India, from a high of 13.9 per cent in 2001 down
to 7.6 per cent in 2009, and up to 9.8 per cent in
2013. Private household spending on education has
greatly increased since 2000, according to the NSSO
(National Sample Survey Office) survey of 2009–10,
which documented 378 per cent and 345 per cent
increases in rural and urban areas respectively.
29
In 2014, an NSSO survey
30 indicated that average
household expenditure per student in general
education was Rs 6,788 (just over £75), and that
26 per cent of students were taking private tuition,
especially at secondary levels, where this figure
rises to 37 per cent. A 2016 report estimated that
this private tuition sector was worth £19 billion in
2013, and was used especially for preparation for
final exams by students from a range of socio-
economic backgrounds.
31
The 2009 RTE Act stipulates that schooling is free
and compulsory for all children aged six to 14,
although the Draft NEP (under review in 2019)
recommends ‘government provision for free
and compulsory education for all children and
adolescents between the ages of 3 and 18’,
32
extending this significantly in both directions.
It should be noted that in practice, ages for both
enrolment and completion can vary. For example,
despite the fact that the RTE recommends schooling
start at age six, 26 of India’s states and union
territories currently allow children to enter Standard
1 at age five, and 34 per cent of five-year-olds were
found to be in school in rural contexts in 2018.
33
According to government figures,
34 initiatives to
provide access to school for all children have led
to increases in the total number of schools in India,
from 971,000 in 2000 to 1.52 million in 2015. Over
the same period, higher education institutions
multiplied five-fold, from just over 10,000 in 2000
to nearly 52,000 in 2015. Enrolments during this
period have increased, from 186 million students
in schools (primary and secondary) in 2000 to 261
million (197 million primary, 64 million secondary)
in 2015, and from 8.6 million higher educational
enrolments (universities, colleges and standalone
institutions) in 2000 to 33.6 million in 2014. Of
particular note among these figures is a 60 per cent
increase in female school enrolment to 48 per cent
21 Comparison of ‘Analysis of Budgeted Expenditure on Education’. See https://mhrd.gov.in/statistics-new
22 https://mhrd.gov.in
23 https://www.indiabudget.gov.in
24 http://data.un.org/en/iso/in.html
25 National Institution for Transforming India: https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Strategy_for_New_India.pdf
26 UNE SCO ( 2015) .
27 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Developme nt (2019: 402– 403).
28 https://data.worldbank.org
29 Parruck and Ghosh (2014).
30 http://mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/publication_repor ts/nss_rep_575.pdf
31 RMSA Technical Cooperation Agency (2016a).
32 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 193).
33 Bhattacharjea and Ramanujan (2019).
34 https://mhrd.gov.in/statistics-new
The school education system in India 13
of total school enrolments by 2015–16, and a
484 per cent increase in female higher educational
enrolments to 46 per cent of the reported total in
2014 (all Ministry of Human Resource Development
statistics). UN figures
35 from 2016 indicate slightly
higher female than male enrolment at primary
(reported at over 100 per cent for both), secondary
(76 per cent female, 75 per cent male) and tertiary
(27 per cent female, 26.9 per cent male) levels. As
a result of this drive to achieve universal access, the
number of small (fewer than 150 students) and very
small (fewer than 30 students) government schools
has increased during the same period, which has
brought fresh challenges, including inequity of
learning resources, insufficient subject-specialist
teachers in small secondary schools, and an
increase in need for multigrade teaching practices.
In addition, a number of such schools have been
either merged or closed over recent years, across
the country.
36 A 2015 report noted that small schools
constitute over 70 per cent of all secondary schools
in at least 20 states, and estimated a three-fold
increase in per-student costs in these schools, where
pupil–teacher ratios can be as low as 8:1, compared
to those with over 300 students.
37 The Draf t NEP
(Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2019)
also notes the increased financial burden of very
small schools, recommending ‘school complexes’
as a potential partial solution to this challenge to
enable peer support, sharing of resources and
improved governance.
38
35 http://data.un.org/en/iso/in.html
36 https://www.livemint.com/Education/K3Fgbf1GDrptRvqo0OKFTM/Govt-looks-at-locationspecific-mergers-of-260000-schools-t.html
37 RMSA Technical Cooperation Agency (2015a).
38 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 157–175).
Figure 5: Changes in gross enrolment ratio 2009–17
0
20
40
60
80
100
Higher secondarySecondaryUpper primaryPrimary
20172009
14 The school education system in India
Figure 6: Enrolment gap between male and female students (millions)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Upper primary Secondary
Primary
The school education system in India 15
16 The school education system in India
Schooling at different levels
Typical school weeks and years
In most states the government school week runs
from Monday to Saturday, with either a half or full
day on Saturday, or study on every other Saturday.
In some locations – mainly urban – oversubscription
of enrolment means that some schools offer a double
shift: morning classes, followed by a repeat in the
afternoon for a different cohort. The school year
usually includes around 200 days of study, typically
from June or July to April or early May. May, as the
hottest month in many states, is the time of the
longest school holidays. October and November
in many states include a number of public holidays
(e.g. Diwali). Exam preparation typically begins as
early as February, with exams in March or April,
although in grades of high-stakes exams (10 and 12),
the whole academic year may be oriented towards
exam preparation (see sections (Lower) secondary
education and Higher secondary education below).
Grades and promotion
The Draft NEP (Ministry of Human Resource
Development, 2019) is suggesting significant
changes to the structure of schooling at different
grades.
39 Table 1 shows both the pre-2019 system
(including pre-primary, primary, upper primary,
secondary and higher secondary) and the proposed
revised system with a strong focus on early childhood
education (ECE) that transitions into early primary
education (foundational stage), followed by a
preparatory stage (previously upper primary), then
middle and high stages that continue until Grade 12.
Ages provided are indicative – in practice there
is significant state and local variation. The terms
‘standard’, ‘grade’ and ‘class’ are all commonly used
to refer to different grades.
39 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 75).
Tab le 1: Pre-2019 and proposed post-2019 structure of education in India
Age (typical) Current (2019) Grade
Proposed in
revised National
Education Policy*
17–18 Higher secondary 12 High stage
16 –17 11
15 –16 Secondary 10
14 –15 9
13–14 Upper primary 8Middle stage
12–13 7
11–1 2 6
10 – 11 Primary 5Preparatory stage
9–10 4
8–9 3
7–8 2Foundational stage
6–7 1
5–6 Pre-primary
4–5
3–4
*Based on Draft NEP.
The school education system in India 17
Before the RTE Act (Ministry of Law and Justice,
2009), many children who did not make the grade
standard in end-of-year exams were held back
(‘grade retention’) for another year. As part of the
RTE, the ‘No Detention Policy’ (NDP; Section 16 of
the RTE) in theory outlaws this practice, meaning
that ages in each grade are more homogeneous
than before 2009. A study conducted in 2018
40
found that the NDP had a positive effect on academic
learning outcomes in reading and maths at primary
level, which the authors argue has led to the ‘likely
outcome of improved motivation and the creation
of a “fear free” learning environment’. Another
study, also from 2018, found that students taught
exclusively under the NDP ‘are able to show the
same level of per formance as those students who
have partly been taught the same concept under
the detention system, by the time they reach Class
7.’
41 Despite this, it has remained a highly contentious
aspect of the RTE and in 2019 parliament proposed
an amendment which could lead to the renewal of
detention at certain key grade levels (5 and 8).
42
Pratham (an NGO involved in education in India)
has responded to the policy with its Teaching at the
Right Level programme (in conjunction with J-PAL).
This aims to ensure that children have the necessary
foundational skills, whatever grade they may be in,
to enable them to thrive and continue to learn.
43
There is much variation as to which grade levels
co-occur within the same school. For example,
it is common in some states (e.g. Telangana
and Maharashtra) for upper primary and lower
secondary levels to be together in the same
‘secondary school’, and teachers teaching across
grades 6–10. Schools that include children from
grades 1–12 can sometimes be confusingly named
‘senior secondary’ or ‘higher secondary’ schools,
despite the inclusion of primary sections. With
regard to language of instruction, schools, or
sometimes different ‘sections’ in a school, will often
be labelled ‘English medium’ or ‘L1 (e.g. Hindi or
Tamil) medium’ at any level from primary upwards,
although the actual language use practices vary in
complex ways (see separate section: Languages in
education in India, below).
Syllabus, subjects and
assessment at different grades
The design of educational provision in the
school sector is governed by the NCF,
44 most
recently updated in 2005 but expected to be
revised in 2019–20. The framework sets out five
broad principles:
1. ‘connecting knowledge to life outside the school
2. ensuring that learning shifts away from
rote methods
3. enriching the curriculum so that it goes
beyond textbooks
4. making examinations more flexible and
integrating them with classroom life, and
5. nurturing an overriding identity informed by
caring concerns within the democratic polity
of the country’ (p. viii).
While the NCERT (see below) makes
recommendations regarding curricula and syllabus
content, and produces textbooks that can be used
at the state level, responsibility for a school’s syllabus
lies with the specific educational board involved
but in theory must be aligned to the NCF (2005).
For example, those schools operating under the
CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education – see
Educational boards in India below) generally use the
NCERT-produced textbooks (sometimes producing
their own or sourcing from other private publishers
at the school level, including international ones) while
those under State Boards of Education (the majority
of government sector schools) will use textbooks
produced at the state level (usually by the State
Councils of Educational Research and Training –
SCERTs), at least until the end of upper primary.
With the exception of the ‘board exams’ taken
at the end of Grade 10 and Grade 12 (see (Lower)
secondary education and Higher secondary education
sections below) and the National Achievement Survey
(see National Council of Educational Research and
Training section below), much of the assessment
conducted in government sector schools is
devised and delivered by the teachers at the
individual institutions. For schools following some
particular boards of education (especially in the
private sector), there may be additional prescribed
assessments that are centrally managed (see
Educational boards in India below and Appendix 1).
40 Ahsan et al . (2018).
41 Sar af and De shmuk h (2018).
42 https://idronline.org/no-detention-why-did-a-popular-policy-get-scrapped/?gclid=CjwKCAjw8qjnBRA-EiwAaNvhwP17Iv86vbVAqcwtPthCDxLRoQ2uKSy6jzfD3RTYmz
oSoAuAzvZl2RoCJeoQAvD_BwE
43 https://www.teachingattherightlevel.org/
44 NCERT (2005).
18 The school education system in India
A significant initiative arising after the ratification
of the Right to Education Act (2009) was Continuous
and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) – a system
whereby teachers are expected to use formative
as well as summative assessment techniques to
track learner progress in both academic and non-
academic (extracurricular) domains, particularly
from grades 1–9. This was adopted both by schools
operating under state boards of education and those
adhering to the CBSE. Implementation of the system
has had a mixed response – while the introduction
of CCE is widely acknowledged as a positive move,
with its intention of providing more timely feedback
on learning, reducing the emphasis on using only
end-of-year exams for assessment, there has been
confusion among teachers about how to effectively
incorporate CCE into current practices and use the
results constructively. For example, an evaluation
study conducted in Haryana in 2013 found no
discernible difference in learning outcomes in
schools where CCE had been adopted compared
to those where it had not.
45
Early childhood education
A wide range of types of ECE and daycare are
available in India, including both government and
privately managed lower and upper kindergarten
and Anganwadi (meaning ‘courtyard shelter’) care
centres, which are common in rural areas and fall
under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
ASER (Annual State of Education Report) statistics
(rural only) indicate that in 2018, 67 per cent of
three-year-olds, 74 per cent of four-year-olds,
58 per cent of five-year-olds and 26 per cent of
six-year-olds were attending ‘preschool’ in 2018.
46
Attendance in urban areas is likely to be higher.
