8INDUSTRY

Industry is the production of a good or service within an economy. Manufacturing industry became a key sector of production and labour in European and North American countries during the Industrial Revolution, upsetting previous mercantile and feudal economies. This occurred through many successive rapid advances in technology, such as the production of steel and coal. Following the Industrial Revolution, perhaps a third of the world's economic output is derived from manufacturing industries. Many developed countries and many developing/semi-developed countries (People's Republic of China, India etc.) depend significantly on manufacturing industry. Industries, the countries they reside in, and the economies of those countries are interlinked in a complex web of interdependence
.

The production side of business activity is referred as industry. It is a business activity, which is related to the raising, producing, processing or manufacturing of products. The products are consumer's goods as well as producer's goods. Consumer goods are goods, which are used finally by consumers. E.g. Food grains, textiles, cosmetics, VCR, etc. Producer's goods are the goods used by manufacturers for producing some other goods. E.g. Machinery, tools, equipments, etc. Expansion of trade and commerce depends on industrial growth. It represents the supply side of market.

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Classification / Types of Industries

There are various types of industries. These are mentioned as follows :1. Primary Industry
Primary industry is concerned with production of goods with the help of nature. It is a natureoriented industry, which requires very little human effort. E.g. Agriculture, farming, forestry, fishing, horticulture, etc.

2. Genetic Industry
Genetic industries are engaged in re-production and multiplication of certain spices of plants and animals with the object of sale. The main aim is to earn profit from such sale. E.g. plant nurseries, cattle rearing, poultry, cattle breeding, etc.

3. Extractive Industry
Extractive industry is concerned with extraction or drawing out goods from the soil, air or water. Generally products of extractive industries come in raw form and they are used by manufacturing and construction industries for producing finished products. E.g. mining industry, coal mineral, oil industry, iron ore, extraction of timber and rubber from forests, etc.

4. Manufacturing Industry
Manufacturing industries are engaged in transforming raw material into finished product with the help of machines and manpower. The finished goods can be either consumer goods or producer goods. E.g. textiles, chemicals, sugar industry, paper industry, etc.

5. Construction Industry
Construction industries take up the work of construction of buildings, bridges, roads, dams, canals, etc. This industry is different from all other types of industry because in case of other industries goods can be produced at one place and sold at another place. But goods produced and sold by constructive industry are erected at one place.

6. Service Industry
In modern times service sector plays an important role in the development of the nation and therefore it is named as service industry. The main industries, which fall under this category, include hotel industry, tourism industry, entertainment industry, etc

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CURRENT SCENARIO IN ECONOMY

Industry: Industrial growth has remained subdued since July 2011 due to weak global
demand, weak supply linkages, high import costs, and sluggish investment activities. During 2012-13 (April to November), industrial growth slowed to 1.0 per cent. The Industrial sector was mainly affected by the contraction in the output of capital goods and the mining sector. Excluding capital goods, the growth rate of overall IIP during April to November 2012 was 3.0 per cent. The slowdown in consumption demand has affected the growth of motor vehicles, food products and apparel industries. The subdued growth of the core industries has remained a drag on industrial production. Policy uncertainties in areas such as iron ore and coal mining have adversely affected the output of the steel and power industries. The recent initiatives taken by the government for the allocation of new coal blocks and commencement of production from Coal India Limited (CIL)s new coalfields are expected to boost coal output going forward. However, in the interim, constraints in infrastructure sector remain.

