The Indian Education System
“Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think.” ~ Albert Einstein
According to Britannia “Education can be thought of as the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In this sense, it is equivalent to what social scientists term socialization or enculturation.” The improvement in the literacy rate is due to education. Since gaining independence, India’s government has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that all citizens have access to education, and it has been announcing new initiatives to advance education for many years. According to a survey conducted in 2022, there are over 15 lakh schools in India. Rural India has 12 lakh schools, and urban India has 2.5 lakh schools. These schools educate more than 26 crore students.
In India, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) plays a crucial role in educational policies and programs. The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), with the State Council for Educational Research and Training, is responsible for creating the National Curriculum Framework. Although the state has a lot of discretion in the educational system, SCERT generally adheres to the rules set forth by the NCERT.
The Indian school education system has the following levels: preschool, kindergarten, primary school from first to fifth grade, middle school from sixth grade to eighth grade, and high school from ninth grade to twelfth grade. The Indian school system has the following curriculum:
- CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education): It is preferred by the parents because it is a transferable job. All Kendriya Vidyalayas, all Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, private schools, and most schools. The central authority is affiliated with the CBSE. According to a survey conducted in 2020, 14808 schools are affiliated with the CBSE. IIT, AIPMT, and other major entrance exams are on the CBSE syllabus.
- CISCE (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations): This body conducts three examinations, namely the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) exam for class 10. ISC (Indian School Certificate) exam for class 12. CVE (Certificate for Vocational Education) exam for class 12. A total of 1,000 schools are CISCE affiliates.
- IB — International Baccalaureate: It offers three educational programs, namely PYP (primary year program) for KG to Class 5, MYP (middle year program) for Class 6 to Class 10, and DP (diploma program) for Class 11 and Class 12.
- IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education): It is a curriculum that is offered to students to help them be ready for the International Baccalaureate and CIE A-level. It is academically demanding, internationally recognized, specialized, and taught in English.
- State Boards: Each state’s state government provides primary, secondary, and higher secondary education. The examination procedures are like the CBSE board.
The schools have 200 to 220 working days in a year. These working days vary among different grades and different schools. There are a lot of topics that the students study, but the core subjects taught to them are mathematics, science, social sciences, English, a second language, and a third language.
Some schools in India have a vast and diverse curriculum. There are a lot of international schools with global chains trying to provide holistic development for the students. Even some of the local schools are providing holistic development to their students so that they can find a path on which they can excel.
During the COVID period, the schools went online so that the student’s education did not stop. Schools play an important part in the personality of the students. Apart from subject knowledge, it also teaches them sportsmanship, teamwork, participation, etc. Apart from teaching the core subjects, schools also focus on the student’s physical health, artistic development, and creative awakening.
As we are talking about schools, we cannot skip the part about exams. Exams play an important role in the school’s curriculum. Generally, in an academic year, there are three exams conducted: two formative assessments with a small portion of the syllabus. The other kind of exam is a summative assessment, with the complete or a major part of the syllabus. Apart from these examinations, there are some exams conducted by the respective boards. These exams are the tenth-grade final exams and the twelfth-grade final exams. In these board examinations, students all over India attempt the exams in different examination centers.
After the students reach the tenth grade, they choose the subject stream for their future professional course. The streams available in CBSE are science, economics, and the arts. Students in the science stream can choose between PCM (physics, chemistry, and mathematics), PCB (physics, chemistry, and biology), or both. In economics, the students can choose between economics with or without mathematics. In the Arts stream, the students study social sciences with additional subjects like legal studies, psychology, mathematics, and economics. And twelfth-grade students also appear for the competitive exams to get into professional universities.
The above paragraphs summarise the Indian education system. Education plays an important role in the development of a nation, and schools flourish the youth of the nation. Schools play a crucial role in the lives of students and the development of the nation.
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