A large-scale, longitudinal study published in 2017
47
found that preschool facilities were present in all
the villages of the three states involved, with private
provision expanding rapidly. It also found that levels
of school readiness were ‘far below expectations’
(p. 95), and that there was significant variation
as to the paths that children took through ECE. It
noted that the quality of preschool education, in
private and state facilities as well as Anganwadis
was not developmentally appropriate, reporting
that alongside limited use of songs, rhymes and
games, children were often being taught aspects
of formal literacy and numeracy too early through
rote learning methods, due in many cases to parental
pressure. Workers in Anganwadis were described
as ‘semi-trained’, and those in private preschools
as, in most cases, ‘local, untrained youth’ often
willing to make use of corporal punishment. Play
opportunities were ‘largely missing’ from ECE in
such rural areas. A study from 2009, in Mumbai
reported developmentally appropriate practices
in approximately half the classes observed.
48
As highlighted earlier, the proposed revisions
to the National Education Policy (Ministry of Human
Resource Development, 2019) include bringing early
childhood care and education under the Right to
Education Act. Importantly, the policy also refers to
putting in place a regulatory framework to address
some of the issues of developmentally inappropriate
practices discussed above.
Primary education
Primary education in India currently covers five
grades, typically from ages six to 10 (although note
the revised foundational stage in Table 1, proposed
for the 2019 NEP above). However, there is much
variation at local level, with ASER
49 reporting that
in rural areas ten per cent of children in primary
education were four, and 34 per cent were five,
while ten per cent of those still in preschool were
seven. As well as ‘first’ language (see discussion
of Languages in education in India below), subjects
often include English, mathematics and usually
a combined social studies and science lesson
(e.g. ‘environmental science’ or ‘social science’).
In addition to these, physical education is offered
on most timetables, but remains very much ‘on the
fringe’, with less than 20 per cent of rural schools
having dedicated physical education teachers.
50
In some states (e.g. West Bengal), art is also explicitly
included on the primary curriculum. The Draft NEP
51
envisions a greater variety of subjects at primary level,
with renewed emphases on art, music and physical
education indicated. While retention to upper primary
has improved since 2000, with government statistics
stating that over 90 per cent of students transitioned
to upper primary in 2015/16, according to NSSO (2014),
37 per cent of males and 39 per cent of females left
their study after completing primary education.
52
45 https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/improving-learning-outcomes-through-government-school-system-india
46 Bhattacharjea and Ramanujan (2019).
47 Kaul et al. ( 2017).
48 Hegde and Cassidy (2009).
49 ASE R (2019) .
50 Bhattacharyya (2019).
51 Minis try of Human Re source Develo pment ( 2019: 90–92).
52 http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=159811
The school education system in India 19
In response to concern about the overuse of rote
learning at primary level, a number of states have
attempted to implement variations on a model
of child-centred education, called activity-based
learning (ABL) at lower primary grades in efforts
to make learning more interactive, social and
differentiated. A UNICEF evaluation of ABL initiatives
across India conducted in 2015 reported mixed
findings, with 27 per cent of classes reported as
‘child-friendly’ but only 11 per cent ‘implementing
ABL as intended’.
53 A statistically significant impact
on learning outcomes was reported from only one
of seven states (Gujarat). Findings agreed with other
research on learner-centred initiatives conducted
in primary contexts in India
54 that teachers’ beliefs
and attitudes (as well as the technical side of
implementation) must be addressed for such
initiatives to demonstrate sustainable success.
Upper primary education
Upper primary education, also sometimes referred
to as middle school (and middle ‘stage’ in the
2019 NEP), lasts three years from grades 6−8 (ages
approximately 11−14), and within the government
sector is often located in larger schools that include
primary and/or lower-secondary grades (larger
private schools often offer all grade levels, with the
exception of low-cost private schools which often
offer only primary grades). The number of subjects
taught increases and becomes more specialist
than at primary levels. According to India’s Three
Language Formula, three languages are taught: first
language (often the state official language, rather
than the child’s first language, where these differ),
English and a third language (usually Hindi, except
where this is the designated first language, where
Sanskrit is often offered).
55 In practice, the number
of languages taught has depended on a variety of
sociopolitical factors. In many cases, the fact that
multilingual classrooms are the norm rather than the
exception means that actual language use during
instruction becomes quite fluid both within and
across schools in the same district (see section
Translingual practices in the classroom, below).
Social studies and general or environmental
science are also key foci of the curriculum. Art
and physical education may also be present, and
computer studies/IT is becoming increasingly
common particularly in urban schools (see section
on Technology in education in India below). As for
primary level, the Draft NEP proposes a wider range
of subjects at upper primary level, including potential
foci on ‘critical issues’ and ‘moral reasoning’ between
grades 6−8.
56
As curricula become more ambitious at upper
primary level, achievement gaps between the higher
and lower-achieving learners become more evident,
and for many children, a focus on basic literacy in
the medium of instruction is still impor tant to ensure
they are able to deal with the increased cognitive
challenges of subject content. As one study on such
overambitious curricula demonstrates, ‘paradoxically,
learning could go faster if curricula and teachers
were to slow down’.
57 Such challenges are reflected
in NSSO statistics (2014), which indicate that over
50 per cent of ‘ever-enrolled persons’ do not continue
their education beyond upper primary level.
58
(Lower) secondary education
Lower secondary education covers two grades,
9 and 10 (ages approximately 15−16), leading to
the first major high-stakes exam, the All India
Secondary School Examination (AISSE, also known
as ‘Board exams’, leading to the Secondary School
(Completion) Certificate, SSC). Enrolment figures
at secondary level (currently non-compulsory,
according to the Right to Education Act (2009),
but proposed in the 2019 Draft NEP) are
approximately at 75–79 per cent for both girls
and boys,
59 although these are lower in rural
areas, where around 70 per cent of all secondary
education takes place.
60 Historically, secondary
enrolment levels were also lower for students
from disadvantaged backgrounds (SCs and STs),
although government gross enrolment ratios for
2015–16 reported SC secondary enrolment ratios
higher than overall ratios (85 per cent versus
79 per cent respectively); ST ratios were reported
at 75 per cent.
61
53 UNICEF (2015).
54 Brinkmann (2015); Sriprakash (2012).
55 Meganathan (2011).
56 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 98–100).
57 Pritchet t and Beatty ( 2012).
58 www.icssrdataservice.in/datarepository/index.php/catalog/14
59 http://data.un.org/en/iso/in.html
60 NUE PA ( 2014).
61 http://udise.in/
20 The school education system in India
Subjects become slightly more diverse at lower
secondary level, with greater local variation. As
well as the three languages of upper primary,
and mathematics, sciences tend to separate into
‘physical’ and ‘biological/life’ science, and social
studies may separate into history and geography.
Due to the pressure for students to perform well
in the board exams, these core subjects remain the
focus, particularly at Grade 10, which in practice
frequently becomes an exam-preparation year.
62
Students are expected to study harder, including
in remedial (often after-school) classes with many
families paying significant amounts of money for
private tuition. The board exams are seen as key
determiners of students’ future education and career
paths. In 2019, 91.1 per cent of candidates passed
the exams.
63
At district level, school exam results are often
compared and used to evaluate school and teacher
performance, despite widespread variation in
implementation and regulation,
64 leading a number
of studies to conclude that they are an unreliable
measure of teacher impact.
65 There is a practice
in many states, particularly among private schools,
for student exam performance to be advertised
as a mark of effectiveness.
The Draft NEP (2019) recognises many of these
issues with the current high stakes exam system,
proposing ‘easier’ board exams that focus on ‘core
capacities’ only, and arguing that the system ‘must
shift from one that primarily tests rote memorisation
skills to one that is more formative, promotes
learning and development for our students, and
tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical
thinking, and conceptual clarity’.
66
Higher secondary education
Higher (also called ‘senior’) secondary education
comprises two years from grades 11−12 (ages
approximately 17−18), leading to a second high-
stakes exam. There is a noticeable drop in the
enrolment rate at this level (gross enrolment ratio
of 51.3 per cent, compared to 79.3 per cent at lower
secondary in 2017).
67 A second high-stakes exam
(the All India Senior School Certificate Examination,
AISSCE) is taken at the end of Grade 12 that
determines entrance into universities, colleges,
or acceptance at job interview for a number of
career paths. Places at the top universities frequently
demand results above 95 per cent for students
to be considered – an inevitable effect of the large
numbers of students competing each year for these
elite institutions. These top universities also, in some
cases, have their own entrance exams such as the
Joint Entrance Exam for the Indian Institutes of
Technology and Indian Institutes of Management.
The results of the school-leaving certificate can
be the gateway to preparation courses for these
further exams.
68
At the senior secondary level, subject choices
diversify greatly, and students can choose particular
subjects or vocations to pursue, depending on
the desired career or academic path. Streaming
is common at this level, for example with science
streams (including maths, physics, chemistry,
biology and ICT) often seen as more prestigious
than humanities streams (including history, politics
and geography) in some schools. Widespread
concern among employers that school-leavers are
unprepared for work in contemporary industries,
often reported in the popular press,
69 is leading
to an increase in vocational subjects being offered
alongside the above, such as computer science,
accountancy and commerce, among others.
However, concerns about streaming remain,
especially the issue of students being pressured
to take specific subjects based on their academic
achievement, rather than personal choice. The Draft
NEP (2019) suggests that there will no longer be a
‘hard separation’ between arts and sciences or
between vocational and academic streams.
70
62 Mody (2013).
63 http://cbseresults.nic.in/cbseresults_cms/Public/Home. aspx
64 e.g. Sripr akash (2012: 135).
65 e.g. Bambawale et al. (2018); British Council (2016); Gandhi Kingdon (2007); Graddol (2010).
66 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 104–105).
67 http://udise.in/Downloads/Publications/Documents/Analytical_Table_2016-17.pdf
68 https://www.jeemain.nic.in
69 For example, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703515504576142092863219826 and https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/
story/engineering-employment-problems-329022-2016-07-13
70 Minist ry of Hu man Res ource Dev elopm ent (2019: 78–79).
The school education system in India 21
71 http://udise.in/Downloads/Publications/Documents/U-DISE-SchoolEducationInIndia-2015-16.pdf
School ownership and management
Schools and other educational institutions in India
are owned either by the government (central, state
or local government bodies) or by the private
sector (individuals, trusts or societies), with two
distinct types of private sector institutions common.
Those that are ‘aided’ (often called ‘government-
aided’ schools) receive financial support from
the government and are largely free to students
(although nominal fees may be collected). Those that
are ‘unaided’ support themselves most commonly
through student fees. In practice, therefore,
both government and government-aided schools
constitute what are internationally often called
state schools (UK English) or public schools
(American English), and private unaided schools
constitute ‘private schools’ as the term is
internationally understood.
According to 2017 figures,
71 just over half of all
schools were classified as government (including
around nine per cent ‘local body schools’, discussed
separately below), 12 per cent were classified
as government-aided and just under a third as
private unaided, although this varies by age group,
with the percentage of government schools falling
at secondary and higher secondary levels (see
Figures 7 and 8). Madrasas and Tribal/Social
Welfare Department schools each constitute less
than two per cent of schools nationwide. Note,
however, that these national statistics may not
capture unregistered schools or alternative models
of schooling (including home schooling by individual
or groups of families), numbers of which are difficult
to estimate.
22 The school education system in India
Figure 8: Total number of enrolments at each level by management type (2016–17)
0 30 60
(million)
90 120 15 0
Higher secondary
Secondary
Upper primary
Primary
Government-aided Private unaided
Government
Other unrecognisedMadrasa
Fig ure 7: Proportion of school management (all levels) 2016–17
Government-aided Private unaided
Government
1%
32%
12%
54%
1%
Other unrecognisedMadrasa
The school education system in India 23
The following section provides an overview
of the four main types of school.
Government educational institutions
These are run by the central government, state
governments or public sector bodies, and are wholly
financed by the government. Examples of these
types of schools include state government schools
(by far the largest single group), Kendriya Vidyalayas,
Navodaya Vidyalayas, Sainik schools, military
schools, air force schools and naval schools.
Private aided (or government-aided) institutions
These are managed privately but receive regular
maintenance grants from the government, local
body or other public authority, and as such are
subject to regulations applied to government
schools. Curricula, study materials, syllabus and
examinations at all levels are similar to or the same
as government schools in the same district, and
students usually take either one of the two main
Indian secondary school exams (the AISSE and
the AISSCE at grades 10 and 12 respectively), or
comparable state-level exams managed by the
state education boards. Fees (if any) are nominal
and are collected from the students according to
government regulations. Even the recruitment of
faculties here follows norms of government schools.