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Growth in eight core infrastructure industries decelerated to 3.3 per cent during April December 2012 compared to 4.8 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year. While the production of coal, cement and petroleum refinery products accelerated during the period, it was offset by the deceleration in the production of electricity and steel. Coal production recorded a growth of 5.7 per cent during April-December 2012-13 compared to its negative growth at (-) 2.7 per cent during the same period of 2011-12. Crude Oil production recorded a negative growth of (-) 0.4 per cent during April-December 2012-13 compared to its growth at 1.9 per cent during the same period of 2011-12. Natural Gas production registered a negative growth of (-) 13.3 per cent during AprilDecember 2012-13 which was (-) 8.8 per cent during the same period of 2011-12. Petroleum Refinery Products (0.93% of Crude Throughput)* Petroleum refinery production registered a growth of 6.9 per cent during April-December 2012-13 compared to its 4.0 per cent growth during the same period of 2011-12. Fertilizers production registered a growth of (-) 3.4% during April-December 2012-13 compared to its (-) 0.5% growth during the same period of 2011-12. Steel (Alloy + NonAlloy) Steel production registered 3.6% growth during April-December 2012-13 compared to its 9.1% growth during the same period of 2011-12. The cumulative growth of Cement Production was 6.1% during April-December 2012-13 compared to its 5.8% growth during the same period of 2011-12. Electricity generation decelerated sharply due to a weak monsoon and shortages in coal supply. The cumulative growth of Electricity generation was 4.6% during April-December 2012-13 compared to its 9.3% growth during the same period of 2011-12.With investment activity remaining subdues; the prospects of a recovery in industrial growth appear weak.
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EDUCATION IN INDIA
Education in India is provided by the public sector as well as the private sector, with control and funding coming from three levels:central, state, and local. Takshasila was the earliest recorded centre of higher learning in India from at least 5th century BCE and it is debatable whether it could be regarded a university or not. The Nalanda University was the oldest university-system of education in the world in the modern sense of university. Western education became ingrained into Indian society with the establishment of the British Raj Education in India falls under the control of both the Union Government and the State Governments, with some responsibilities lying with the Union and the states having autonomy for others. The various articles of the Indian Constitution provide for education as a fundamental right. Most of the universities in India are controlled by the Union or the State Governments. India has made progress in terms of increasing the primary education attendance rate and expanding literacy to approximately three quarters of the population.[4] India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to the economic rise of India. Much of the progress, especially in higher education and scientific research, has been credited to various public institutions. The private education market in India was 5% and in terms of value was estimated to be worth US$40 billion in 2008 but had increased to US$68 70 billion by 2012. As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, 96.5% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school. This is the fourth annual survey to report enrollment above 96%. 83% of all rural 15-16 year olds were enrolled in school. However, going forward, India will need to focus more on quality. Gross enrollment at the tertiary level has crossed 20% (as per an Ernst & Young Report cited in Jan 2013 in Education News. As per the latest (2013) report issued by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), there are more than 3524 diploma and post-diploma offering institutions in the country with an annual intake capacity of over 1.2 million. The AICTE also reported 3495 degree-granting engineering colleges in India with an annual student intake capacity of over 1.76 million with actual enrollment crossing 1.2 million..Capacity for Management Education crossed 385000, and post graduate degree slots in Computer Science crossed 100,000. Pharmacy slots reached over 121,000. Total annual intake capacity for technical diplomas and degrees exceeded 3.4 million in 2012.According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) total enrollment in Science, Medicine, Agriculture and Engineering crossed 6.5 million in 2010. Charu Sudan Kasturi reported in the Hindustan Times (New Delhi, 10 January 2011) that the number of women choosing engineering has more than doubled since 2001. In the India education system, a significant number of seats are reserved under affirmative action policies for the historically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. In universities/colleges/institutions affiliated to the federal government there is a minimum 50% of reservations applicable to these disadvantaged groups, at the state level it can vary. Andhra Pradesh had 83.33% reservation in 2012, which is the highest percentage of reservations in India.
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HISTORY
Brahmin gurus historically offered education by means of donations, rather than charging fees or the procurement of funds from students or their guardians. Later, temples also became centres of education; religious education was compulsory, but secular subjects were also taught. Students were required to be brahmacharis or celibates. The knowledge in these orders was often related to the tasks a section of the society had to perform. The priest class, the Brahmins, were imparted knowledge of religion, philosophy, and other ancillary branches while the warrior class, theKshatriya, were trained in the various aspects of warfare. The business class, the Vaishya, were taught their trade and the working class of theShudras was generally deprived of educational advantages. The book of laws, the Manusmriti, and the treatise on statecraft the Arthashastra were among the influential works of this era which reflect the outlook and understanding of the world at the time. Secular institutions cropped up along with Hindu temples, mutts and Buddhist monasteries. These institutions imparted practical education, e.g. medicine. A number of urban learning centres became increasingly visible from the period between 500 BCE to 400 CE.The important urban centres of learning were Taxila (in modern day Pakistan) and Nalanda in Bihar, among others. These institutions systematically imparted knowledge and attracted a number of foreign students to study topics such as Vedic and Buddhist literature, logic, grammar, etc. Chanakya, a Brahmin teacher, was among the most famous teachers of Takshasila, associated with founding of Mauryan Empire.

Overview
India's education system is divided into different levels such as pre-primary level, primary level, elementary education, secondary education, undergraduate level and postgraduate level. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the apex body for curriculum related matters for school education in India.[8] The NCERT provides support and technical assistance to a number of schools in India and oversees many aspects of enforcement of education policies.[9] In India, the various curriculum bodies governing school education system are:

The state government boards, in which the majority of Indian children are enrolled. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). CBSE conducts two examinations, namely, the All India Secondary School Examination, AISSE (Class/Grade 10) and the All India Senior School Certificate Examination, AISSCE (Class/Grade 12). The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). CISCE conducts three examinations, namely, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE - Class/ Grade 10); The Indian School Certificate (ISC - Class/ Grade 12) and the Certificate in Vocational Education (CVE - Class/Grade 12).
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The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) conducts two examinations, namely, Secondary Examination and Senior Secondary Examination (All India) and also some courses in Vocational Education. International schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Programme and/or the Cambridge International Examinations. Islamic Madrasah schools, whose boards are controlled by local state governments, or autonomous, or affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband. Autonomous schools like Woodstock School, The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education Puducherry, Auroville, Patha Bhavan and Ananda Marga Gurukula.

In addition, NUEPA (National University of Educational Planning and Administration) and NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) are responsible for the management of the education system and teacher accreditation

10+2+3 pattern
The central and most state boards uniformly follow the "10+2+3" pattern of education. In this pattern, or in colleges), and then 3 years of college education for bachelor's degree. The 10 years is further divided into 5 years of primary education and 3 years of upper primary, followed by 2 years of high school. This pattern originated from the recommendation the Education Commission of 1964 66

Primary education system in India

The Indian government lays emphasis on primary education up to the age of fourteen years, referred to as elementary education in India. The Indian government has also banned child labour in order to ensure that the children do not enter unsafe working conditions. However, both free education and the ban on child labour are difficult to enforce due to economic disparity and social conditions. 80% of all recognized schools at the elementary stage are government run or supported, making it the largest provider of education in the country. However, due to a shortage of resources and lack of political will, this system suffers from massive gaps including high pupil to teacher ratios, shortage of infrastructure and poor levels of teacher training. Figures released by the Indian government in 2011 show that there were 5,816,673 elementary school teachers in India. As of March 2012 there were 2,127,000 secondary school teachers in India. Education has also been made free for children for 6 to 14 years of age or up to class VIII under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. There have been several efforts to enhance quality made by the government. The District Education Revitalization Programme (DERP) was launched in 1994 with an aim to universalize primary education in India by reforming and vitalizing the existing primary education system.85% of the DERP was funded by the central government and the remaining 15 percent was funded by the states. The DERP, which had opened 160000 new schools including 84000 alternative education schools delivering alternative education to approximately 3.5 million children, was also supported by UNICEF and other international programmes.

