EDUCATION IN POST INDEPENDENT INDIA
1. Modern education in India began under the British rule.
2. They wanted to educate Indians to assist them in administration of land.
3. The British also wanted to understand the local customs and law. So they opened many institutions
i. 1781 Calcutta Madarssa by Warren Hastings
ii. 1791 Sanskrit college at Varanasi by Jonathan Duncan
4. The Charter Act of 1813 – to make education as the objective of government.
5. 1835 Lord William Benetick decided to introduce English as the medium of Instruction.
6. 1835 Macaulay’s Minute also promoted education in English.
7. In 1854 sir Charles Wood sent a dispatch (Magna Carta of English Education in India) to Lord Dalhousie
the Governer-Gerenal of India, and suggested language ati. Primary school – vernacular language
ii. High chool – anglo-vernacular language
iii. College level – English as medium of instruction
8. 1857 universities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay were established on the recommendations of sir
Charles Wood’s Dispatch.
9. Hunter Commission 1882-83
i. To look into the non-implementation of the wood’s Dispatch of 1854.
ii. Responsibilities of Primary education must be given to the Local Boards and Municipal
Boards.
iii. Secondary education must be handed over to private enterprises.
10. Saddler Commission / Calcutta University Commission – 1917-19
i. To study the problem of Calcutta University
ii. Suggested the separation of secondary education and higher education. This resulted in
the Boards of Secondary Education.
iii. CABE – Central Advisory Board of Education 1920, dissolved in 1923 and again revived in
1935
11. Hartog Commission 1929 – focus on quality and standard of education.
12. Wardha Scheme of Education 1937 – On recommendations of Mahatma Gandhi – basic education
13. Sargent Report (Scheme of Post War Educational Development in India) 1944 – Recommended setting
up of University Grant Commission (UGC).
EDUCATION IN INDEPENDENT INDIA
- Radhakrishnan Commission (1948-49) –
a. The Government of India was appointed the University Education Commission under the Chairmanship
of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the late President of India on Nov. 4 1948.
b. All universities should be constituted as autonomous bodies in order to enable them to meet the new
responsibilities.
c. The Central Government should be responsible for finance, co-ordination of facilities.
d. The universities should be teaching institutions rather than affiliating types.
e. A Grants Allocation Committee should be constituted and The University Grants Commission should
be set-up. - Kothari Commissions (1964-66) –
a. The Education Commission, popularly known as Kothari Commission on July16, 1964.
b. Report named as ‘Education and National Development’
c. The Commission were to advise the government on the national pattern of education and on the
general principles and policies for the development of education at all stages and in all aspects.
d. The commission recommended about each aspect such as objectives, governance of universities,
planning and administration, finance, expansion of facilities, teachers, enrolment, etc.
e. Main 4 themes of commission are
i. Increase in Productivity
ii. Promoting Social and National Integration
iii. Education and Modernization
iv. Developing Social, Moral and Spiritual values.
f. Free and compulsory education for children 6-14.
g. Proposed 3 year degree and 4 year honours degree.
h. Establishment of Indian Education Serviceses (IES).
i. 6% of national income should be spent on education.
j. 3 language formula – regional + English + Hindi
k. 10+2+3 pattern of education.
l. To make evaluation as continuous.
m. It recommended the constitution of Academic Planning Board in each university. - National Policy of Education 1968 –
a. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has announced first National Policy on education in 1968
which was recognized as “radical restructuring”.
b. Based on the report of the Education Commission – 1964-66, the Government of India issued a National
Policy of Education 1968. - National Policy of Education 1986 –
a. ‘The policy aimed to promote national progress, a sense of common citizenship & culture and to
strengthen national integration. It laid stress on the need for a radical reconstruction of the education
system to improve its quality and gave much greater attention to science and technology, the cultivation
of moral values and a closer relation between education and the life of the people’ NPE 1986.
b. Delinking Degrees from Jobs
c. Autonomous colleges will be developed in large numbers.
d. The courses and programmes of college education will be redesigned to meet the demands of
specialization better. There would be given emphasis on linguistic competence and course
combination.
e. State level planning and co-ordination will be done through Councils of Higher Education. The UGC
and these Councils will develop method jointly to keep a watch on standards.
f. Methods of teaching will be supplemented by audio-visual aids and electronic gadgets. Development
of latest curricula and material, research and teacher orientation will receive close attention.
g. For ensuring quality research, suitable steps will be taken by UGC for enhancing support services in
the universities. - Committee for Review of National Policy on Education 1986 (Acharya Rammurti Committee) -1990
a. On 7th May, 1990, the Government of India set up a committee to review NPE 1986, under the
Chairmanship of Acharya Rammurti.
b. Review the Committee submitted its report in Dec. 1990 titling ‘Towards an Enlightened and Humane
Society’.
c. In respect of higher education Committee recommended as –
i. Government should strongly discourage establishment of non-standard or sub-standard
colleges and universities.
ii. The universities should be relieved of the responsibility of holding examinations at the
bachelors’ level so that, they can concentrate on post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral
studies.
iii. Whole process of curriculum development and designing of courses cannot be decentralized. - The Central Advisory Board of Education Committee on NPE 1986-1991 –
a. The Ministry of HRD set up a committee of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), on 31st July
1991, under the Chairmanship of Janardan Reddy.
b. The term was to review the implementation of the various parameters of NPE 1986.
c. The NPE 1986 was modified in May 1992 as per the recommendations of the Committee and
Programme of Action (POA) also revised in Aug. 1992. - Gnanam Committee on Educational Management 1990-
a. The UGC constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of A. Gnanam.
b. The report of this Committee titled ‘Towards New Educational Management’ published by UGC in 1990.
c. The Committee analyzed comprehensively all current problems of management including financial
management. - Justice Dr. K. Punnayya Committee -1992
a. On Nov. 11, 1992, UGC set up a high powered committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. K. Punnayya,
mainly to examine the present financial situation in regard to Central Universities. - Ambani – Birla Committee (Government of India – 2000)-
a. Government of India appointed a committee headed by two noted private sector industrialists – Mukesh
Ambani and Kumarmangalam Birla, to suggest the needed reforms in education sector along with other
sectors.
b. The Committee noted the critical importance of the role of the State in development of education,
including higher education in several developed countries of the world.
c. The main suggestion of the Committee is that the Government of India should leave higher education
to the private sector.
d. ‘User pay’ principle be strictly enforced in higher education, supported by loans and grants to
economically and socially backward sections of the society. - National Knowledge Commission – 2006
a. On Jan. 12, 2007, Sam Pitroda submitted the report on higher education – 2006, the Notional Knowledge
Commission appointed by the Prime Minister. - Yashpal Committee – 2009 –
a. Report on Higher Education – To advise on renovation and rejuvenation of higher education
b. In the year 2009, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had set up a Committee on
Higher Education known as the Yashpal Committee.
c. The chairman of the committee was Dr Yash Pal, and it was constituted for examining reforms to be
brought about in higher education in India.
d. Yash Pal was a globally renowned physicist, academic, and higher education reformer.
e. It was recommended that the deemed university status should be abandoned.
f. It was also recommended that all the deserving deemed universities should be either converted to
full-fledged universities or would have to be scrapped.
g. The committee recommended that bodies like the NCTE, AICTE, UGC and others must be replaced by a
Commission for Higher Education and Research (CHER) – a seven-member body.