There is no specific criteria for the admission of
students in these institutions, but this is somewhat
dependent on the proportion of funding that is
provided by the government.
Local body institutions
These are run by municipal committees,
corporations, education societies (e.g. the Deccan
Education Society
72), Zilla Parishads, Panchayat
Samitis, Cantonment Boards, etc. Examples of
these types of schools include the ones run by
New Delhi Municipality Council and the Delhi
Cantonment Board.
Private unaided institutions
These are managed by a private organisation, trust,
society or NGO and do not receive maintenance
grants either from government, local bodies or
any other public authority (except public–private
partnership schools – see below). The fee structure
for the students may vary greatly, from low-cost
private schools to elite institutions more common in
larger cities. Students are often admitted to private
schools according to criteria (entrance examinations,
interviews, etc.) designated by the school
management. These schools may implement their
own curriculum and examinations or may offer
national or international curricula, such as the
International Baccalaureate (see below). Under
the Right to Education Act (2009), all private unaided
schools are required to reserve at least 25 per cent
of school places for children ‘belonging to weaker
section[s] and disadvantaged group[s]’, as
determined by socio-economic status, caste and
religion. The current exceptions are ‘minority
schools’ catering to specific religious or tribal
groups, as per a ruling by the Supreme Cour t in
2014.
73 However, implementation of the 25 per cent
quota has been problematic for a variety of reasons.
The Draft NEP (2019) notes that ‘the large amounts
of money and effort spent on implementing this
[reservation] clause may be more effectively spent,
e.g. by investing the money on the public schooling
system – particularly in disadvantaged areas – which
would directly support many more students from
underprivileged backgrounds in a sustainable
manner’.
74 It therefore remains to be seen whether
this policy will remain. An initiative to set up 6,000
public–private partnership ‘model’ schools by 2015
combines government funding for 40 per cent of
students (from disadvantaged sectors of society)
with typical private school funding (fees from the
remaining 60 per cent).
75 These public–private
partnership schools are largely independent in
governance, like other private schools, and while
no evidence of impact was found at the time of
writing, this initiative has met with some concern
from the popular press.
76
72 https://www.despune.org
73 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/sc-rte-act-not-applicable-to-minority- schools/1/359483.html
74 Mini str y of Huma n Resou rce Devel opmen t (2019: 194).
75 https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/Scheme-MS-PPP_-_clean-NEW_0.pdf
76 https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/Public-private-partnership-in-education/article16303142.ece
24 The school education system in India
The increase and impact of private
school education in India
While there has been a rapid increase in the number
of private schools since 2000, ASER repor ts (rural
only) indicate that the ‘year on year increase in
private school enrolment seems to have stopped’ at
primary level, repor ting of the proportion of private
schools at 31 per cent in both 2016 and 2018.
77
The increase documented prior to this tends to
have been in low-cost private schools, the quality
of which has been called into question by a number
of studies.
78 In such schools in India, teachers are
often poorly paid, underqualified and the schools
themselves may also be poorly resourced. However,
due in part to the different background
demographics and motivation of the families
that elect to send their children to such schools,
they can often demonstrate better results than
government and government-aided schools nearby,
despite little or no evidence of improved quality
in classroom teaching.
79
Data analysis from a number of studies indicates that
when factors such as socio-economic background
are controlled for, the differences in outcome falls
significantly. One recent review
80 noted that this
learning-gap ‘falls but, in most studies, it does
not disappear’, also arguing that, due to the higher
wages received by government-employed teachers,
low-cost private schools can offer better value
for money in terms of ‘cost per unit of learning’.
However, a study including both rural and urban
contexts
81 found that ‘the private school benefit
becomes largely, statistically, insignificant’ when
background factors are controlled for. Moreover,
it found specifically that children in ‘low-fee’ private
schools ‘may perform no better than their public
school counterparts’. The Draft NEP (2019) proposes
a number of measures to ensure tighter regulation of
private schools, expressing concern at the ‘rampant
commercialisation and economic exploitation of
parents by many for-profit private schools’.
82
School Management Committees
According to the RTE (Ministry of Law and Justice,
2009), each school must have a functioning School
Management Committee (SMC), comprising parents
and guardians (75 per cent), local authority officials,
teachers and ‘local educationists or children’ to
create a bridge between the school administration
(usually head teacher) and the local community.
83
While this requirement technically excludes private
unaided schools, these also typically have parent–
teacher associations which are getting stronger
and more powerful in many cases.
The SMC should meet once a month and, as well
as ensuring various rights in the RTE are upheld,
prepare a yearly School Development Plan, as well
as monitoring the utilisation of grants and the whole
school environment. More recent reports indicate
a number of challenges to the effective functioning
of SMCs, particularly with regard to issues of
participation and accountability. One study
84
noted varying levels of community participation
in meetings and frequent misjudgements about
school functioning among committee members.
Another report
85 indicated challenges related to
non-democratic member selection, inadequate
training and confidence building for members, a
lack of autonomy for SMCs and ambiguities with
regard to decision-making responsibilities relating
to local authorities. Nevertheless, the involvement
of parents and community in decision-making and
holding schools to account continues to be
supported at policy level. The Draft NEP (2019)
suggests that this should be increased, making
more information available to parents so that they
can ‘become the de facto regulator’ (p. 180).
77 Wadhwa (2019: 17).
78 Chudgar a nd Quin (2012); Erling e t al. (2017); Sim pson (2017).
79 Wadh wa ( 2010, 2019) .
80 Gandhi Kingdon (2017).
81 Chudga r and Quin (2012).
82 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 178, 190).
83 See http://righttoeducation.in and https://mhrd.gov.in
84 CR EAT E ( 2011 ).
85 Central Square Foundation (2013).
The school education system in India 25
26 The school ed ucation system in India
Languages in education in India
Language diversity and the
three-language formula
Twenty-two languages are af forded of ficial status
in India, referred to as ‘scheduled languages’ in
the Constitution. According to one source, these
constitute the ‘first’ spoken language of over 96 per
cent of the population.
86 However, estimates of the
total number of languages in India (depending on
how language– dialect divisions are drawn) have
varied from over 1,600 (based on the 1971 self-
reported census data)
87 to less than 300, with
Ethnologue (in 2019) estimating 447 living languages.
To add to this diversity, there are 25 distinct writing
scripts used in India today, including variants on the
Northern Brahmic (e.g. Hindi) and Southern Brahmic
(e.g. Tamil) scripts. This creates a complex situation
for language in education policy, both in the
classroom and in the community, where language,
culture and ethnicity are inextricably linked.
Attempts to establish Hindi as the national language
in the 1960s were challenged – particularly in the
southern states – and today it is designated as a
co-official or ‘associate’ language along with English.
While Hindi operates as a lingua franca in the north
(where many languages are in the Indo-Aryan family
to which Hindi belongs), many from states in the
south of India (where languages are in the Dravidian
family) prefer to use English, not Hindi, as a lingua
franca within the country, and politicians from Tamil
Nadu in particular have consistently asserted its
right as a state to not mandate the teaching of Hindi
in its schools – including in response to the initial
draft of the new National Education Policy.
88
Both the Indian Constitution
89 and the Right to
Education Act assert that the medium of instruction
shall, as far as practicable, be the child’s mother
tongue.
90 However, it is only scheduled languages
which officially receive financial support from
central government towards their conservation and
it is therefore difficult for many groups to secure
adequate funding for schooling provision in minority
languages. As a result, one study found that
there were just 31 languages used as mediums
of instruction across the country in 2011.
91
In order both to recognise India’s linguistic diversity
and support the naturally multilingual practices of its
people, the government developed a three-language
formula (1968) for schools, which was implemented
in most states (except Tamil Nadu). This formula
envisaged that students should study three
languages, including two Indian languages and
English. In many non-Hindi-speaking states, the
two most commonly chosen Indian languages are
the state language and Hindi. The former of these
most often constitutes the medium of instruction
(MOI) for those classes that are not in an English-
medium (EM) or Hindi-medium (HM) school or
‘section’ (some schools can have two sections
with different MOIs).
While this means that many learners gain initial
literacy in a language they know well (it may be
their parents’ language or the language of the
local community), others living in areas with higher
linguistic diversity may be forced to learn to read
and write in a language they do not know well, if at all
– a challenge that is known to hinder development of
initial literacy significantly.
92 In such situations, state
governments may attempt to provide early primary
education in a minority language, but often the lack
of textbooks and other materials, as well as a smaller
pool of qualified teachers who speak the language,
make this a logistical challenge. In Hindi-speaking
states, the third language chosen may be an ancient
language, such as Sanskrit, a second non-indigenous
language (e.g. Spanish or German) or another Indian
language. The Draft NEP (2019) continues to support
the three-language policy and advocates a stronger
focus on modern national languages – particularly
for majority-Hindi-speaking states
93 – although
wording in this particular section has been
contested and may lead to future revisions.
86 Graddol (2010: 50).
87 Meganathan (2011).
88 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/draft-education-policy-stirs-hindi-debate-tamil-nadu-leaders-warn-of-protests-1540337-2019-06-01
89 Governmen t of India (2012: Part X VII Cha pter IV p. 177).
90 Ministr y of Law and Jus tice (20 09: Cha pter V sec tion 29.1 (f)).
91 Meganathan (2011).
92 E.g. Coleman (2011); McIlwraith (2013); Simpson (2017). A longitudinal research project (Multilingualisms and Multiliteracies) is currently being undertaken
by a conso rtiu m of UK and India n part ners – le d by the Un iversi ty of Ca mbridge – to fu rthe r explor e the iss ues an d contr ibute to t he evide nce bas e – see
https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk
93 Ministr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 84).
The school education system in India 27
The rise of English medium instruction
Not surprisingly, given the rise of English as a global
lingua franca, demand for English medium instruction
(EMI) has greatly increased over the last 20 years
at all levels, even primary.
94 While some states have
introduced EMI across the board (e.g. Jammu and
Kashmir), others have tried to resist early transition
to EM. Despite this, an increasing number of private
schools have offered it, and in so doing contributed
to attracting learners away from government
schools, likely due to parents’ believing that starting
to learn ‘in’ English sooner will somehow confer an
advantage. In fact, it often has the opposite effect,
particularly if English literacy precedes mother
tongue literacy,
95 or if the transition to English is
too abrupt or poorly implemented.
96
This pull of students from government schools into
private schools, many of which advertise as ‘English
medium’, but practice a more translingual melange,
97
has caused some government school and district
authorities to switch to EM to attempt to reverse
the loss of students. For others, due to the pull to EM
private education being strongest on children from
more affluent backgrounds,
98 a higher percentage
of less-privileged learners have been lef t in nearby
government schools. This movement may help
explain recently documented falls in average
government student learning outcomes, which
have reflected negatively (and potentially unjustly)
on the government schools themselves. This is a
possibility acknowledged by Wadhwa (2019), as
an explanation for why, between 2008 and 2014,
primary learner reading skills, mathematics ability
and English proficiency fell in rural government
schools, as reported by ASER. A second possible
cause of this fall in rural outcomes may be the pull
of more affluent families to the cities.
99
The Draft NEP (2019) is critical of the ‘unfor tunate
trend in schools and society towards English
as a medium of instruction and a medium of
conversation’. While it recognises that ‘English
must also be available’, it states that ‘when possible
the medium of instruction – at least until Grade 5
but preferably till at least Grade 8 – will be the home
language/mother tongue/local language’, indicating
a clear intention to discourage early transition
to EMI.
100
Higher educational institutions are increasingly
offering courses in English medium, particularly
those which rely on reference to academic or
specialist literature (e.g. medicine, engineering),
which in turn creates demand earlier in the education
system. Elite institutions such as the Indian Institutes
of Management and Indian Institutes of Technology
offer the majority, if not all, of their courses in
English, with student intake coming primarily
from private sector schools, but with some places
reserved for those from disadvantaged communities
or backgrounds (as in the school system). English
language levels of students entering tertiary
institutions is often very low and there has been
an increase in universities organising language
booster programmes for new undergraduates
(e.g. at Ambedkar University Delhi).