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This primary education scheme has also shown a high Gross Enrolment Ratio of 9395% for the last three years in some states. Significant improvement in staffing and enrolment of girls has also been made as a part of this scheme. The current scheme for universalization of Education for All is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which is one of the largest education initiatives in the world. Enrolment has been enhanced, but the levels of quality remain low. Private education In India, due to the British influence, a public school implies a non-governmental, historically elite educational institution, often modelled on British public schools which are in certain cases governmental. There are privately owned and managed schools, many of whom have the appellation "Public" attached to them, e.g. the Delhi Public Schools, or Frank Anthony Public Schools. Most middle-class families send their children to such schools, which might be in their own city or distant boarding school such as Rajkumar College, Rajkot, the oldest public school in India. The medium of education is English, but Hindi and/or the state's official language is also taught as a compulsory subject. Preschool education is mostly limited to organised neighbourhood nursery schools with some organised chains. According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government school making the government the major provider of education. However, because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated. With more than 50% children enrolling in private schools in urban areas, the balance has already tilted towards private schooling in cities; even in rural areas, nearly 20% of the children in 2004-5 were enrolled in private schools. According to some research, private schools often provide superior results at a multiple of the unit cost of government schools. However, others have suggested that private schools fail to provide education to the poorest families, a selective being only a fifth of the schools and have in the past ignored Court orders for their regulation. In their favour, it has been pointed out that private schools cover the entire curriculum and offer extra-curricular activities such as science fairs, general knowledge, sports, music and drama. The pupil teacher ratios are much better in private schools (1:31 to 1:37 for government schools) and more teachers in private schools are female. There is some disagreement over which system has better educated teachers. According to the latest DISE survey, the percentage of untrained teachers (parateachers) is 54.91% in private, compared to 44.88% in government schools and only 2.32% teachers in unaided schools receive inservice training compared to 43.44% for government schools. The competition in the school market is intense, yet most schools make profit.[21] However, the number of private schools in India is still low - the share of private institutions is 7% (with upper primary being 21% and secondary 32% - source : fortress team research). Even the poorest often go to private schools despite the fact that government schools are free. A study found that 65% of schoolchildren in Hyderabad's slums attend private schools.

