Costs of education in India

An attempt is made in this paper to present an empirical analysis of costs of education in India. Besides making his own fresh analysis in this paper, the author draws on the studies conducted and estimates made earlier by the author himself and by others on costs and related aspects of education in India, on the basis of which certain valuable inferences, conclusions and policy implications relating to a variety of dimensions of the problem are made, such as importance of costs in educational planning, the complementary role between private and institutional costs, the nature of production process in the educational system, regional variations in the costs of education, the relationship between cost of education and economic development, etc. The paper ends with a few major suggestions on the problem.     

Financing higher education in India

This paper is an attempt to analyse the present pattern of funding higher education in India and to discuss the desirability and feasibility of various alternative methods of funding the same. Higher education in India is basically a state funded sector. But as higher education benefits not only society at large, but also individuals specifically, and as it attracts relatively more privileged sections of the society, there is a rationale for shifting the financial burden to the individual domain from the social domain.It is argued here that given the resource constraints and equity considerations, financing higher education mostly from the general tax revenue may not be a desirable policy in the long run. Accordingly some of the alternative policy choices are discussed, including financing higher education from the public exchequer, student loans, graduate tax, student fees, and the role of the private sector. Among the available alternatives, it is argued that a discriminatory pricing mechanism would be relatively more efficient and equitable. While given the socioeconomic and political realities, the government has to continue to bear a large responsibility for funding higher education, instead of relying on a single form of funding, efforts should be made to evolve a model of funding that provides a mix of the various methods. It is also argued that fee and subsidy policies need to make distinctions across various layers and forms of higher education.     

Planning agricultural education in India

Abstract

The study is an attempt to report the growth and status of agricultural education in India and to project a future scenario. The forecast made for trained agricultural manpower is based on socio-economic considerations which are then converted into an educational plan. Issues relating to educational policy to achieve supply-demand adjustments are subsequently discussed. Three main recommendations have emerged from this study. First, the number of diploma holders at the lower end of the professional ladder needs to be increased to cater for the social demand for more trained and readily available manpower to help clientele (farmers) to enhance the level of their awareness concerning technological developments in agriculture. Second, the number of specializations at postgraduate level needs to be decreased and agricultural education needs to be more broad based in commensuration with occupational demands. This would allow skilled and qualified manpower to be directed into areas of employment where they are needed most. Third, the participation of the private sector in the institutionalization of agricultural education may offer healthy competition to state supported agricultural universities and inculcate better entrepreneurship. Finally, recommendations pertaining to the job preferences of graduates and remedies to certain internal inconsistencies such as inbreeding in the system are also made.     

Early childhood care and education in India

A brief history of the development of Early Childhood Care and Education in pre and post Independent India has been given first. The current situation of ECCE, teacher training and research has been described and the Research — Policy — Program interface has been delineated.

Among the myriad issues confronting ECCE in the country a few have been selected for discussion.     

Student loans in financing higher education in India

Confronted with declining public budgets for education on the one hand, and the need for more resources on the other, many developing countries such as India, have been examining alternative methods of financing higher education. One such mechanism is student loans. A student loan programme is not a new phenomenon in India. The National Loans Scholarship Scheme has been in operation since 1963. This article critically reviews the experience of implementation of the National Loan Scholarship scheme. It examines strengths and weaknesses and problems specific to this programme in India, with a view to identifying measures for marginal improvement in the programme. The conclusion is that at present student loans make little contribution to either the efficiency or equity of higher education in India.     

Computer training and general education

Is it possible to integrate ideals of general and liberal education into computer‐training programmes? To answer this question an analysis was made of computer training programmes for adults in Denmark. The results showed that the participants expressed a positive attitude towards computers and towards learning computer technology but they only expressed few and general expectations of the courses. This is problematic according to ideals of general education and of self‐directed learning. The organizers wanted to produce courses with general and enlightening contents but the form and contents of the actual courses only to a moderate degree realized the organizers’ intentions. The participants obtained a broad learning outcome. However, they only to a very moderate degree used this outcome at work or in relation to further education. The conclusion was that it is possible to integrate ideals of general and liberal education if computer training helps the participants to develop more precise intentions, if the teaching methods are modernized, and if the contents of the courses correspond better with the possibilities in the workplace.     

Computer based guidance in American higher education

Summary This article presents an overview on the current state of the art of computer based guidance in the United States. A review of the historical development of the use of computers in career decision making and guidance over the past twenty years is provided. Both Information Retrieval systems and Interactive Guidance and Information systems are discussed. The future development of hardware and software for new populations using videodiscs and voice activated computers is addressed. The article concludes with some observations about the role of the professional as they utilize the computer as a counseling tool.This article will discuss the history of the development of Computer Based Guidance in the United States; its focus will be a report on the current state of the art in America. It will conclude with a look at future directions and will raise concerns regarding the role of the professional and the profession as they begin to use computers as a new intervention.     