Translingual practices in the classroom
The above discussion of separate mediums of
instruction may give the impression that what
happens in each classroom happens in one
language. However, the reality is somewhat dif ferent,
particularly when teacher and learner proficiency
in the MOI is low. There is ample evidence
101 that
the reality of language use in English lessons across
India involves a more complex, pragmatic mixture
of languages – a practice known as translanguaging
– both among learners and in interaction with
teachers in ways that mirror the reality of language
use in Indian society at large.
Practices in other classes where the MOI is not
the main language of the learners’ community are
also likely to be translingual, even if the teacher
does not share this language. Such realities call
into question the rationale of designating a single
‘medium’ of instruction, a policy choice that derives
from more monolingual communities, rather than
recognising and facilitating the inclusion of all
learners’ languages as media of instruction, or
‘languages of learning’.
102
94 Meganathan (2011).
95 Anderson (2015).
96 Simpson (2017).
97 Erling et al . (2017).
98 Credit Sui sse Eme rging Ma rket Consume r Survey ( 2011).
99 Kundu (2011) cites the Eleven th Five Year plan as a c ause of i ncreas ing urbanis ation ov er the ter m in que stion ( p. 1), and a lso prov ides evi dence ( p. 36) of
non-migrants being poorer than rural–urban migrants.
100 Minis try of Human Re source Develop ment (2019: 80–82 ).
101 For example, Anderson and Lightfoot (2018).
102 Anderson (2019).
28 The school education system in India
Technology in education in India
The use of technology to augment learning in India
has become a key focus for many policymakers and
education professionals in recent years. This has
spawned a number of national initiatives to try to
facilitate and encourage the adoption of technology
within schools, along with more local innovations
led by motivated teachers and their colleagues.
A large number of edtech (educational technology)
start-ups have also emerged, ranging from whole-
school solutions which seek to integrate complete
systems of learning and assessment into schools,
to free downloadable apps aimed at learners or
teachers to develop specific skills and knowledge.
National programmes seeking to harness the benefits
of technology have included the broad-ranging
‘Digital India’ campaign, which aims to make
government services more easily available
to the population across all sectors, including
education.
103 Building on programmes in place
since the 1970s, where schools were provided
with tape recorders and other audiovisual materials,
several initiatives have been undertaken to equip
schools (e.g. with Smartboards and links to satellite-
enabled educational TV), train staff and teachers,
reach rural schools and develop e-content (such as
by the Central Institute for Educational Technology
– see below).
104 For example, SWAYAM
105 is an online
platform making courses available for all subjects
for students from Grade 9 through to postgraduate
education, in a massive open online course (MOOC)
format.
106 The platform draws content from a large
number of providers, including the prestigious Indian
Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of
Management. DIKSHA (see Teacher education and
evaluation in India below) is a further platform that has
been set up for teachers to access learning resources
and for professional development purposes. Several
states have undertaken projects to augment existing
textbook content with online materials through the
use of QR codes to allow students and teachers to
access them on mobile or other devices.
A recent project by the British Council and Central
Square Foundation
107 invited educationalists
from across India to submit case studies detailing
examples of effective technology use. Attracting
over 430 entries, the project provided insight into
some of the ways that technology is being used
in classrooms and (to a lesser extent) for
professional development in India.
The most popular use identified in the project
focused on edtech’s ability to facilitate visualisation
across a range of subjects, typically involving the use
of video or animation to bring a particular concept
to life. Other common uses included students using
tools such as PowerPoint to facilitate class projects
and in some cases for teachers to provide additional
scaffolding to learners to support conventional
classroom teaching (including using a flipped
learning model). While many of the cases submitted
involved teaching and learning in comparatively
privileged contexts, a number focused on the
potential of educational technology to reach rural
or underprivileged communities and provide
educational content to address gaps in learning and/
or other access to appropriate input. In this way,
technology is being used by a variety of actors within
the system to attempt to address issues of equity
and inclusion. Interestingly, almost all of the cases
submitted represented bottom-up, local approaches
to technology integration, as opposed to initiatives
that had been implemented on a larger scale.
The use of technology to support learning is likely
to become more widespread in the coming years as
connectivity and infrastructure spread and improve,
although the often-cited belief that educational
technology might replace teachers needs to be
tempered by understanding of the complexity of
teaching as a social practice and schools as par t
of society, not just preparation for it.
108 A s Tr ucano
notes, ‘Experience from around the world shows us
that, over time, teachers’ roles become more central
– and not peripheral – as a result of the introduction
of new technologies.’
109 The draft National Education
Policy sets out the objective of:
appropriate integration of technology into all levels
of education – to support teacher preparation
and development; improve teaching, learning
and evaluation processes; enhance educational
access to disadvantaged groups; and streamline
educational planning, administration and
management (p. 339).
103 https://www.digitalindia.gov.in/
104 https://ictschools.ncert.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ICTscheme.pdf
105 Study Webs of Active-learning for Young Aspiring Minds.
106 https://swayam.gov.in/
107 Motteram (2017).
108 Bruner (1996).
109 Trucano (2015).
The school education system in India 29
The policy recognises four key areas where
technology can benefit education in India:
1. for initial teacher training and their
continuing professional development
2. to ‘support the classroom processes
of teaching, learning and evaluation’
3. ‘to improve access to education for
disadvantaged groups, including differently-
abled students, girls and women, and
students living in remote areas’
4. in ‘the planning, administration and management
of the entire education system’ (p. 339).
However, it also recognises the ongoing challenges
in terms of ensuring all schools have access to
basic electricity, hardware and software and/or
the capacity to maintain installed systems, along
with often quite low digital literacy skills among
teachers and school leaders and the need to
ensure the safeguarding of data shared online.
The draft policy recommends the establishment of
a new autonomous body – the National Educational
Technology Forum – to support future initiatives
and research. There is also a large and increasing
number of private companies and non-government
organisations seeking to support learning through
the use of their platforms, software and applications
– including international organisations.
30 The school educ ation system in India
Teacher education and evaluation in India
Of India’s 10.1 million teachers (2015–16 figures),
MHRD statistics
110 indicate that over five million
(approximately 53 per cent) work at primary and
upper primary levels, over three million (34 per cent)
at secondary and senior secondary levels and over a
million (13 per cent) at higher education level. Despite
these huge numbers, India’s ongoing commitment to
universal access means that there was still a shortfall,
estimated at one million teachers in 2017.
111
Although there are more male than female teachers in
India today, especially at secondary level, significant
progress has been made to reduce this discrepancy.
Government figures from 2012–13 indicated female-
to-male teacher ratios at 79:100 at primary level
(compared to 55:100 in 2000–01), and 66:100 at
secondary level (compared to 54:100 in 2000–01),
and figures from higher education report 66 per cent
of students on BEd courses in 2016 and 62 per cent
on ‘teacher training’ courses in 2017 were female,
112
a strong indication that this gender imbalance will
continue to fall in the near future. Evidence from
Andhra Pradesh
113 indicates that reducing this gender
imbalance ‘would improve overall learning outcomes
and be especially useful as a tool for bridging gender
gaps in learning trajectories over time.’
Teacher education, qualification, support and
evaluation all currently fall under the jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD) in India (proposed to be renamed as the
Ministr y of Education according to the Draft National
Education Policy). The MHRD is responsible for
formulating and implementing the National Policy
on Education, developing and expanding educational
provision, supporting disadvantaged groups
(poor, female and minorities) and liaising with foreign
bodies, such as UNESCO. National policy legislation,
such as the RTE Act (Ministry of Law and Justice,
2009), requires central government to develop and
enforce standards for pre-service teacher training,
ensure minimum qualification standards are met
by education providers, maintain acceptable pupil–
teacher ratios, and ensure schools meet staff
recruitment requirements. It also organises the
yearly National Award to Teachers, celebrating
the contributions of India’s finest teachers.
114
Under the MHRD, responsibility for teacher education
falls partly to the National Council for Teacher
Education (NCTE; see separate section below),
including qualification requirements and oversight
of recognised teacher training institutions, and partly
to the National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT; see separate section below).
Regional teacher education responsibilities are
co-ordinated in most states by SCERTs, under
the jurisdiction of which are District Institutes of
Education and Training (DIETs; over 500 across India).
Professional development of lecturers and teachers
in higher education falls under the jurisdiction of
the University Grants Commission.
Pre-service teacher training
and qualifications
Oversight for pre-service teacher training falls
under the responsibility of NCTE, which publishes
the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher
Education (NCTE, 2009). Training is carried out in
over 170 Colleges of Teacher Education and over
17,000 Teacher Education/Training Institutes across
India, 92 per cent of which are private.
115
The NCTE recognises a number of teacher
qualification programmes,
116 including the Bachelor
of Education (BEd) and Master of Education (MEd)
qualifications, mainly for secondary levels and above,
as well as a number of diploma courses (e.g. Diploma
in Education) for early childhood, primary, and
specialist teacher education (e.g. physical education
and arts education). Exact qualifications required
for a given position will depend on the board
involved
117 and in practice, due primarily to teacher
shortages, teachers lacking minimum requirements
are sometimes appointed at all levels. These teachers
are sometimes referred to as ‘contract’, ‘assistant’
or ‘para-teachers’ and generally do not receive the
same salary or benefits (or access to development)
as regular teachers. Nevertheless, there have been
a number of recent initiatives to train up all practising
teachers in some states to enable parity of
knowledge and skills.
118
110 https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/ESG2016.pdf
111 https://www.ndtv.com/education/indias-teachers-crisis-country-falls-short-of-1-million-school-teachers-1778220
112 https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/AISHE2017-18.pdf
113 Muralidharan and Sheth (2016).
114 www.nationalawardtoteachers.com/
115 Min istr y of Human Resou rce Developme nt (2019: 114–115).
116 ww w.ncte.g ov.in
117 www.ncte.gov.in/Website/MinimumQualifications. aspx
118 https://www.livemint.com/Education/iwUT3pamWXWjvZb5G6ZQ3O/Parliament-passes-bill-to-allow-RTE-teachers-time-till-2019.html
The school education system in India 31
The BEd is the most commonly taken higher
education programme recognised by NCTE, with
530,000 students enrolled (66 per cent female)
in 2016,
119 constituting approximately half of the
1.1 million teachers trained each year, according
to government figures.
120 DIETs typically offer
diploma-level qualifications that are recognised by
NCTE and usually administered by the SCERT at state
level.
121 Government figures indicate that in 2017–18,
279,000 students were enrolled in ‘teacher training
courses’ (62 per cent female) in both public and
private sectors.
122 The Draft NEP (2019) proposes
a four-year BEd, ‘combining content, pedagogy and
practical training’ as the minimum qualification
by 2030, alongside a two-year BEd for graduates
of relevant subjects. It also proposes teacher
internships under the supervision of ‘mentoring
teachers’ in local schools, suggesting an increased
focus on the practicum.
123
The Teacher Eligibility Test was an initiative
established in 2011 to try to standardise the way
that pre-service teachers were qualified, and in some
cases practising teachers who often did not hold
additional qualifications were required to take the
test. The assessment is managed both centrally (for
teachers in schools working under central boards of
education) and at the state level. Technically, passing
the TET is mandatory for all teachers working with
grades 1–8. However, there have been issues with
the quality of the assessment and specific questions
asked, with many complaining that it is highly
theoretical and requires memorisation of facts as
opposed to understanding of practical teaching
approaches. Pass rates have been extremely low
but it is not clear whether this is because of a true
lack of the required skills and knowledge or problems
inherent in the test design and/or implementation.
Nevertheless, in some states the inability to pass
the exam has led to teachers losing their jobs.
124
Prior to 2014, there was significant criticism of
teacher education in India, including what one author
called a ‘deeply entrenched dichotomy of theory and
practice’ from which trainees often emerge without
the necessary practical skills and understanding,
125
and a lack of focus on reflection that would enable
teachers to continue developing autonomously.