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Homeschooling Homeschooling is legal in India, though it is the less explored option. The Indian Government's stance on the issue is that parents are free to teach their children at home, if they wish to and have the means. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has stated that despite the RTE Act of 2009, if someone decides not to send his/her children to school, the government would not interfere. Secondary education Secondary class students The National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986, has provided for environment awareness, science and technology education, and introduction of traditional elements such as Yoga into the Indian secondary school system. Secondary education covers children 1418 which covers 88.5 million children according to the Census, 2001. A significant feature of India's secondary school system is the emphasis on inclusion of the disadvantaged sections of the society. Professionals from established institutes are often called to support in vocational training. Another feature of India's secondary school system is its emphasis on profession based vocational training to help students attain skills for finding a vocation of his/her choosing. A significant new feature has been the extension of SSA to secondary education in the form of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. A special Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC) programme was started in 1974 with a focus on primary education. But which was converted into Inclusive Education at Secondary Stage. Another notable special programme, the Kendriya Vidyalaya project, was started for the employees of the central government of India, who are distributed throughout the country. The government started the Kendriya Vidyalaya project in 1965 to provide uniform education in institutions following the same syllabus at the same pace regardless of the location to which the employee's family has been transferred. Higher education Our university system is, in many parts, in a state of disrepair...In almost half the districts in the country, higher education enrollments are abysmally low, almost two-third of our universities and 90 per cent of our colleges are rated as below average on quality parameters... I am concerned that in many states university appointments, including that of vice-chancellors, have been politicised and have become subject to caste and communal considerations, there are complaints of favouritism and corruption. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2007 The Auditorium at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata. Indian Institute of Management,Ahmedabad.
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VESIT, Engineering College under Mumbai University The social sciences and business management departments are housed at the Alipore campus,University of Calcutta in Kolkata After passing the Higher Secondary Examination (the grade 12 examination), students may enroll in general degree programmes such as bachelor's degreein arts, commerce or science, or professional degree programmes such as engineering, law or medicine. India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission (India), which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 12 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission. In India, education system is reformed. In the future, India will be one of the largest education hubs. As of 2012, India has 152 central universities, 316 state universities, and 191 private universities. Other institutions include 33,623 colleges, including 1,800 exclusive women's colleges, functioning under these universities and institutions, and 12748 Institutions offering Diploma Courses. The emphasis in the tertiary level of education lies on science and technology. Indian educational institutions by 2004 consisted of a large number of technology institutes. Distance learning is also a feature of the Indian higher education system. The Government has launched Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan to provide strategic funding to State higher and technical institutions. A total of 316 state public universities and 13,024 colleges will be covered under it. Some institutions of India, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), have been globally acclaimed for their standard of undergraduate education in engineering. The IITs enroll about 10,000 students annually and the alumni have contributed to both the growth of the private sector and the public sectors of India However the IIT's have not had significant impact on fundamental scientific research and innovation. Several other institutes of fundamental research such as the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Harishchandra Research Institute (HRI), are acclaimed for their standard of research in basic sciences and mathematics. However, India has failed to produce world class universities both in the private sector or the public sector. Besides top rated universities which provide highly competitive world class education to their pupils, India is also home to many universities which have been founded with the sole objective of making easy money. Regulatory authorities like UGC and AICTE have been trying very hard to extirpate the menace of private universities which are running courses without any affiliation or recognition. Indian Government has failed to check on these education shops, which are run by big businessmen & politicians. Many private colleges and universities do not fulfill the required criterion by the Government and central bodies (UGC, AICTE, MCI, BCI etc.) and take students for a ride. For example, many institutions in India
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continue to run unaccredited courses as there is no legislation strong enough to ensure legal action against them. Quality assurance mechanism has failed to stop misrepresentations and malpractices in higher education. At the same time regulatory bodies have been accused of corruption, specifically in the case of deemed-universities. In this context of lack of solid quality assurance mechanism, institutions need to step-up and set higher standards of selfregulation. The Government of India is aware of the plight of higher education sector and has been trying to bring reforms, however, 15 bills are still awaiting discussion and approval in the Parliament. One of the most talked about bill is Foreign Universities Bill, which is supposed to facilitate entry of foreign universities to establish campuses in India. The bill is still under discussion and even if it gets passed, its feasibility and effectiveness is questionable as it misses the context, diversity and segment of international foreign institutions interested in India. One of the approaches to make internationalization of Indian higher education effective is to develop a coherent and comprehensive policy which aims at infusing excellence, bringing institutional diversity and aids in capacity building. Three Indian universities were listed in the Times Higher Education list of the worlds top 200 universities Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, and Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2005 and 2006. Six Indian Institutes of Technology and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani were listed among the top 20 science and technology schools in Asia by Asiaweek. The Indian School of Business situated in Hyderabad was ranked number 12 in global MBA rankings by the Financial Times of London in 2010 while the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been recognized as a global leader in medical research and treatment. Technical education Institute Main Building, IIT Kharagpur The number of graduates coming out of technical colleges increased to over 700,000 in 2011 from 550,000 in FY 2010. However, according to one study, 75% of technical graduates and more than 85% of general graduates are unemployable by India's most demanding and highgrowth global industries, including information technology. Nevertheless, that still means that India offers the largest pool of technically skilled graduates in the world. From the first Ist Five year Plan onwards India's emphasis was to develop a pool of scientifically inclined manpower. India's National Policy on Education (NPE) provisioned for an apex body for regulation and development of higher technical education, which came into being as the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in 1987 through an act of the Indian parliament. At the federal level, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, the National Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology are deemed of national importance.
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The Indian Institutes of Technology are among the nation's premier education facilities. Since 2002, Several Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) have been converted into National Institutes of Technology giving them Institutes of National Importance status. The Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology : The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG), Government of India set up the institute at Jais, Rae Bareli district, Uttar Pradesh through an Act of Parliament. RGIPT has been accorded "Institute of National Importance" along the lines of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and National Institute Of Technology(NIT). With the status of a Deemed University, the institute awards degrees in its own right. The UGC has inter-university centres at a number of locations throughout India to promote common research, e.g. the Nuclear Science Centre at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Besides there are some British established colleges such as Harcourt Butler Technological Institute situated in Kanpur and King George Medical University situated in Lucknow which are important centre of higher education. Central Universities such as Banaras Hindu University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi University, Mumbai University, University of Calcutta, etc. too are pioneers of technical education in the country. In addition to above institutes, efforts towards the enhancement of technical education are supplemented by a number of recognized Professional Engineering Societies such as 1. Institution of Mechanical Engineers (India) 2. Institution of Engineers (India) 3. Institution of Chemical Engineering (India) 4. Institution of Electronics and Tele-Communication Engineers (India) 5. Indian Institute of Metals 6. Institution of Industrial Engineers (India) 7. Institute of Town Planners (India) 8. Indian Institute of Architects 9. Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani that conduct Engineering/Technical Examinations at different levels(Degree and diploma) for working professionals desirous of improving their technical qualifications. In addition to recognized institutes for technical education there are many private technical institutes such as 1. NIIT 2. The Tourism School
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Open and distance learning At school level, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) provides opportunities for continuing education to those who missed completing school education. 14 lakh students are enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary level through open and distance learning. In 2012 Various state government also introduce "STATE OPEN SCHOOL" to provide distance education. At higher education level, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) co-ordinates distance learning. It has a cumulative enrolment of about 15 lakhs, serviced through 53 regional centres and 1,400 study centres with 25,000 counsellors. The Distance Education Council (DEC), an authority of IGNOU is co-coordinating 13 State Open Universities and 119 institutions of correspondence courses in conventional universities. While distance education institutions have expanded at a very rapid rate, but most of these institutions need an up gradation in their standards and performance. There is a large proliferation of courses covered by distance mode without adequate infrastructure, both human and physical. There is a strong need to correct these imbalances. Arjun Singh Centre for Distance and Open Learning, Jamia Millia Islamia University was established with the assistance of Distance Education Council in September 2002. Major objectives of the Centre are to provide opportunities for higher education to those who are not able to draw benefits from formal system of education. The Open Learning System allows a learner to determine his pace of learning and provides education at the doorstep of the learner. The mode of transaction is through self-learning print material, supplemented by audio and video programmes. It has further scope of students accessing material through internet and various other media. Literacy According to the Census of 2011, "every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write in any language is said to be literate". According to this criterion, the 2011 survey holds the National Literacy Rate to be around 74.07%. Government statistics of 2001 also hold that the rate of increase in literacy is more in rural areas than in urban areas. Female literacy was at a national average of 65% whereas the male literacy was 82%. Within the Indian states, Kerala has shown the highest literacy rates of 93% whereas Bihar averaged 63.8% literacy. The 2001 statistics also indicated that the total number of 'absolute non-literates' in the country was 304 million. Attainment School children in Tamil Nadu The Economist reports that half of 10-year-old rural children could not read at a basic level, over 60% were unable to do division, and half dropped out by the age 14.
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An optimistic estimate is that only one in five job-seekers in India have ever had any sort of vocational training. However, this figure is likely to be much higher in 2013. Higher education As per Report of the Higher education in India, Issues Related to Expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance, the access to higher education measured in term of gross enrollment ratio increased from 0.7% in 1950/51 to 1.4% in 196061. By 2006/7 the GER increased to about 11 percent. Notably, by 2012, it had crossed 20% (as mentioned in an earlier section). Women's education Girls in Kalleda Rural School, Andhra Pradesh. Women have a much lower literacy rate than men. Far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop out. In the patriarchal setting of the Indian family, girls have lower status and fewer privileges than boy children. Conservative cultural attitudes prevent some girls from attending school. The number of literate women among the female population of India was between 26% from the British Raj onwards to the formation of the Republic of India in 1947. Concerted efforts led to improvement from 15.3% in 1961 to 28.5% in 1981. By 2001 literacy for women had exceeded 50% of the overall female population, though these statistics were still very low compared to world standards and even male literacy within India. Recently the Indian government has launched Saakshar Bharat Mission for Female Literacy. This mission aims to bring down female illiteracy by half of its present level. Sita Anantha Raman outlines the progress of women's education in India: Since 1947 the Indian government has tried to provide incentives for girls school attendance through programmes for midday meals, free books, and uniforms. This welfare thrust raised primary enrollment between 1951 and 1981. In 1986 the National Policy on Education decided to restructure education in tune with the social framework of each state, and with larger national goals. It emphasized that education was necessary for democracy, and central to the improvement of womens condition. The new policy aimed at social change through revised texts, curricula, increased funding for schools, expansion in the numbers of schools, and policy improvements. Emphasis was placed on expanding girls occupational centres and primary education; secondary and higher education; and rural and urban institutions. The report tried to connect problems like low school attendance with poverty, and the dependence on girls for housework and sibling day care. The National Literacy Mission also worked through female tutors in villages. Although the minimum marriage age is now eighteen for girls, many continue to be married much earlier. Therefore, at the secondary level, female dropout rates are high.

