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Elementary Education in India
In the year 1950, the Constitution of India, under the Directive Principles of State Policy, had a provision for free and compulsory education for all children till the age of 14 years. The education system falls under the Human Resources Department of the government of India. The educational apex head for elementary education is the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT). In India, elementary education is for a duration of 8 years. The children under the elementary schooling system cover two stages, catering to the age group of 6-13 years:
- Classes I-V: Primary stage
- Classes VI-VIII: Middle stage
The nodal department of NCERT is the Department of Elementary Education (DEE), which has the indispensable function of advising various suggestions and policies to the Government of India with respect to elementary education.
The elementary education system is vital for children as it provides immense scope to identify and improve various skills and talents of a child. Be it interest in reading, writing, academics, sports or art and craft, an interest in such skills is vital to enable children to be creative, socialize, organize, analyze, communicate, innovate, and so much more. Even the teaching process is such that the various needs of the elementary education system are catered to adequately. Teachers use more innovative and informal methods in the teaching-learning process, such as activity methods, field trips, play way methods, etc. They help in polishing the developing minds of children for a better understanding of the world around them. Teachers are required to be good communicators, have good classroom management skills, be enthusiastic, treat the children with utter love and affection, have a warm personality, etc.
There have been extremely successful initiatives such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, which is the world’s largest initiative for elementary education, and the Midday Meal Scheme, which has helped reduce the factor of hunger and malnourishment and improve the enrollment ratio of the kids in schools.
Though the government over the years has been successful in terms of providing various feasible resources for children from different strata of the society, the milestone success is still a target for the government. There is a multitude of factors responsible for such slow progress, such as gender disparities, discrimination, social inequalities, lack of infrastructure, etc.
Secondary Education in India
The major apex head of the secondary education curriculum in India is the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Other apex bodies include:
- National School of Open Learning
- State Boards
- Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination
and others.
In India, secondary education is for a duration of 4 years and caters to the age group of 14-18 years, from classes IX-XII.
In the secondary education system, the curriculum is more practical and career-oriented. Unlike elementary education, in which each subject is equally important, in secondary education for classes XI and XII, the focus shifts on specific subjects such as science, commerce and humanities. Students choose the stream in which they have an interest and feel they can achieve their goals through it. It is a very critical stage, as students need to have proper guidance regarding their interests, their choice of subjects and their scope beyond school in the future.
The teachers display a different method of teaching in the secondary education system. They mainly use lecture methods, discussion methods, demonstration methods, etc. They are required to be masters of their core subjects to be eligible to teach this age group, especially for classes XI and XII. Apart from this, a teacher also needs to have a good understanding of the psychological, emotional, social and cognitive aspects of the teenagers. With the introduction of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the rigidity of choosing any one stream out of the three as mentioned above has been removed. Now, a child who wants to study Physics can also study Accountancy and Political Science simultaneously. NEP 2020 has more aspects of student-centric education.
Conclusion:
In this article, we saw an overview of the elementary and secondary education system in India. Elementary education is for a duration of 8 years. The children under elementary schooling cater to the age group of 6-13 years, from classes I-VIII. Secondary education is for a duration of 4 years and caters to the age group of 14-18 years, from classes IX-XII.
The elementary education system is vital for children as it provides immense scope to identify and improve various skills and talents of a child. Be it interest in reading, writing, academics, sports or art and craft, an interest in such skills is vital to enable children to be creative, socialize, organize, analyze, communicate, innovate, and so much more. In the secondary education system, the curriculum is more practical and career-oriented. Unlike elementary education, in which each subject is equally important, in secondary education for classes XI and XII, the focus shifts on specific subjects such as science, commerce and humanities.
