Process of Education

Introduction
Meaning of Education
Historical Development of the Educational System in India
Education and Inequality
Women's Education
Summary

Introduction

The purpose of education and how it benefits us throughout our lives will be discussed in this article. It specifically focuses on the formal and informal components of the educational system. The evolution of India's modern educational system is described, along with its history. Additionally, it discusses the issue of illiteracy and explains the inherent inequality in the educational system as well as the education of women. The issues surrounding employment and education have also been addressed. In actuality, the unit provides a thorough overview of the educational process in the context of Indian society.

Meaning of Education

You are taking part in the structured educational system as you read and comprehend the pages of this lesson. You probably decided to receive your education in this way because you either dropped out of school early and decided against going to college or because you were interested in a different subject. These reasons—which may seem obvious and simple to you—can frequently be the result of a number of factors. It is important to understand how this type of education differs from others prior to looking more closely at these factors. To start, let's define what we mean by education. According to the dictionary, education emphasizes "systematic instruction" for the "development of character and of mental powers." The phrase "systematic instruction" has important connotations because it suggests a structured method of communicating particular meanings or symbols. Learning occurs during the process of instruction, during which the student absorbs knowledge from the teacher that has been processed and graded in accordance with the average student's age and level of intelligence. A student participates in the formal education system when they attend school, college, or university. Instead of having a teacher in front of you, what you are reading now aims to give you all the pertinent information you need so that you won't feel the need for someone to interpret and explain the information being presented. You have received the information, but you are unable to really make decisions about what belongs on your course and what doesn't. Herein lies a crucial distinction between education and learning.

Life-long Learning and Education

You've probably heard the term "lifelong learning," which refers to the idea that learning is a process that occurs throughout one's life. Every experience has the potential to teach us something, but unlike education, it is not always delivered by a single institution like a school. When you stroll through a shopping center, for example, you can discover more about people and perhaps the variety of jobs that are available to them. You can also learn about the caste system. Your educational experiences are, in fact, fundamentally enriching, and perhaps only you alone can recognize this. On the other hand, education in a particular field is something you share with a larger group; participation in it is based on a system, an ordering of various topics in a range of subjects or disciplines, and finally an assessment or evaluation by the teacher, or a test which you would have to send in for evaluation. In contrast to how learning may be, education is scheduled and controlled. Briefly stated, not all learning is education in the sense that we now use the terms. Education does, however, involve learning. Famous sociologists Talcott Parsons and Emile Durkheim thought that the school classroom, teacher, and entire school-oriented learning process would aid in the integration of the child into society. In fact, the child's proper adjustment depended on the school. As we shall see, they did not appear to consider how the social class differences among children affected how well the children adapted to school.

Formal and Non-formal Education

It is possible for education to be formal or informal, to be delivered directly by the teacher, or to be delivered through a prepared text like this one. You are currently engaging in distance learning, a method of education. Here, you will receive your instructional material in writing as well as suggestions for projects, additional reading, and other related activities. You may also receive this information through radio or visual media like TV and video programs. You want to earn a degree in sociology, but a busy professional could take time off to enroll in packaged courses on art history or art restoration using the same method of distance learning. This can be accomplished using both written and audio-visual media. Although it would not be a requirement for his or her license to practice law or medicine, he or she might nonetheless be extremely interested in this. Even if a degree or diploma is not awarded, the individual would have learned some useful information in a field that is unrelated to their formal field of study. As a result, distance learning can be used to prepare for a formal degree as well as to broaden one's knowledge in a variety of subjects. Evaluations can be crucial and important in some circumstances but not in others.

Similar to the formal stream, the non-formal stream in our educational system also seeks to impart pertinent knowledge without always requiring assessments, tests, and other similar activities. The content and teaching strategies used in distance learning and informal education, however, differ significantly. The target audience for non-formal education in India has been the segment of the population that has not been able to participate in formal education due to poverty and/or other related factors. In other words, they either didn't attend school, left early, or dropped out. This program's objective is to offer functional literacy to people who are not enrolled in the formal educational system. Children from underprivileged groups like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as well as those who reside in urban slums and isolated rural areas, are the typical target populations. Girls make up a sizable portion of those not in school, as we shall see. However, a range of socioeconomic issues restrict their participation, even in informal education.