126
Since then, revised NCTE regulations (2014)
extended the BEd to two years (from nine months),
including at least 25 per cent ‘school-based activities
and internship’,
127 in part to respond to these
criticisms. The Draft NEP notes that a large number
of private teacher education institutions function
as ‘commercial shops’ that do not meet the minimum
of curricular requirements, stating that these ‘will
be shut down as soon as possible’. It also proposes
the phasing out of para-teachers by 2022.
128
In-service teacher development
and support
In-service teacher training (INSET) is most often
organised at state level through the SCERT, and
more locally through DIETs, which provide support
for a number of Block Resource Centres and Cluster
Resource Centres within each district. Both planning
and financial support for INSET comes mainly
through SSA (see separate section under Indian
government education initiatives), within which 20
days of INSET per year should currently be provided
to experienced teachers, more to new recruits.
129
According to the National Curriculum Framework
for Teacher Education (NCTE, 2009: 64), which
also provides suggestions for teacher development
programmes, continuing professional development
programmes should encourage teachers to:
‘explore, reflect on and develop one’s
own practice
deepen one’s knowledge of and update oneself
about one’s academic discipline or other areas
of school curriculum
research and reflect on learners and
their education
understand and update oneself on educational
and social issues
prepare for other roles professionally linked to
education/teaching, such as teacher education,
curriculum development or counselling
break out of intellectual isolation and share
experiences and insights with others in the field,
both teachers and academics working in the
area of specific disciplines as well as intellectuals
in the immediate and wider society.’
119 https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/AISHE2015-16.pdf
120 Repo rted in Bamb awale et a l. (2018).
121 ww w.ncte.g ov.in
122 https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/AISHE2017-18.pdf
123 Mi nistry of Hu man Res ource De velopm ent (2019: 134–135).
124 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/tamil-nadu-govt-to-sack-1500-teachers-who-havent-cleared-tet/articleshow/69123972.cms
125 Srinivasan (2016: 209).
126 Pandey (2011).
127 www.ncte.gov.in/Website/about.aspx
128 Min istr y of Human Resou rce Developme nt (2019: 115–123).
129 http://ncte-india.org/ncte_new/pdf/NCFTE_2010.pdf
32 The school education system in India
A number of NGOs and development partners are
acknowledged as providers of teacher education
support in the curriculum (p. 70) especially with
regard to the introduction of learner-centred
initiatives. These include UNICEF, which focuses
on early childhood and K12 education, and the
British Council, which focuses on English language
teaching and teacher education.
According to government figures, 3.5 million
teachers receive INSET each year,
130 although there
seems to be significant variation between states
regarding how much INSET teachers receive and
how systematic, and useful, it is. Recent research
indicates largely top-down initiatives, and while
evidence of impact and participant satisfaction is
presented in one government report,
131 other studies
have painted a less positive picture. A study from
one state (Uttarakhand) in 2017 found that only
19 per cent of teachers had participated in INSET
in 2015–16, down from a high of 54 per cent in
2010 –11 .
132 It was noted that a large number of
teachers skip mandatory training for a number of
reasons, including logistical difficulties (particularly
for women, who may have more responsibilities
at home and so sometimes are unable to travel),
a lack of interest or scepticism towards the value
of the training. A study from 2017 found that none of
the teachers in two schools in Tamil Nadu had ever
undergone ‘training’.
133 Another study conducted
by the British Council among English teachers in
Maharashtra in 2013 found evidence of training
‘fatigue’ and a lack of belief in the training due to
poor planning, unsuitable resource persons and little
follow-up.
134 ‘Reform fatigue’ was also found among
teachers on one NGO-led project in Karnataka.
135
In response to challenges identified in both these
and the government report mentioned above,
detailed guidelines for teacher continuing
professional development were issued for secondary
level in 2015.
136 MHRD has also shared proposals
to restructure DIETs in 2017 to enable a greater
emphasis on more bottom-up continuing
professional development and support for school-
level innovations and research projects.
137 The
Draft NEP proposes a minimum of 50 hours of
‘choice-based’ continuing professional development
per year for each teacher based on a ‘well-
integrated’ curriculum that makes extensive use
of ICT and avoids cascade-model training typical of
top-down initiatives.
138
Online resources for teacher support
In 2017, NCTE launched DIKSHA (https://diksha.gov.
in/), a national digital portal to support teacher
education through the hosting of resources for
teachers including materials for in-class use, teacher
training content, assessment aids and opportunities
for teachers to interact through online communities.
2017 also saw the launch of ShaGun (http://
ssashagun.nic.in./), a web portal designed to
support SSA by both championing success stories
and measuring performance and progress.
NGO-led websites offering support and resources
for teachers include Teachers of India (http://
teachersofindia.org/en) of the Azim Premji
Foundation, TESS India (www.tess-india.edu.in/)
set up by the Open University and Save the Children,
Firki (initially for Teach for India fellows but now open
to all – https://www.firki.co) and the British Council
India’s website (https://www.britishcouncil.in/teach),
mainly for English teaching. English language
teachers in India are supported by two national
organisations, ELTAI (English Language Teachers
Association of India – http://eltai.in/) and AINET (All
India Network of English Teachers – http://theainet.
net/), and a number of state-level organisations, such
as the 15 (in 2019) chapters of ELTAI across India.
Recently, a number of projects and programmes
have had some success with establishing
communities of practice using social media
including Facebook and WhatsApp. Some of these
have operated at large scale, attracting thousands
of teachers across a single state. Their function
as a tool for motivating teachers and a platform
for sharing experiences has been documented,
but in some cases they have also indicated a lack
of depth to reflection on practice and the need for
greater support in some fundamental aspects of
classroom teaching.
139
130 Ac cording to Bamb awale et al. (2018).
131 RMSA Technical Cooperation Agency (2016b).
132 Akhtar (2017).
133 Meganathan (2017).
134 Mody (2013).
135 Sri prakash (2012).
136 RMSA Technical Cooperation Agency (2015b).
137 Ministry of Human Resource Development (2017).
138 M inist ry of Hu man Resource D evelopm ent (2019: 128–129).
139 Par nham et al. (2018).
The school education system in India 33
Teacher evaluation
A number of tools and initiatives have recently
been developed to facilitate in-ser vice teacher
evaluation in India, including:
1. Advancement of Educational Performance
through Teacher Support (ADEPTS; 2007)
2. PINDICS performance indicators (2013)
for both self-assessment and supervisor
assessment of primary school teachers
140
3. the National Programme on School Standards
and Evaluation, known as the Shaala Siddhi
framework (2015), which focuses on school
evaluation and improvement.
141
While ADEPTS appeared to be losing momentum
at the time of writing (2019), a draft version of
a new set of performance indicators, the Teacher
Performance Assessment Rubrics, was also being
circulated by NCERT for use both by teachers (self-
assessment) and supervisors to assess teacher
performance at all levels (i.e. potentially replacing
PINDICS) if rolled out in future. In addition to these
tools, there are moves in some states to attempt
to link learner achievement (through exam results)
to teacher evaluation, and potentially performance-
related pay,
142 despite evidence of considerable
challenges in accurately assessing the value-added
impact of a single teacher.
143 This is due to multiple,
confounding factors influencing a child’s learning
at school, how this learning is assessed and how
valid and reliable this assessment is, even in contexts
where assessment procedures are more valid and
more reliable than is practically possible in the vast
majority of schools in India today. The same source
indicates that such measures, if implemented, could
unfairly penalise those teachers working with the
most disadvantaged learners, who may make slower
progress and have lower overall attainment levels.
A review of teacher evaluation procedures in
India from 2018 concluded that while many of the
tools developed centrally generally provide for
appropriate teacher evaluation, they were often
used inappropriately and were ineffective as a result.
The review made several recommendations:
increased transparency (in use) of evaluation
criteria and how these relate to classroom
processes and skills from pre-service
education onwards
a shift in mindset at all levels of the system
to value the formative (learning) potential of
teacher evaluation, rather than seeing it simply
as a procedural requirement
development of skills for self-assessment
by teachers, and triangulated assessment
by supervisors
the prioritisation of classroom teaching
responsibilities and school-based professional
development over non-academic work
the need to improve perceptions of the status
of teaching as a profession and to encourage
commitment to professional development
improved accountability mechanisms within
the system.
144
The Draft NEP proposes a framework for teacher
performance appraisal that recommends
‘multiple sources of evidence’ including classroom
observations, peer review and feedback on progress
of students. This implies a qualitative – rather than
value-added – approach, although it indicates that
SCERTs will have some freedom to develop specific
procedures for each state.
145 It also prohibits the
involvement of teachers in ‘government work that is
not directly related to teaching’, providing examples
of electioneering and preparation of midday meals
as inappropriate. Such practices are common across
the country and often lead to teachers being away
from their classes for significant amounts of time
each year.
146
140 ww w.ncert.nic.in/pdf_files/PINDICS. pdf
141 http://14.139.60.151/sse/doc/THREE.pdf
142 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/teachers-upset-as-state-links-pay-hikes-to-students- learning/articleshow/61211885.cms
143 Darling-Hammond (2012).
144 Ba mbawa le et al. (2018).
145 Mini stry of Huma n Resou rce Devel opmen t (2019: 132).
146 Mini stry of Huma n Resou rce Devel opmen t (2019: 118).
34 The school education system in India
1952–53
Secondary
Education
Commission
Established aims and
made recommendations
for secondary
education regarding
age groups, objectives,
and importance
of mother tongue,
curriculum content and
‘multipurpose schools’.
196 4 –66
Kothari Commission
Made recommendations
to reform education
by ensuring relevance
to needs, im proved
productivity, national
integration, a focus
on moral values, and
closer involvement of
universities in pursuing
these aims, leading to
the National Policy on
Educa tion in 1968.
196 8
National Policy on
Education (NPE)
Included stipulations
on compulsory
educ ation to age 14,
greater equality of
opportunity, the (then
new) three language
formula , and improved
teacher education.
1976
42nd Constitutional
Amendment
Reinforced national
and integr ative
role of education,
emphasising quality
standards for teachers
and encouraging
increased personnel
development, research
and internationalisation.
Education became a
‘concurrent subject’
with dual responsibility
at both ce ntral and
state levels .
198 6
(New) National
Policy on
Education (NPE)
Emphasised greater
integration of women,
SCs and STs, expansion
of adult education,
incentivisation for
low-income families,
recommending a
‘child-centred approach’
at primary level and
expanding the open
university system.
1987– 88
Centrally Sponsored
Scheme of Teacher
Education
Established the District
Institutes of Education
and Training (DIETs)
and strengthened the
role of th e SCERTs in
teacher education.
1993
District Primary
Education
Programme
Aimed to achieve
universal primary
education, leading
to SSA in 20 00.
1995
Midday Meal
Scheme
Aimed t o improve the
nutritional status of
primary school children
through the compulsory
provision of free midday
meals for all primary
pupils. Revised in 2001
and 200 4 and set for
expansion to include
break fast in 2019–20.
2000–02
Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA)
Introduc ed to achieve
universal primary
education through
the provision of new
schoo ls (access) and t he
strengthening of existing
school facilities, as well
as increasing teacher
capacity and support,
and improving teaching-
learning materials
(quality) (see Indian
government education
initiatives section below).
2002
Right to Education
Amendment
The 86th Constitutional
Amendment introduced
the Right to Education
for all children to
age 14 and the r ight
to early childhood
care to ag e six.
2005
National Curriculum
Framework (NCF)
Developed by the
National Council for
Educational Research
and Train ing, the NCF
strongl y advocated
a move away f rom
rote learning and
toward more child-
centred practices.
2007– 08
Model School
Scheme
Public–private
partnership
initiative that planned
6,000 model schools
(one in ea ch block)
as a ‘benchmark
of excell ence’ to
ensure access to
quality schooling for
‘talented rural children’.
Indian education policy: a timeline
The following timeline documents important policies
introduced by the Indian government since independence.
