The dichotomy in India’s education system – A macro level analysis

Abstract

Field of education is associated with herculean task and innate responsibility of escorting societies forward. Across space and time, it has been an unambiguous synthesis that education should precede any progress or change. It helps humans to understand themselves and better their interaction with rest of the society. Hence the field of education and dissemination of knowledge is very much a pivotal entity in the evolution of human civilisation. No country in the globe over centuries could afford to flourish on the paths of growth and development while ignoring the crucial role of education. Country like India where in there has been a perpetual struggle over the decades to overcome perils of colonisation and social stigmatisation reflective in terms of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. In order to overcome these bottlenecks ‘knowledge dissemination’ must spearhead the change. Apart from other funding inadequacies, infrastructural lacunae, education sector in India has also been grappling with certain innate contradicting and counterproductive structures. Hence in this paper we have made an effort to address and assess the nature and impact of these dichotomies over the field of Education in India.

Keywords:

• Education
• Indian economy
• medium of education gender disparities in education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The famous Economist, James Dusenberry proposed the concept of the ‘demonstration effect’, which postulates that an individual or household would not only plan their expenditure and life style based on their income or their resources. Rather, they are also influenced by the consumption patterns and life styles of people around him. According to him, the prevalence of this effect is more prominent in developing countries.

2 By connectivity we mean that ideological, customs, practices that are transferred from generations to generations and across societies.

3 Ratio of the number of enrolments in higher education aging between 18 to 23 years to the total existing population.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Trinadh Nookathoti

Dr. Trinadh Nookathoti: I obtained my doctorate in Economics from University of Hyderabad. Research interests include Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, and Subaltern Studies. I aspire to engage myself in research pertaining to socio-economic implications of caste and Economics of Discrimination in India. I feel education sans social application, scientific temper, democratic ethos, human rights and free thought would only remain as futile exercise and redundant entity. Through teaching and research I wish to contribute to the ‘body of knowledge’ that would pave the way for socio, economic and cultural emancipation of the deprived sections of the society.