Similar to the formal stream, the non-formal stream in our educational system also seeks to impart pertinent knowledge without always requiring assessments, tests, and other similar activities. However, there are significant differences between the non-formal education methods and content of distance learning. Non-formal education in India has as its target population those segments of the population who, due to poverty andor other related factors, have not been able to participate in formal education. In other words, they either didn't attend school, quit, or dropped out at a young age. The purpose of this program is to offer functional literacy to those who are not enrolled in the formal educational system. Children from disadvantaged groups like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as well as those who reside in urban shantytowns and isolated rural areas, are typically the target audience. As we'll see, girls make up a sizable portion of those who aren't in school. However, a number of socioeconomic issues prevent them from taking part in even informal education.

In India, a significant program called Non-Formal Education was introduced in 1975/76 for people between the ages of 15 and 25. Providing "meaningful education" to underprivileged groups was the goal of both this and the later National Adult Education Programmes (NAEP). 10 crore illiterates, particularly those between the ages of 15 and 35, were to be reached by the NAEP, which was launched in April 1979. The curriculum placed a strong emphasis on learning through the acquisition of a skill and was adapted from Mahatma Gandhi's nai talim, or basic education. The program also needed to focus on the target audience's unique requirements, which included flexibility in the timing, length, and location of the courses in addition to the relevance of the course content. In conjunction with the formal educational system, these programs that are not part of it seek to address the issue of widespread illiteracy. In India, even after forty years of independence and more than 150 years after the first school was established, only 50% of the population is literate. More than half of those without literacy are females or young girls. However, progress has been made in eradicating widespread illiteracy in India, both generally and among specific target groups like women and members of scheduled castes and tribes. According to the provisional 2001 Census data (India 2003: pp. In the years 1991 to 2001, according to the Government of India (GOI), there was unheard-of progress in the area of literacy. Since Independence, there has never been a decline of over 31.9 million in the total number of illiterates. While the population of the 7+ age groups increased by 171.6 million people between 1991 and 2001, 203.6 million more people acquired literacy during this decade, marking an important milestone. You should now be able to see that the educational process is affected by a number of socioeconomic factors in addition to the availability of resources. This holds true for both formal and informal education, whether it is delivered in-person in a classroom, through a text book, a radio program, or a class on caring for cattle and other livestock.

Historical Development of the Educational System in India

If we briefly examine the origins of education, we discover that in India, its history can be traced to the guru-shishya parampara or tradition of a personalised teaching by the guru. While much of this interaction was based on the rich oral tradition, it later evolved to be based on the comprehension and interpretation of texts that covered everything from military tactics to personal ethics. Such education was typically only available to a small minority of people, typically young men from privileged social classes and upper castes. Only among the more wealthy was it possible to spare a child a life of prolonged education. Literacy was a closely-guarded secret, and those who possessed it—typically Brahmins among Hindus—were held in high regard and given respect. The circumstances started gradually changing by the end of the eighteenth century. Newer professions and groups of people learned to spread more widely as urban areas grew. This served as the foundation for the indigenous primary school, or pathshala, which quickly emerged in a number of homes.

Early in the nineteenth century, the British rulers focused on educating Indians because they needed their help, at least at the lower levels, in order to expand trade, commerce, business, and the bureaucracy. There was a close-knit network of pathshalas in many areas of the country before the Westem-style schools were introduced. The landed and trading elites founded these primary schools with the express intention of preparing the coming generation for definite roles and functions. The average class size was just under ten students, and each pathshala had an inale teacher. Boys typically start school at around age 8 and finish it between four and six years later. According to very specific pedagogical and discipline guidelines, the teaching in the pathshala was organized. This is clear from a number of descriptions that can be found in the writings from this era.

Education and Inequality

We discover that there was a well-established network of formal educational institutions in India when the British left, and non-formal education had also made some progress. A glance at the bar graph, however, will show that large swaths of the population are still unaffected by the educational institutions. There are two opposing trends in our society: on the one hand, we have a rapidly expanding sector that can compete with the best professionals in the world, and on the other, there is an increasing number of illiterates and unschooled people.

Our illiteracy issue is shared by other Third World nations. The search for alternatives to the formal education system and efforts to increase equality in access to educational opportunities are crucial issues in the so-called developed world. The discussion about educational opportunity equality has become more pertinent in nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, and even the Netherlands due to the presence of immigrant groups with a high proportion of first-generation learners and a relative lack of resources among some segments of the local population.