Post-elementary education,poverty and development in India

There is a general presumption among many policy makers that secondary and higher education is not necessary for economic growth and development. On the other hand, it is literacy and primary education that is argued to be important. Estimates on internal rate of return also contributed to strengthening of such a presumption. Accordingly, secondary and higher education do not figure on the poverty reduction agenda of many poor countries and of the international aid organisations. The Indian experience also testifies to all this. Secondary and more strikingly higher education has been subject to neglect by the government. Using most recent statistics, it is attempted here to show that the general presumption on the weak or negligible role of secondary and higher education in development is not valid and that post-elementary education is important for reduction in poverty, in improving infant mortality and life expectancy, and for economic growth.     

印度落后阶级受高等教育的机会

印度是一个等级制度仍然较为森严的社会.政治上受压迫、经济上受剥削、文化教育上受忽视的民众仍然占总人口很高的比例.尽管印度政府制定了一些政策以保障落后阶级受教育的机会,但50多年来的实践表明,印度落后阶级远未享受到公平的受教育机会.     

Goals and governance of higher education in India

In this paper, we explore the evolution of the Indian State’s role in governance, and the implications this has for goal setting. We find that the Indian government’s activist role in governance marked a change from the colonial period. This, we suggest, was not due to changes in the relative influence of different stakeholder groups. It was instead due to new national developmental goals, particularly industrialization. Fairly quickly after independence, we find that higher education governance came to be exercised in different ways between the center and the states. Control over the system’s governance was to later become an arena of contest between the national (central) government and the provinces (states), leading to disagreements on strategies, such as on funding and regulation. In later phases, particularly in the third phase that began in 1984 and continues to the present, the disagreements intensified because educational priorities started changing due to the changes in the relative influence of stakeholder groups and new forces such as globalization.     

Language in education: Minorities and multilingualism in India

The question of education in India cannot be properly discussed without referring to its socio-linguistic context. This paper provides background information on the linguistic profile of India. The term minorities in the Indian context is defined, and the protection offered to linguistic minorities in the Indian Constitution is examined. A discussion of language policy in Indian education follows in which the recommendations of the different education commissions are analysed. The important issues covered include: the number of languages that are taught, the medium of instruction, and the educational policies regarding speakers of minority languages. The article also discusses different language movements and their impact on Indian education.

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Zusammenfassung Die Frage der Bildung in Indien kann ohne einen Bezug zum sozial-linguistischen Kontext nicht hinreichend diskutiert werden. Dieser Artikel liefert Hintergrundinformationen zum linguistischen Profil Indiens. Der Begriff Minderheiten wird im Zusammenhang mit Indien definiert und der den Sprachminderheiten in der indischen Verfassung zugestandene Schutz untersucht. Anschließend wird die Sprachpolitik im indischen Bildungssystem angesprochen und die Empfehlungen unterschiedlicher Bildungskommissionen werden analysiert. Die wesentlichen abgehandelten Themen beinhalten folgende Bereiche: die Anzahl der unterrichteten Sprachen, die Unterrichtssprache und die Bildungspolitik hinsichtlich der Sprachminderheiten. Der Artikel befaßt sich außerdem mit unterschiedlichen Sprachbewegungen und ihrem Einfluß auf die indische Bildung.

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Resumen La cuestión de educación en la India no podrá discutirse adecuadamente sin hacer referencia a su contexto sociolingüístico. Este trabajo provee informaciones de fondo sobre el perfil lingüistico de la India. Define el término de minorias en el contexto indio y examina la protección que la Constitución de la India ofrece a las minorías lingüísticas. A ello se agrega una discusión de la política lingüística en la educación india, en la que se analizan las recomendaciones de las diferentes comisiones de educación. Fntre otras cosas, los puntos tratados son: el número de lenguas que se enseñan, el medio de instrucción, y las políticas de educación referentes a las personas que hablan lenguuas minoritarias. El artículo también trata los diferentes movimientos lingüísticos y sus impactos en la educación en la India.

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Résumé On ne peut vraiment débattre la question de l'éducation en Inde sans la replacer dans son contexts socio-linguistique. Cet article fournit une information de base sur le profil linguistique de l'Inde. Il y définit le terme de minorités dans le contexte de ce pays et étudie la protection que la Constitution indienne assure aux minorités linguistiques. Il s'ensuit un exposé de la politique linguistique dans l'enseignement de ce pays, incluant une analyse des recommandations des différentes commissions pédagogiques. Les points essentiels traités portent sur le nombre de langues enseignées, la langue d'enseignement et les politiques pédagogiques touchant les locuteurs de langues minoritaires. L'article analyse enfin les différents mouvements linguistiques et leur influence sur l'éducation en Inde.

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