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Sita Anantha Raman also maintains that while the educated Indian women workforce maintains professionalism, the men outnumber them in most fields and, in some cases, receive higher income for the same positions. The education of women in India plays a significant role in improving livings standards in the country. A higher women literacy rate improves the quality of life both at home and outside of home, by encouraging and promoting education of children, especially female children, and in reducing the infant mortality rate. Several studies have shown that a lower level of women literacy rates results in higher levels of fertility and infant mortality, poorer nutrition, lower earning potential and the lack of an ability to make decisions within a household. Womens lower educational levels is also shown to adversely affect the health and living conditions of children. A survey that was conducted in India showed results which support the fact that infant mortality rate was inversely related to female literacy rate and educational level. The survey also suggests a correlation between education and economic growth. In India, it was found that there is a large disparity between female literacy rates in different states. For example, while Kerala actually has a female literacy rate of about 86 percent, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have female literacy rates around 55-60 percent. These values are further correlated with health levels of the Indians, where it was found that Kerala was the state with the lowest infant mortality rate while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the states with the lowest life expectancies in India. Furthermore, the disparity of female literacy rates across rural and urban areas is also significant in India. Out of the 24 states in India, 6 of them have female literacy rates of below 60 percent. The rural state Rajasthan has a female literacy rate of less than 12 percent. In India, higher education is defined as the education of an age group between 18 and 24, and is largely funded by the government. Despite women making up 24-50% of higher education enrollment, there is still a gender imbalance within higher education. Only one third of science students and 7% of engineering students, are women. In comparison however, over half the students studying education are women. Rural education A primary school in a village in Rohith's Backyard. Following independence, India viewed education as an effective tool for bringing social change through community development. The administrative control was effectively initiated in the 1950s, when, in 1952, the government grouped villages under a Community Development Blockan authority under national programme which could control education in up to 100 villages.] A Block Development Officer oversaw a geographical area of 150 square miles (390 km2) which could contain a population of as many as 70000 people.

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Setty and Ross elaborate on the role of such programmes, themselves divided further into individual-based, community based, or the Individual-cum-community-based, in which microscopic levels of development are overseen at village level by an appointed worker: The community development programmes comprise agriculture, animal husbandry, cooperation, rural industries, rural engineering (consisting of minor irrigation, roads, buildings), health and sanitation including family welfare, family planning, women welfare, child care and nutrition, education including adult education, social education and literacy, youth welfare and community organisation. In each of these areas of development there are several programmes, schemes and activities which are additive, expanding and tapering off covering the total community, some segments, or specific target populations such as small and marginal farmers, artisans, women and in general people below the poverty line.

Despite some setbacks the rural education programmes continued throughout the 1950s, with support from private institutions. A sizable network of rural education had been established by the time the Gandhigram Rural Institute was established and 5, 200 Community Development Blocks were established in India. Nursery schools, elementary schools, secondary school, and schools for adult education for women were set up. The government continued to view rural education as an agenda that could be relatively free from bureaucratic backlog and general stagnation. However, in some cases lack of financing balanced the gains made by rural education institutes of India. Some ideas failed to find acceptability among India's poor and investments made by the government sometimes yielded little results. Today, government rural schools remain poorly funded and understaffed. Several foundations, such as the Rural Development Foundation (Hyderabad), actively build high-quality rural schools, but the number of students served is small. Education in rural India is valued differently than in an urban setting, with lower rates of completion. A gender gap exists within the schools; eighteen percent of males earn a high school diploma compared with only ten percent of females. The estimated number of children who have never attended school in India is near 100 million which reflects the low completion levels. Vocational education The government of India is taking many positive steps to turn the education vocational and job oriented. Recently the duration of Graduation in Delhi University has been turned of 4 years from 3 years. Moreover government is taking lots of steps to promote small vocational institutes which provides job oriented courses like aviation related or travel & tourism related courses to name few examples.