Expansion of Education

A significant expansion of education has occurred over the past few decades as a result of the belief that educational institutions should be more actively involved in promoting greater equality among people. The idea of equality and its connection to education have also been subject to different interpretations as a result. The definition of equality in the context of education must be practical before we can move on. As has been noted, there is a world of difference between the equal right to education and the right to equal education. Does this imply equal education for all or does it mean equal opportunity to be educated? On the premise that everyone is exactly alike, a commitment to equal education for all is made. Without a doubt, this is untrue. Equal opportunity means having the same chance to pursue education in a society like ours where there are disparities. In the West, where the majority of discussions on educational opportunity equality have their roots, the focus is less on the issue of facility access and more on variations in the educational experiences that people have.

Questions about what happens to children who have access to the varied educational bread basket have been raised in the majority of developed countries. To put it more bluntly, once the system is in place, the distribution of bread is determined by factors that may have nothing to do with the basket itself. Can everyone expect to have a piece of bread that, in relation to another, is of the same size and quality, or will some be able to stake a claim for a bigger and better slice because of certain advantages? Some children are impacted by certain factors more than others. As a result, those from socially and economically disadvantaged groups drop out at a higher rate and perform poorly in school; those born with advantages typically receive better-quality bread. When we use the term "drop out," we refer to the phenomenon whereby students—whether they are adults or children—leave a school or a literacy class before it has ended. There are several causes for this. Consider why you might have chosen this type of education over a traditional college degree when we asked you to do so at the beginning of this lesson. We also brought to your attention the significant percentage of Indian students who drop out of school or college before completing their studies. They cannot or do not search for alternatives, unlike you. We'll take a quick look at a few of the reasons why people can't or won't continue their education in the next section.

Findings on Education

The research of a few British social scientists in the 1950s showed that children from working-class families faced disadvantages compared to their middle-class peers. It has been demonstrated that a child's capacity to adapt to a largely middle-class school ethos depends on environmental and socioeconomic factors. Other sociologists came to the conclusion that differences in family backgrounds account for more achievement differences than school backgrounds. As the United States' Project Head Start and Britain's Educational Priority Areas (EPS) identification programs got underway, the stage was set for government intervention. Both, in short, aimed to offer special teaching materials, psychological enrichment programs, and an emphasis on extracurricular and co-curricular activities to disadvantaged children in designated geographic pockets. Originally implemented in India, our policy of reserving seats for "Scheduled Castes and Tribes" had the same intention: to provide the underprivileged with the additional support they required in order to compete fairly with the students from privileged backgrounds. By the end of the 1960s, it was abundantly clear that such accommodations were insufficient to address the situation's growing inequality. Furthermore, there was a growing perception that educational institutions themselves opposed children's integration.

Women's Education

The overall low enrollment rate is due to the comparatively lower enrollment of girls. Even though all girls were enrolled in school in 1990, it is equally important to monitor where they are in 1995: are they still in school, or are they back at work in the fields or at home? For example, in 1975–1976, 66% of girls in the age range of 6–11 years were enrolled in primary school classes. When these girls should have been entering class VI, or in 1980–181, according to the corresponding statistics, the enrollment rate in this class had fallen to 29%. The majority of them were in class I. In other words, more than 50% of girls drop out of the system before finishing primary school. Only two of the 10 girls who enroll in class I and move on to class VIII, according to the most recent government statistics. The Scheduled Castes and Tribes and the poor in both urban and rural areas make up the majority of those who quit or never join. There are comparatively fewer Muslim girls in schools.

This bleak picture of literacy in India has started to change, though. According to the preliminary results of the 2001 Census, there were 562.01 million literate people in the nation, including more than half of women and 3/4 of the male population. Compared to males, who saw an increase of 11 points (from 64 points to 75 points), females saw an increase of 14 points (from 39 points to 54 points). Additionally, from 28.84 in the 1991 census to 21.70 percentage points in 2001, the male-female literacy rate difference has shrunk.

Schooling and Literacy

A minimum of four to five years of education have been mentioned as being necessary for it to be effective and to ensure that recipients do not revert to illiteracy. National educational goals must balance individual survival strategies with the 44 million children who make up the child labor force and live in every third household. The search for explanations and solutions for this crisis has preoccupied sociologists as well as economists, economists, and educational planners. It has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that attending school is unattractive due to the high opportunity cost of education in relation to family poverty. Education typically only requires a few years of schooling, so the returns are low. Foregoing or at least restricting participation in paid work is a requirement of attending school. Families living below the poverty line find that attending school is a poor investment because there is no guarantee that it will lead to better employment opportunities and the costs are too high in real terms.