The school education system in India 35
2008
National Scheme
for Incentive
to Girls for
Secondary
Education
Aimed to promote
increased enrolment
of girls in secondary
(14–18) education,
with a specific focus
on girls from SC
and ST communities.
Included a financial
deposit (Rs 3,000)
for eligible students
to withdraw upon
successful completion
of secondary
educ ation at age 18.
2009
Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha
Abhiyan (RMSA)
A major programme
that ai med to improve
quality, equity of
access (irrespective
of gender, socio-
economic background
and disabilities)
and enrolment and
compl etion ratios a t
secondary level, with
specific foci on teacher
training, provision of
basic facilities, science
and ICT education and
inclusivity (see Indian
government education
initiatives section below).
20 09 –10
RTE Act
Provided all children
aged si x to 14 with
the rig ht to ‘free and
compulsory education’
in a loca l school and
laid out a rights-based
framework that casts
legal obligations on
central and state
government. Also
specifies teacher-pupil
ratios, school working
days and teacher
working hours and
qualifications as well
as prohibiting physical
punishment, mental
harassment and
selective admission of
pupils. Currently under
review as p art of the
National Education
Policy development
process (2019).
20 09 –10
Inclusive Education
of the Dis abled at
Secondary Stage
Provided assistance
for all students with
disability to continue
stud ying in grade s 9−12
after completion of
primary education.
2012
Justice Verma
Commission on
teacher education
The report published
after this commission’s
deliberations made
a serie s of import ant
recommendations to
improve the provi sion
of teacher education
in India.
2014
Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao
Aims bo th to
celeb rate the girl
child a nd to ensure
the survival, safety
and education of
girls, including
commitments to
building more girls’
toilet and drinking
water facilities,
thereby reducing
the num ber of
female dropouts.
2014
Scheme to
Provide Quality
Education
in Madrasas
Aims to p rovide for
the modernisation of
madrasa education
through the National
Institute of Open
Schoo ling. Aims to
reach one million
Muslim children.
2015
Rashtriya Avishkar
Abhiyan
Launched to encourage
greater enquiry,
creativity and interest
in science, maths
and technology, and
to develop stronger
links between schools
and higher education
institutions.
2018
Samagra Shiksha
Abhiyan
Aims to subsume and
merge S SA, RMSA and
Teacher Education, with
a focus on ensuring
a ‘continuum’ from
preschool right up to
senior secondary level,
and ensuring ‘inclusive
and equitable quality
education’, in line
with UN Sustainable
Development Goal 4.
2019
National Education
Policy
A draf t of the revised
National Education
Policy was released for
public comment in May
2019. The polic y seeks
to overhaul key aspects
of the ed ucation sys tem
including revisions to
the Right to Education
Act and governance
stru cture of the sys tem.
Implementation of the
policy is expected to
begin i n late 2019/
early 2020.
2008
Girls’ Hostel
Scheme
The Scheme for
Construction and
Running of Girls’
Hostel for students of
Secondary and Higher
Secondary Schools
aimed to provide
accommodation for
girls near schools to
reduce dropout due
to dist ance to school ,
financial constraints
and related societal
facto rs, with a focu s
on disadvantaged
girls in ‘Educationally
Backward Blocks’.
2008
National Means-
Cum-Merit
Scholarship
Scheme
Introduced means-
tested scholarships of
Rs 6,00 0 per annum to
‘meritorious’ students
from disadvantaged
backgrounds to
continue education
from grades 9−12.
36 The school education system in India
Indian government education initiatives
Indian central government has in recent years
funded a large number of specific policy initiatives,
aimed at improving both access to and quality
of education. The 2019−20 Indian central budget
allocated Rs 93,848 crore (over £10 billion) to
education (3.3 per cent of the budget total and
an increase of over Rs 10,000 crore on 2018−19),
with Rs 56,387 crore for school education and
literacy, and Rs 37,461 crore allocated for higher
education.
147 It is, however, important to understand
these figures in the context of overall population
growth. As noted in the Introduction above, when
expressed as a percentage of GDP, spending
has actually fluctuated unpredictably between
3.3 and 4.4 per cent since 2000.
While much of this funding goes into maintaining
and supporting the ever-expanding education sector
(e.g. staff salaries, teacher education, materials
development and provision of schools in remote
areas), funds have also been diverted into projects
specifically designed to meet India’s needs, many
of which correspond to its commitments to achieving
both Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable
Development Goals. The Draft NEP envisions a
doubling of spending on education over a ten-year
period (from ten to 20 per cent of overall public
expenditure), arguing that the rapid pace of
economic growth will provide sufficient financial
support for this commendable, yet ambitious target.
India’s commitment to
UN development goals
The Millennium Development Goals established
universally agreed and measurable indicators for
global development in 2000, including in the field
of education, and were integrated by India into its
national development agenda. This included the
initiation of the SSA programme, which had
considerable success in achieving near-universal
enrolment at primary level. More recently, the
Sustainable Development Goals have also been
integrated into India’s educational initiatives,
particularly goal 4 (quality education), both through
further support for ongoing programmes, such
as Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (recently
subsumed under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan), and
through the funding of new initiatives, such as
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (see below), both of which
focus on aspects of quality in education. Goals 2
(Zero hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being) and
6 (Clean water and sanitation) continue to be tackled
through school-based initiatives such as the Midday
Meal Programme (1995) and the Beti Bachao Beti
Padhao programme (2014; see below) with its focus,
among other things, on providing safe, adequate
separate female toilets and clean drinking water.
Goal 10 (Reduced inequalities) is also being
addressed in education through continued support
for SSA, and while challenges remain, particularly
with regard to disadvantaged students, progress
is also being made here.
148
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
Since 2000, two major initiatives have received
significant funding: SSA, receiving an average of
Rs 24,000 crore each year from 2012 to 2019,
149
and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA;
‘National Secondary Education Campaign’ in Hindi),
the allocation for which has grown steadily from Rs
3,172 crore in 2012–13 to 4,213 crore in 2018–19.
150
SSA was launched in 2001, with the aims of achieving
universal primary education through the provision
of new schools, the strengthening of existing school
facilities, increasing teacher capacity and support,
and improving teaching-learning materials.
151 The
RMSA programme was launched in 2009, aiming to
achieve secondary gross enrolment ratios of 75 per
cent within five years, universal access by 2017,
and universal retention by 2020, and while the
last of these is likely to take longer to achieve,
significant progress has been made (see above).
The programme has also included a focus on
quality and equity.
With regard to quality, key initiatives aim to improve
pupil teacher ratios to 30:1, to provide effective
in-service teacher training and development, to
reform curricula and to improve science and ICT
facilities in secondary schools. With regard to equity,
key initiatives included aiming to give priority to
areas with disadvantaged students for new schools,
to increase female teacher numbers at secondary
level, and to ensure there are separate toilet blocks
for girls in all schools.
152 In 2018, an announcement
147 https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/
148 http://ris.org.in/sdg/india-and-sustainable-development-goals-way-forward
149 https://union2018.openbudgetsindia.org/en/sectors/children/sarva-shiksha-abhiyan-ssa /
150 http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=187952
151 https://www.aicte-india.org/reports/overview/Sarva-Shiksha-Ab hiyan
152 http://rmsaindia.gov.in/en/about-rmsa.html
The school education system in India 37
was made that the two initiatives would be merged
under the umbrella of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan,
along with teacher education (see below).
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan
Launched in 2015, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan
(‘National Invention Campaign’) aims to encourage
greater enquiry, creativity and interest, specifically
within the areas of science, mathematics and
technology in education.
153 The campaign, which
received Rs 198 crore in 2017–18, intends to
create stronger links between schools and higher
educational institutions through school mentoring
programmes, student exchanges and development
of science labs, linked to RMSA initiatives.
154
Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan
More recently, the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan
(‘Composite Education Campaign’),
155 launched
in 2018 and allocated Rs 30,254 crore,
156 aims to
bring together SSA and RMSA along with teacher
education under one scheme that views education
more holistically from preschool to higher secondary
education. The focus on full access, quality education
and greater equity and inclusion are continued in
line with Sustainable Development Goal 4, along with
vocational, digital and physical education elements
and further strengthening of teacher education
institutions. Local quality initiatives under Samagra
Shiksha Abhiyan include the ‘Happiness Curriculum’
launched in over 1,000 Delhi government schools in
2018 ,
157 focusing on holistic, values-based education
and mental health from preschool to upper primary
levels, and the ‘Joyful Saturday’ initiative in Rajasthan
in 2018.
158 This had similar aims, including developing
values, honing creativity and play across all primary
and secondary classes, with Rs 1,000 per school
for provision of necessary resources.
National Education Policy 2019
The Draft NEP follows the initiative of Samagra
Shiksha Abhiyan to create a more holistic, unified
education system, with greater continuity, foci on
longer free and compulsory education (from age
three to 18), and a Foundation stage that ensures
greater school readiness when children begin
primary school. It proposes a reduction in core
curriculum content to allow for subjects previously
perceived as being co- or extra-curricular to be
integrated into a curriculum that promotes a wider
range of interests (including music, art and physical
education) and provides for vocational subjects at
higher levels. It also stresses a need to move away
from rote learning and high-stakes exams towards
more ‘constructivist’, ‘discovery-oriented’, ‘student-
centred’ pedagogy that involves more formative
assessment of a wider range of cognitive, social
and ‘21st century skills’.
Other recent initiatives
Other initiatives include a focus on girls’ education
through the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (literally
‘Save girls, educate girls’) scheme, launched in
2014, aiming both to celebrate the girl child and to
ensure the survival, safety and education of girls.
This included a commitment to building 100,000
girls’ toilet and drinking water facilities in schools
to benefit ten million girls in its initial phase, thereby
reducing the number of female dropouts.
159 Provision
for the modernisation of madrasas (traditional Muslim
schools) has also been made through the Scheme
to Provide Quality Education in Madrasas,
160 aiming
to provide education at national standards to one
million Muslim children, certified through the National
Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). Quality initiatives
include the School Assessment Programme (2014–
15, Rs 0.3 crore; 2018–19, Rs 0.7 crore
161), and the
Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya’s Teacher Training
Programme (2014–15, Rs 900 crore
162), which aims
to benefit nearly 20,000 teacher trainees studying
at teacher education institutions.
153 https://mhrd.gov.in/rashtriya-avishkar-abhiyan
154 ww w.pib.nic.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1527326
155 http://samagra.mhrd.gov.in/about.html
156 http://samagra.mhrd.gov.in/docs/letter_240418.pdf
157 http://vikaspedia.in/education/education-best-practices/promoting-activity-based- learning-through-happiness-curriculum -a-delhi-government-initiative
158 http://vikaspedia.in/education/education-best-practices/joyful-saturday-initiative-by-the-rajasthan-government
159 https://www.savethechildren.in/articles/five-education-initiatives-that-are-changing-india
160 https://mhrd.gov.in/spqem
161 http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=187952
162 https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/PMMNMTT%20English.pdf
38 The school educ ation system in India
Figure 9: Organogram of apex and state-level organisations in school education system in India
Ministry of Human Resource Development
(Department of School Education and Literacy / Department of Higher Education)
National Council for Educational
Research and Training (NCERT) (New Delhi)
National Institute of Education (New Delhi) Regional Institutes of Education
Regional Institute
of Education (RIE),
Ajmer
Regional Institute
of Education (RIE),
Bhopal
19 departments,
divisions and cells
National Council for
Teacher Education (NCTE) (New Delhi)
Regional Committees
Teacher Education Institutions (c. 14,000)
Apex educational organisations in India
The school education system in India 39
Central Institute of Educational
Technology (CIET), New Delhi
Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute
of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal
University Grants
Commission (UGC)
Institutes
of Advanced
Studies in
Education/
Schools of
Education
Regional Institute
of Education (RIE),
Bhubaneshwar
Regional Institute
of Education (RIE),
Mysuru
North-East
Regional Institute of
Education (NE-RIE),
Umiam (Meghalaya)
Colleges of
Teacher
Education
National
University
of Educational
Planning and
Administration
Centrally Sponsored Scheme for
Restructuring and Reorganisation
of Teacher Education (New Delhi)
State Councils of Educational Research and
Training (SCERTs)
District Institutes of Education and
Training (DIETs)
Block Resource Centres (BRCs)
Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs)
40 The school education system in India
India functions as a federalised country, with 29
states and seven union territories. Significant powers
are allocated at state level for policy creation and
implementation across all sectors. In 1976, education
became a ‘concurrent subject’: the central and
state governments both have responsibility for its
development (NUEPA, 2014). In practice, this means
that the central government develops overarching
policy which the states adapt as necessary according
to the context and create implementation plans.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has
responsibility for education at the central level,
with two departments: School education and literacy,
and Higher education. To support these departments
and the state governments, apex organisations have
been established with specific responsibilities for
different aspects of education. The sections below
outline the main areas of focus for three of these
bodies most relevant to the schools sector (see also
Figure 9).