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Issues Workforce quality, funding and infrastructure Indian School-Girls One study found out that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers were absent during the survey. Among teachers who were paid to teach, absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 30% in Bihar. Only 1 in nearly 3000 public school head teachers had ever dismissed a teacher for repeated absence. A study on teachers by Kremer etc. found that 'only about half were teaching, during unannounced visits to a nationally representative sample of government primary schools in India. A study of 188 government-run primary schools found that 59% of the schools had no drinking water and 89% had no toilets. 200304 data by National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration revealed that only 3.5% of primary schools in Bihar and Chhattisgarh had toilets for girls. InMadhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, rates were 1216%. In fact, the number of secondary schools is almost half the number of upper primary schools available in the country. Curriculum issues Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning rather than problem solving. New Indian Express says that Indian Education system seems to be producing zombies since in most of the schools students seemed to be spending majority of their time in preparing for competitive exams rather than learning or playing. Business Week criticizes the Indian curriculum, saying it revolves around rote learning and Express India suggests that students are focused on cramming. Preschool for Child Rights states that almost 99% of preschools do not have any curriculum at all. Participation At the lower secondary level (grades 9 and 10), enrolment rate is 52%, while at the senior secondary level (grades 11 and 12), it is 28%. While the enrollment rate in pre-school is merely 18%, there is a 48% drop-out rate in elementary education. Controversy In January 2010, the Government of India decided to withdraw Deemed university status from as many as 44 institutions. The Government claimed in its affidavit that academic considerations were not being kept in mind by the management of these institutions and that "they were being run as family fiefdoms". The University Grant Commission found 39 fake institutions operating in India.
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Only 10% of manufacturers in India offer in-service training to their employees, compared with over 90% in China. Initiatives Non-formal education centre in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Educational programme by Seva Mandir, an NGO working for the development of the rural and tribal population in Udaipur and Rajsamand districts of southern Rajasthan The madrasah of Jamia Masjid mosque in Srirangapatna. Elementary School in Chittoor. This school is part of the 'Paathshaala' project. The school currently educates 70 students. Following India's independence a number of rules were formulated for the backward Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes of India, and in 1960 a list identifying 405 Scheduled Castes and 225 Scheduled Tribes was published by the central government. An amendment was made to the list in 1975, which identified 841 Scheduled Castes and 510 Scheduled Tribes. The total percentage of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes combined was found to be 22.5 percent with the Scheduled Castes accounting for 17 percent and the Scheduled Tribes accounting for the remaining 7.5 percent. Following the report many Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes increasingly referred to themselves as Dalit, a Marathi languageterminology used by B. R. Ambedkar which literally means "oppressed". The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are provided for in many of India's educational programmes. Special reservations are also provided for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India, e.g. a reservation of 15% in Kendriya Vidyalaya for Scheduled Castes and another reservation of 7.5% in Kendriya Vidyalaya for Scheduled Tribes. Similar reservations are held by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in many schemes and educational facilities in India. The remote and far-flung regions of North East India are provided for under the Non Lapsible Central pool of Resources (NLCPR) since 1998 1999. The NLCPR aims to provide funds for infrastructure development in these remote areas. Women from remote, underdeveloped areas or from weaker social groups in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat,Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, fall under the Mahila Samakhya Scheme, initiated in 1989. Apart from provisions for education this programme also aims to raise awareness by holding meetings and seminars at rural levels. The government allowed 340 million (US$5.4 million) during 200708 to carry out this scheme over 83 districts including more than 21, 000 villages. Currently there are 68 Bal Bhavans and 10 Bal Kendra affiliated to the National Bal Bhavan. The scheme involves educational and social activities and recognising children with a marked talent for a particular educational stream. A number of programmes and activities are held under this scheme, which also involves cultural exchanges and participation in several international forums.
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India's minorities, especially the ones considered 'educationally backward' by the government, are provided for in the 1992 amendment of the Indian National Policy on Education (NPE). The government initiated the Scheme of Area Intensive Programme for Educationally Backward Minorities and Scheme of Financial Assistance or Modernisation of Madarsa Education as part of its revised Programme of Action (1992). Both these schemes were started nationwide by 1994. In 2004 the Indian parliament passed an act which enabled minority education establishments to seek university affiliations if they passed the required norms. Surprisingly, in the field of Sindhi language, (an 8th schedule language, which is prevalently spoken by the Sindhis of India who have no state of their own) government has not made any significant contribution. Sindhis are linguistic minority and most of the states have no Sindhi schools or schools with Sindhi language as an optional paper. Sindhis with around ten million populations have less than 100 teachers in this language. Sindhi, basically draws its origin from Indus Valley civilsation. While the language has Indo-aryan origin, it is prevalently spoken in Pakistan and patronized by the Pakistan Government. Most of the Sindhi associations fear that due to apathy of Indian Government, Sindhi language and culture will only be a story for the future generations. Rajesh Thadani, President of Bihar Sindhi Association, which was constituted by the first Governor of Bihar, Jairamdas Doulatram, has started awareness compaign in this direction. This compaign has gathered momentum and it has started recognition worldwide. Creative learning Central government involvement See also: List of Central Institutes in India and Central University, India Budget As a part of the tenth Five year Plan (20022007), the central government of India outlined an expenditure of 65.6% of its total education budget of 438.25 billion (US$7.0 billion) i.e. 287.5 billion (US$4.6 billion) on elementary education; 9.9% i.e. 43.25 billion (US$690 million) on secondary education; 2.9% i.e. 12.5 billion (US$200 million) on adult education; 9.5% i.e. 41.765 billion (US$670 million) on higher education; 10.7% i.e. 47 billion (US$750 million) on technical education; and the remaining 1.4% i.e. 6.235 billion (US$100 million) on miscellaneous education schemes. See also: Education in India Five Year Plan Expenditure Public expenditure on education in India During the Financial Year 2011-12, the Central Government of India has allocated Rs 38,957 crores for the Department of School Education and Literacy which is the main department dealing with primary education in India. Within this allocation, major share of Rs 21,000 crores, is for the flagship programme 'Sarva Siksha Abhiyan'. However, budgetary allocation of Rs 21,000 crores is considered very low in view of the officially appointed Anil Bordia
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Committee recommendation of Rs 35,659 for the year 2011-12. This higher allocation was required to implement the recent legislation 'Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty. (d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 614 years. (e) To universalize education through its flagship programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Meal. However, even after five years of implementation of NCMP, not much progress has been seen on this front. Although the country targeted towards devoting 6% share of the GDP towards the educational sector, the performance has definitely fallen short of expectations. Expenditure on education has steadily risen from 0.64% of GDP in 1951-52 to 2.31% in 1970-71 and thereafter reached the peak of 4.26% in 2000-01. However, it declined to 3.49% in 2004-05. There is a definite need to step up again. As a proportion of total government expenditure, it has declined from around 11.1 per cent in 20002001 to around 9.98 per cent during UPA rule, even though ideally it should be around 20% of the total budget. A policy brief issued by [Network for Social Accountability (NSA)] titled "[NSA Response to Education Sector Interventions in Union Budget: UPA Rule and the Education Sector] " provides significant revelation to this fact. Due to a declining priority of education in the public policy paradigm in India, there has been an exponential growth in the private expenditure on education also. [As per the available information, the private out of pocket expenditure by the working class population for the education of their children in India has increased by around 1150 percent or around 12.5 times over the last decade]. Legislative framework Article 45, of the Constitution of India originally stated:

The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years. This article was a directive principle of state policy within India, effectively meaning that it was within a set of rules that were meant to be followed in spirit and the government could not be held to court if the actual letter was not followed. However, the enforcement of this directive principle became a matter of debate since this principle held obvious emotive and

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practical value, and was legally the only directive principle within the Indian constitution to have a time limit. Following initiatives by the Supreme Court of India during the 1990s the Ninety-third amendment bill suggested three separate amendments to the Indian constitution:

The constitution of India was amended to include a new article, 21A, which read:

The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in a such manner as the State may, by law, determine.

Article 45 was proposed to be substituted by the article which read:

Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years: The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of sixteen years.

Another article, 51A, was to additionally have the clause:

...a parent or guardian [shall] provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, [a] ward between the age of six to fourteen years. The bill was passed unanimously in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, on 28 November 2001. It was later passed by the upper housethe Rajya Sabhaon 14 May 2002. After being signed by the President of India the Indian constitution was amended formally for the eighty sixth time and the bill came into effect. Since then those between the age of 614 have a fundamental right to education. Article 46 of the Constitution of India holds that: The State shall promote, with special care, the education and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of social exploitation'.[61] Other provisions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes can be found in Articles 330, 332, 335, 338342. Both the 5th and the 6th Schedules of the Constitution also make special provisions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

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EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS & UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA

India is a home for Education. There are over 620 Universities and 45,000 Colleges of various types in the country. Most of these educational institutions need recognition by a competent body / regulatory authority that are supported by the Government of India, State Governments or by Societies. Comprehensive list of Indian Universities. It includes State Universities, Central Universities, and Deemed-to-be-University institutions that are recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). According to the UGC, there are 620 Universities in India (as of February 11, 2013) of which State Universities are 298, Deemed to be Universities are 130, Central Universities are 44 and Private Universities are 148.

UNDERSTANDING THE INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

India today is the second largest higher education network in the world. Universities in India are set up by the Central or State Governments by means of legislation, while colleges are established by either the State Governments or private bodies / trusts. All colleges are affiliated to some university.

The different types of universities are:

Central or State Universities -- while the former are funded directly by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the latter are set up and funded by the various state governments.

Deemed Universities -- which enjoy the same academic status and privileges as a university. Examples are the Deccan College of Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune; Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore; etc.

Institutions of National Importance -- are university-level institutions that are established or designated by Acts of Parliament and funded by the Central Government. These include the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, etc.

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Most universities are 'affiliating universities', which prescribe to the affiliated colleges the admission criteria and courses of study, hold examinations and award degrees. University departments impart postgraduate education and conduct and promote research in a variety of disciplines. Undergraduate and, to some extent, postgraduate instruction is imparted by the colleges affiliated to a particular university. Classification of Colleges Colleges in India come under four different categories. This categorization is done on the basis of the kind of courses offered by them (professional/ vocational) / their ownership status( Private/ Government) or their relationship with the university (affiliated/university owned). University Colleges These colleges are managed by the university itself and situated mostly in the university campus. Government Colleges The government colleges are few, only about 15-20 percent of the total. They are managed by state governments. As in case of other colleges, the university to which these colleges are affiliated, conducts their examination, lays down the courses of studies and awards the degrees. Professional Colleges The professional colleges are mostly in the disciplines of medicine, engineering and management. There are few for other disciplines too. They are sponsored and managed either by the government or by private initiative. Privately Managed colleges About 70% of the colleges are founded by the privately owned trusts or societies. But these institutes are also governed by the rules and regulations of the university they are affiliated to. Though initially started up as a private initiative, the state government also funds these colleges.