Numerous studies conducted in urban slums have confirmed that formal education only has a minor influence on girls' lives. In a recent study conducted in Delhi on the Balmikis, a subcaste of the North Indian Bhangis or sweepers, it was discovered that girls' education had little bearing on their ability to marry because they were expected to combine housework and traditional employment. Nearly 75% of mothers whose sons were in school wanted them to finish, while 50% of mothers of daughters admitted that their daughters had not continued their education past the third grade. They stopped attending school because they had jobs, were married off, needed to help with housework, care for a younger sibling, etc.

Question of Illiteracy

In a Bombay slum, it was discovered that illiteracy was three times higher because the migrant population was willing to send their daughters to primary school for just a few years but hoped that their sons would finish their education. As you are aware, there is a growing level of competition for all jobs. Young men from families with little to no education among the older generation eagerly enroll in classes and courses of all kinds as a result of the urbanization process. Whether one aspires to work as a bus conductor, an office clerk, or in the civil service, certificates, diplomas, and degrees are valuable assets. Due to the increased competition, families will be more eager to spend money on a son, the traditional breadwinner, than on a daughter when resources are limited. In spite of this, we find that more and more girls are engaging in formal and informal educational activities across socioeconomic classes, as well as within and across ethnic, religious, and political groups. An educated daughter is desirable among the expanding middle class. Their income is frequently essential to the family's survival.

The majority of Indian women, however, don't care whether they work or not; for generations, working class women have labored in the fields, cared for livestock, prepared meals for a large family, assisted in road construction, and so on. These are also the groups where there is the greatest disregard for girls' education. This disregard is furthered by early marriage and restrictions placed on girls who are approaching puberty. You learned about socialization in the previous two units, so you are aware of how the family socializes boys and girls differently. We can tell that young girls have learned these skills at their mothers' side when they expertly stack large piles of firewood or make cow dung cakes that are the proper size and consistency. They do not need to attend school in order to support their families. These functions are handled during the socialization process. The socialization of young boys who enter traditional occupations or begin early apprenticeships in professions like those producing matchsticks, locks, and glass bracelets is also affected by this.

Education and Employment

Thus, while it would be wrong for us to ignore the fact that there is a growing awareness regarding the benefits of education, we should also be aware of the fact that education means different things to different groups. Poor families rarely send their daughters to school in the hopes of having better employment prospects. A share cropper probably sent his six-year-old daughter to the village school because other people in the village also sent their daughters there. In addition, there is a perception that if a girl can read and write, she will at least be able to communicate with her family after marriage in a society where there is a lot of violence against women. In the minds of many parents who are concerned about their daughter's future, this provides a sense of security. Policy planners are now considering ways to make the school more appealing to older children as well because institutionalized child care facilities are so woefully inadequate. This viewpoint, however, that the school can act as a caretaker for a few hours during the day is of greater relevance to policy makers. Some of the measures being considered include midday meals, integrating health professionals into the educational process, and affixing a balwadi or creche to the primary school.

Therefore, it is not always simple to make school more appealing to groups that have previously been indifferent, if not hostile. The difficulties are made worse when such efforts must deal with organizations and people who are not also convinced of the necessity of integrating kids from different backgrounds. Even though it serves a much smaller portion of the population, the rapidly expanding higher education sector uses almost as many resources as the primary education sector, which serves a much larger segment of Indian society. Most societies struggle with this problem of the wants of the few versus the needs of the many in one way or another. To put it another way, elite education of high quality and therefore mass education must coexist. Of course, the question at hand is whether or not plans for making primary education more popular and relevant are receiving enough attention. There are numerous issues in each sector, even though there isn't a single crisis that affects all of Indian education. However, it remains true that the issues resulting from the privilege problem are of utmost significance. Discussions about how to increase enrollment in educational institutions in cities are largely irrelevant due to disparities in access to essential resources needed for survival. The internal workings of the educational system will be examined in the following unit; doing so may help us better understand how the school or text book has also internalized the values of a hierarchical society. We will also look at some suggested solutions for dealing with the illiteracy issue as well as the more general inquiry, Is school Still Relevant?

Summary

In this article, we have seen how education implies a specific method of knowledge transmission. We have seen that this is possible in both formal and informal settings. This unit has discussed the evolution of the Indian educational system. The article gave us clear information about the evolution of education, including that intended for women. The state of education is much better than it has ever been, but more needs to be done.