National Council of Educational
Research and Training
NCERT
163 was set up by the government of India in
1961 as an autonomous organisation registered
under the Societies Registration Act (Act XXI
of 1860) to advise and assist the formulation and
implementation of policies and major programmes
in the field of education. The major constituent units
of NCERT are:
1. National Institute of Education, New Delhi
2. Central Institute of Educational Technology
(CIET), New Delhi
3. Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute
of Vocational Education, Bhopal
4. Regional Institute of Education, Ajmer
5. Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal
6. Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar
7. Regional Institute of Education, Mysuru
8. North-East Regional Institute of Education,
Umiam (Meghalaya).
For realisation of its objectives, NCERT
and its constituent units:
undertake, promote and co-ordinate research
in areas related to school education
prepare and publish model textbooks,
supplementary material, newsletters, journals
and develop educational kits, multimedia
digital materials, etc.
organise pre-service and in-service training
of teachers
develop and disseminate innovative
educational techniques and practices
collaborate and network with state educational
departments, universities, NGOs and other
educational institutions
act as a clearing house for ideas and information
in matters related to school education
act as a nodal agency for achieving the goals
of Universalisation of Elementary Education.
164
NCERT is perhaps best recognised for its work in
producing curriculum frameworks and textbooks,
drawing on the NCF published in 2005. Most recently
it has also been responsible for the implementation
of the National Achievement Surveys – a
standardised initiative first conducted in 2010.
The latest iteration in 2017 involved over 2.2 million
students in grades 3, 5 and 8 to measure learning
outcomes across several subjects: mathematics,
language, science and social studies.
Within NCERT the constituent units as outlined
above undertake a variety of responsibilities and
activities. The National Institute of Education is
composed of 19 different depar tments as shown
in Table 2, all of which are located in Delhi. These
departments function as ‘think-tanks’ and many
focus on the production of teaching and learning
resources – including, but not limited to, textbooks.
In recent years there has been a significant increase
in the development of e-resources and the use
of technology in general (see section Technology
in education in India for further details). The
departments also carry out research and training
programmes related to their area of focus.
163 www.ncert.nic.in /index.html
164 NCERT (2018).
The school education system in India 41
Tab le 2 : National Institute of Education departments
1. Department of education in science and mathematics
2. Department of education of groups with special needs
3. Department of educational psychology and foundations of education
4. Department of teacher education
5. Department of elementary education (includes focus on primary and ECE)
6. Department of education in languages (content development focuses only on Hindi, English,
Sanskrit and Urdu – Classes I–XII)
7. Department of education in social sciences
8. Department of education in arts and aesthetics
9. Department of gender studies
10. Division of educational research
11. Educational survey division
12. Division of educational kits (largely focused on science, technology, engineering and maths)
13. Planning and monitoring division
14. RMSA project cell (see also section Indian government education initiatives below)
15. International relations division
16. Department of curriculum studies
17. Hindi cell
18. Publication division
19. Library and documentation division
NCERT acts as a major agency for implementing
bilateral cultural exchange programmes with other
countries in the field of school education. NCERT also
interacts and works with international organisations,
visiting foreign experts and delegations to offer
various training facilities to educational personnel
from developing countries.
Regional Institutes of Education
The five Regional Institutes of Education are
located in the north (Ajmer), west (Bhopal), east
(Bhubaneswar), south (Mysuru) and northeast
(Umiam) of the country. Their mandate is to provide
training for both pre-service and in-service teachers
although in practice they are predominantly focused
on training pre-service teachers and/or ensuring
that teachers already working in schools have got
the minimum qualifications required for their
employment. They are less involved with the
continuing professional development aspect of
in-service teacher education. The Regional Institutes
of Education also have some responsibility for
training administrative staff of the District Institutes
of Education and Training and other more local
bodies within their region.
Central Institute of Educational Technology
Established in 1984, CIET develops and promotes the
use of edtech through a variety of modes including
broadcast (radio/TV), satellite communications and
online media. There have been a number of initiatives
utilising satellite networks to bring educational
content into schools across the country. ‘Extension
of ICT resources among schools, students and
teachers in every nook and corner of the country’
is the motto of the division.
165 CIET includes four main
departments which focus on improving infrastructure
for the use of technology in schools along with
producing resources and training educators in how
they can best be integrated in classrooms.
165 NCERT ( 2018: 23).
42 The school education sys tem in India
National Council for Teacher Education
The NCTE
166 was originally (from 1973) a teacher
education advisory body for the central and state
governments, with its secretariat at NCERT. Following
the development of the National Policy on Education
(NPE) in 1986, the NCTE gained the necessary
statutory status and resources to support more
significant changes to the system of teacher
education through the National Council for
Teacher Education Act (No. 73 of 1993) in 1995.
The NCTE supports the design and delivery of
teacher education across the country, under the
overarching National Framework for Teacher
Education, published in 2010. At the ground level,
its policies and approaches are largely implemented
by resource persons working out of local bodies
such as the Block Resource Centres and Cluster
Resource Centres.
The NCTE’s focus is mainly on ensuring norms
and standards in relation to pre-service training
are upheld by the large number of private and
government institutions offering initial teacher
training courses across the country. It maintains
a database of recognised institutions (along with a
list of recognised qualifications) on its website. This
is challenging given the large numbers of institutions
involved – 90 per cent are said to be privately run
167
– and in the past the credibility of the NCTE has been
affected by charges of corruption.
168
With a focus on research as well as training, the
NCTE’s policies and programmes relate to teachers
at all levels of the system from schools to non-formal
and adult education, to courses offered in a distance
mode. NCTE has its headquarters in New Delhi
and four Regional Committees at Bengaluru (south),
Bhopal (west), Bhubaneswar (east) and Jaipur (north)
to look after its statutory responsibilities.
National Institute of Educational Planning
and Administration
NIEPA (also called NUEPA – ‘university’) was founded
in 1962 when UNESCO established the Asian Regional
Centre for Educational Planners, Administrators and
Supervisors, which then became the Asian Institute
of Educational Planning and Administration in 1965.
This later merged with the National Staff College for
Educational Planners and Administrators as its Asian
Programmes Division in 1973. Subsequently, with
the increasing role and functions of the National Staff
College, particularly in capacity building, research
and professional support services to the state
governments, it became NIEPA in 1979.
NIEPA was given the status of a university by the
Ministr y of Human Resource Development in 1956
and it is therefore maintained by the government
of India (as are all centrally governed universities).
It conducts capacity building, research in planning
and management of education not only in India but
also in South Asia.
NIEPA is organised into eight academic departments
and three centres. Its academic departments are:
1. Department of Educational Planning
2. Department of Educational Administration
3. Department of Educational Finance
4. Department of Educational Policy
5. Department of School and Non-Formal
Education
6. Department of Higher and Professional
Education
7. Department of Educational Management
Information System
8. Department of Training and Capacity Building
in Education.
There are three academic centres:
1. National Centre for School Leadership
2. Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education
3. School Standards and Evaluation – Shaala Siddhi.
Research and other activities are supported by a
project management unit.
166 www.ncte-india.org
167 Vijaysimha (2013).
168 http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/tainted-national-council-for-teacher-education-chief-to-be-shunted-out/
The school education system in India 43
Educational boards in India
National boards
State government boards
State government boards are regulated and
supervised by the Department of School Education
with support from the SCERT, the nodal body
responsible for secondary and senior secondary
education in each state. The majority of Indian
schools are affiliated with state government boards.
The oldest state board is in Uttar Pradesh – the
Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate
Education, established in 1922 as an autonomous
body under the Department of Education. Uttar
Pradesh, as the most populous state, has the
highest number of state board schools, followed
by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh
and Maharashtra.
The Central Board of Secondar y Education
Established in 1962 under the purview of MHRD,
the CBSE provides affiliations both to public and
private schools.
169 In 2019, over 21,000 schools were
affiliated under the CBSE, up from around 15,000
in 2014.
170 The board conducts final examinations,
including the AISSC at Grade 10, and the AISSCE at
Grade 12. It also annually conducts the AIEEE
171 and
AIPMT
172 /NEET- UG
173 examinations for admission
to undergraduate courses in engineering (and
architecture) and medicine in numerous colleges
across India. The CBSE is recognised by the Indian
government and by most of the universities and
colleges in India. There is also an international
CBSE offered to expatriate students.
The Council of Indian School
Certificate Examinations
The Council of Indian School Certificate Examinations
(CISCE) conducts the ICSE (Indian School Certificate
Examinations, at Grade 10) and Indian School
Certificate (at Grade 12) examinations in India. Over
2,100 schools were af filiated with the privately run
CISCE, up from around 1,900 in 2014.
174 Established
in 1956, the board was initially created to administer
the University of Cambridge Local Examinations
Syndicate’s Examinations in India. It was later
recognised as a public examination board by the
Delhi Education Act, 1973.
National Institute of Open Schooling
NIOS is the board responsible for distance education
under the government of India.
175 It was established
by the MHRD in 1989 (previously known as the
National Open School) to provide low-cost, quality
education to learners in rural and remote areas
of the country. It provides a range of vocational,
life-enrichment and community-oriented courses
in addition to general and academic courses at
secondary and senior secondary level. According
to the NIOS website, there were 3,530 accredited
institutes, 1,379 vocational centres and 1,313
accredited agencies in 2019 (compared to 3,827,
1,830 and 690 respectively in 2014).
176 It enrols
around 350,000 students annually, with 2.71 million
students ‘currently’ enrolled according to its
website, making it the largest open schooling
system in the world.
177
169 http://cbse.nic.in/
170 http://cbseaff.nic.in/cbse_aff/schdir_Report/userview.aspx
171 All India Engineering Entrance Examination.
172 All I ndia Pr e-Me dica l Test.
173 National Eligibility Entrance Test – Undergraduate.
174 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/cisce-cuts- pass-marks-for-boards/articleshow/61827357.cms
175 www.nios.ac .in
176 https://www.nios.ac.in/media/documents/NIOS%20PROFILE%20FINAL_Curve_English.pdf
177 https://www.nios.ac.in/about-us/profile.aspx
44 The school education system in India
International boards
International Baccalaureate Organisation
The International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO)
was founded in 1968 as an international, non-
governmental, non-profit educational organisation
based in Geneva, Switzerland.
178 International
Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools in India offer three
IB programmes – the Primary Years Programme,
the Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma
Programme. According to the IBO website, there
were 167 IB World Schools in India (up from 109
in 2014), offering one or more of the three IB
programmes. Eighty-nine schools offer the Primary
Years Programme, 34 schools offer the Middle Years
Programme and 135 schools offer the Diploma
Programme. The IB is recognised by the Association
of Indian Universities as an entry qualification
(equivalent to +2 qualification of an Indian Board)
to all universities in India.
Cambridge Assessment International Education
Cambridge Assessment International Education
(CAIE) is a provider of international qualifications
offering examinations and qualifications to 10,000
schools in 160 countries (2019 figures).
179 It is an
examination board under Cambridge Assessment,
founded in 1858 as a depar tment of the University
of Cambridge. There are over 400 Cambridge
schools in India, up from 310 in 2014, making over
50,000 examination entries for Cambridge IGCSE,
‘the world’s most popular international qualification
for 14 to 16-year olds’, according to their website,
180
and Cambridge International AS- and A-Levels,
offering 55 subjects to enable learners to gain
university places.
181
The Council of Boards of School Education
The Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE)
182
is a voluntar y association of all the Boards of School
Education in India. It works in close collaboration
with the Ministry of Human Resource Development,
government of India, other national-level educational
organisations and agencies including NCERT, NUEPA
and NCTE (see above).
COBSE was established in 1979 by the CBSE to
provide a forum for discussion and mutual learning.
Since 1989, it has functioned as an independent
secretariat. It had 62 members in 2019 (up from 51
in 2014 – see list in Appendix 2),
183 with some foreign
boards recognised as its associate members
(including Edexcel in the UK).
184
The major functions of COBSE are:
to provide a forum to its members to
discuss issues related to quality in education
to conduct curriculum reform and bring
about improvements in evaluation systems
to respond to national concerns like population,
education and disaster management
to provide opportunities for professional
development of officers of the member boards
to interact with NCERT and NUEPA
on professional issues.
178 www.ibo.org
179 See www.cie.org.uk and https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/about-us/what-we-do/
180 https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-secondary-2/cambridge-igcse/
181 https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-advanced/cambridge-international-as-and-a-levels/
182 www.cobse.org
183 www.cobse.org/member7.htm
184 www.cobse.org/aboutus.htm
The school education system in India 45
Looking to the future
This report was written shortly af ter the Draft NEP
was released, and as such, it marks an important
moment in both the histor y and future of school
education in India. Given the extensive diversity of
contexts and challenges for schooling in a country
with one of the longest histories of education in the
world, the achievements made so far should not be
underestimated. These include India’s success in
providing access to schooling to some of the most
remote and socio-economically disadvantaged
peoples in the world, its commitment to equity,
its continued recognition and promotion of
multilingualism, and its ability to embrace a wide
range of schooling solutions with a single system.
These threads are continued and reinforced in
the Draft NEP, which now directs attention to
continuity, pluralism and national identity, and
also re-emphasises India’s historical interest in the
moral and civil development of its learners.
185 It
also pledges to extend free compulsory schooling
to an ambitious 15 years in total, underlining India’s
commitment to its investment in future generations.
While this report makes no attempt to predict the
future of school education in India, recent signs
that emphases on quality over the last decade are
starting to pay dividends
186 indicate that the future
is promising. The government’s commitment to
re-enter the Programme for International Student
Assessment in 2021 demonstrates a confidence that
progress is being made and an ambition for India
to have an education system that can compete
on the world stage.
Rather than introducing a radical overhaul of the
system, any incipient changes will need to build
on both gradual achievements that can all too
easily go unnoticed as well as its many recent
notable successes. Public–private partnerships
are increasingly common within the sector, and it
is clear that there are a wide range of organisations
and actors who share a similar vision for the
improvement of the education system alongside
the national and state governments. By continuing
to work together, the vision for India’s economic
growth and opportunities for individuals to achieve
their aspirations and live to their full potential can
be realised.
185 cf. Min istr y of Human Reso urce Deve lopme nt (2019: 96– 99) and Kum ar (2005).
186 Chavan (2019).
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Appendices 49
Appendices
Appendix 1: Comparative study of CBSE, CISCE, IB and CIE education boards in India
Programme structure
National Boards: CBSE
Grades and ages Curriculum Assessment Key subjects taught
1–8 (ages 6 –14) No prescribed syllabus
from board, but
recommends syllabus laid
down by NCERT
Internal assessment
conducted by the teachers
(no formal periodic tests,
no awarding of grades or
marks for primary levels;
no detention till Grade 8)
Languages, Env. Studies
(Science and Social
Science integrated),
Mathematics
9, 10 (ages 14–16) Syllabus as prescribed by
the CBSE
Grade 9 – Internal
assessment in accordance
with the guidelines of
the Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation
(CCE) system
Grade 10 (having higher
secondary levels) – Internal
assessment; students are
provided a Certificate of
School Based Assessment
Grade 10 (secondary
schools, or for students
who wish to move out
of the CBSE system) –
External assessment
(AISSE examination)
Mathematics, Social
Studies, Science, English
and one other language as
compulsory and one out of
Information Education,
Home Science and Physical
Education as optional
11, 12 (ages 16–18) Syllabus as prescribed by
the CBSE
Grade 11 – Internal
assessment conducted
by the teachers
Grade 12 – External
assessment in the form
of AISSCE examination
Various combinations of
subjects as per interest
50 Appendices
National Boards: CISCE
Grades and ages Curriculum Assessment Key subjects taught
1–8 (ages 6 –14) No prescribed syllabus
from board, but
recommends the Inter-
State Board for Anglo
Indian Education
Internal assessment
with annual examinations
conducted at the
school level
English, Env. Edu,
Maths, Science (Physics,
Chemistry, Biology)
9, 10 (ages 14–16) Syllabus as prescribed
by the CISCE
Grade 9 – Internal
assessment with annual
examinations conducted
at the school level
Grade 10 – Internal and
external assessments (ICSE
examination)
Compulsory subjects:
English, 2nd language,
History, Civics, Geography,
Environmental Education,
+ 3 electives to be chosen
from a list of courses
11, 12 (ages 16–18) Syllabus as prescribed
by the CISCE
Grade 11 – Internal
assessment with annual
examinations conducted
at the school level
Grade 12 – Internal and
external assessments (ISC
examination)
Compulsory subjects:
English and Environmental
Education, + 3, 4 or 5
electives to be chosen
from the list of courses
International Boards: International Baccalaureate Organisation
Grades and ages Curriculum Assessment Key subjects taught
Primary Years
Programme (ages
3–12 )
Curriculum prescribed
by IBO
Internal assessment with a
continuous evaluation and
conducted by the teachers
based on certain pre-
decided criterion
(by the IB)
Language; Mathematics;
Science; Social Studies;
Arts; Personal, Social and
Physical Education
Middle Years
Programme (ages
11–1 6 )
Curriculum prescribed
by IBO
Internal assessment with a
continuous evaluation and
conducted by the teachers
based on certain pre-
decided criterion
(by the IB)
Languages (2), Humanities,
Sciences, Mathematics,
Arts, Physical Education,
Technology
Diploma Programme
(a ges 16 –19)
Curriculum prescribed
by IBO
External assessment in
the form of examinations
conducted at the end
of the diploma program.
These are marked by
external examiners.
Marks are awarded from
1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) for
each subject. A minimum
of 24 points is required
for the student to receive
the diploma certificate
One subject from each
of the following groups –
Languages, Individuals and
Societies, Experimental
Sciences, Arts, Mathematics
and Computer Science
Appendices 51
International Boards: Cambridge Assessment International Education
Grades and ages Curriculum Assessment Key subjects taught
Primary (ages 5–11) Curriculum prescribed
by CAIE
Cambridge Primary
Progression Tests
(marked in school)
Cambridge Primary
Checkpoint (marked by
Cambridge examiners)
Mathematics, English
and Science
Global perspectives ICT
Lower secondary I
(a g e s 11 – 14 )
Curriculum prescribed
by CAIE
Cambridge Lower
secondary
Progression Tests (marked
in school)
Cambridge Lower
secondary Checkpoint
(marked by Cambridge
examiners)
Mathematics, English
and Science
Global perspectives
ICT
Upper secondary –
IGCSE, O-level (ages
14–16)
Curriculum prescribed
by CAIE
Assessments include
written, oral, coursework
and practical assessment.
Grading provided using
eight internationally
recognised grades, A* to G
(six grades for O-level),
with clear guidelines
to explain standard
of achievement for
each. Marks and
percentage provided
for Indian learners
Over 70 subjects offered
(40 subjects for O-level)
divided into five groups
Advanced – A-/
AS-levels, Pre-U (ages
16 –19)
Curriculum prescribed
by CIE
AS-level only
(syllabus content is
half that of A-level)
‘Staged’ assessment route
All papers of A-level course
in the same examination
session, usually at the end
of the course
About 55 subjects offered
(for A/AS); 26 subjects
offered for Pre-U
52 Appendices
Appendix 2: COBSE member boards
The following is the list of member boards of COBSE.
1. Board of Intermediate Education,
Andhra Pradesh
2. Board of Secondary Education, Andhra Pradesh
3. AP Open School Society, Andhra Pradesh
4. Assam Higher Secondary Education Council
5. Board of Secondary Education, Assam
6. Assam Sanskrit Board
7. State Madrassa Education Board, Assam
8. Aligarh Muslim University Board of Secondary
and Senior Secondary Education, Aligarh
9. Bihar School Examination Board
10. Bihar Board of Open Schooling and Examination
11. Bihar State Madrasa Education Board
12. Bihar Sanskrit Shiksha Board
13. Banasthali Vidyapith
14. Central Board of Secondary Education
15. Chhatisgarh Board of Secondary Education
16. Chhatisgarh State Open School
17. Chhatisgarh Sanskrit Board, Raipur
18. Chhatisgarh Madrasa Board
19. Council for The Indian School
Certificate Examinations
20. Dayalbagh Educational Institute
(Deemed University)
21. Goa Board of Secondary and
Higher Secondary Education
22. Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary
Education Board
23. Board of School Education, Haryana
24. Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya
25. Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education
26. Jammu and Kashmir State
Board of School Education
27. Jharkhand Academic Council, Ranchi
28. Government of Karnataka Department
of Pre-University Education
29. Karnataka Secondary Education
Examination Board
30. Kerala Board of Public Examination
31. Kerala Board of Higher Secondary Education
32. Board of Vocational Higher Secondary
Education, Kerala
33. Maharashtra State Board of Secondary
and Higher Secondary Education
34. Board of Secondary Education Madhya Pradesh
35. Madhya Pradesh State Open School
Education Board
36. Maharishi Patanjali Sanskrit Sansthan
(Department of School Education,
Government of Madhya Pradesh)
37. Board of Secondary Education, Manipur
38. Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur
39. Meghalaya Board of School Education
40. Mizoram Board of School Education
41. Nagaland Board of School Education
42. National Institute of Open Schooling
43. Council of Higher Secondary Education, Odisha
44. Board of Secondary Education, Odisha
45. Punjab School Education Board
46. Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan
47. Rajasthan State Open School, Jaipur
48. Rashtriya Sanskri Sansthan
49. State Board of School Examinations and Board
of Higher Secondary Examinations, Tamil Nadu
Appendices 53
50. Telangana State Board of Intermediate
Education, Nampally, Hyderabad
51. Board of Secondary Education, Telangana
52. Telangana Open School Society
53. Tripura Board of Secondary Education
54. Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and
Intermediate Education
55. Uttar Pradesh Secondary Sanskrit
Education Council
56. Board of School Education, Uttarakhand
57. Uttarakhand Sanskrit Shiksha Parishad
58. West Bengal Board of Secondary Education
59. Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board
60. West Bengal Council of Higher
Secondary Education
61. West Bengal Board of Primary Education
62. West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education
63. The West Bengal Council of Rabindra
Open Schooling
COBSE associate members
1. National Examinations Board, Nepal
2. Mauritius Examinations Syndicate,
Reduit Mauritius
3. Bhutan Council for School Examinations
and Assessment
4. The Aga Khan University Examination Board,
Karachi, Pakistan
5. Inter Board Committee of Chairmen,
Islamabad, Pakistan
6. Cambridge International Examinations, UK
7. Edexcel, London, UK
8. International Baccalaureate, Singapore
All images © British Council
ISBN 978-0-86355-944-0
© British Council 2019 / K057
The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
India is home to the largest and most complex education system in the world.
This report provides an overview of this system, including key facts and
figures on the school sector, outlines of schooling at each level, language
in education policy and practice, and teacher education. It also provides a
brief history of recent education policies, main government initiatives since
independence and details of the major national and international boards of
school education. Recent successes and ongoing challenges in the education
sector are also documented and discussed, making it of use to readers seeking
to understand both the development of education in India since independence
and its future trajectory.