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Courses offered at Higher Education Level Indian Universities offer various courses in the following disciplines. Engineering and Technology Computer Sciences, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Bio-informatics. Medical, Dental, Nursing, Pharmacy and Paramedical. Agriculture / Veterinary Sciences, Dairy Technology and Fisheries. Arts & Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Commerce, Science and Management. Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Travel and Tourism.
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Fashion Design & Technology. The academic programmes are offered at Vocational Diploma, Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral levels. Distance Education In India, there are 66 distance education institutions functioning in 60 universities besides, 11 open universities offering distance education programmes. India Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi is one of the mega open universities in the world and caters to around 1 million students around the world. Vocational Education Vocational Education at Certificate level are offered by 1500 vocational institutions in the country in the areas of agriculture, business, commerce, health and para-medical, home science and humanities in addition to engineering trades.

Courses and Degrees Undergraduate Courses:Undergraduate courses, in general, are of three years leading to Bachelor degrees. The universities and higher education institutes award Bachelor's degree in Arts, Science, Commerce, etc. However, undergraduate courses leading to a first degree in professional subjects like Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy are of a longer duration ranging from four to five and a half years. Most of the engineering courses are for a duration of four years, while the medical courses are for a duration of about five and a half years. Postgraduate Courses:Postgraduate Courses in Arts, Science, Engineering and Medicine are usually for two years ending with the award of a Master's degree. In some specialized fields for instance, for a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree, the possession of a Bachelor's degree in any discipline is required before admission can be obtained. Some universities and higher institutes offer a diploma or a certificate course of shorter duration courses in disciplines like Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Computer Technology. However the duration of these courses varies from university to university. Doctoral Courses:Doctoral courses like M Phil and PhD are available only at the university colleges. These courses involve research work under a chosen/allotted guide, leading to thesis submission and viva-voce.

Successful completion of PhD course designates the title of 'Doctor' to the individual.
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Institutions of National Importance

An Institute of National Importance, in India is defined as one which serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country/state. Only a chosen few institutes make it to this coveted list and are usually supported by the Government of India or even any other international institutes to develop centers of excellence in research, academics, and other such elite schools of education. In India, all of the IITs, NITs, AIIMS, NIPERs, ISI and some other institutes as Institutes of National Importance. It is also proposed to add to the list IIMs, IISERs, IIESTs and the new AIIMS under PMSSY scheme of GOI once they are empowered by the Government of India by enacting an act in the Parliament. The admission to these institutes is through highly competitive examinations like the IIT-JEE/JMET/AIEEE/NIMCET etc.

Private sector key to growth of Indian higher education

This report highlights the key role private sector has played in Indian higher education and also recommends steps that the government can take to further encourage the participation of good quality private players in strengthening Indian higher education. The role of the private sector in Indian higher education has increased significantly over the last decade, with majority students currently enrolled in private institutions. This role will only increase considering the substantial investments required in the sector.

The Indian higher education system has emerged as one of the largest in the world, with 14.6 million students enrolled in more than 31,000 institutions. Over the past decade, the number of universities in the country has increased at a CAGR of 7.5% (from 272 to 556) while the number of colleges has grown at a CAGR of 11% (from 11,146 to 31,324).

However, Indian higher education continues to suffer from three fundamental challenges: access, equity and quality. We explore them briefly: Access: While Indias higher education system is the worlds third largest in terms of enrollment, next only to China and the USA, its GER-currently at 13.8%-significantly lags the world average at 26%. Equity: There is wide disparity in GERs across states, urban and rural areas, gender, and communities:

Inter-state disparity: 31.9% in Delhi vs. 8.3% in Assam Urban-rural divide: 23.8% in urban areas vs. 7.5% in rural areas
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Gender disparity: 10.6% for female vs.14.4% for male Differences across communities: 6.6% for SCs, 6.5% for STs, 8.7% for OBCs, and 17.2% for others

Quality:

Faculty shortage: 45% of the positions for professors, 51% positions for readers, and 53% positions for lecturers were vacant in Indian universities in 2007-08. Deficient physical infrastructure: 48% of universities and 69% of colleges have infrastructure deficiencies. Poor academic standards: The system is plagued with outdated curricula and illequipped libraries (average 9 books per student vs. 53 in IIT Bombay). Unaccredited institutions: As of March 2011, only 161 universities and 4,371 colleges had been accredited by the NAAC.

The government has also shown its commitment to improve quality and transparency in the Indian higher education system by introducing various bills:

National Council for Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010 The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010 Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010 Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, 2010 The Educational Tribunal Bill, 2010

We suggest:

To encourage private players to set up high-quality institutions, the government could consider the following measures:

Simplifying regulations by reducing input-based constraints that stifle operational autonomy Introducing student-side financing to ensure a level-playing field between high quality public and private institutions Creating enabling legislations at the state level to encourage private players to set up universities in those states

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Expediting passage of the Innovation Universities Bill to encourage private players to invest significant amounts in setting up innovation universities which are independent of geographical constraints Allowing players to set up of for-profit institutions, while putting in place a regulatory framework to ensure quality and transparency

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CONCLUSION
Indias Education Sector: Moving toward a Digital Future
The typical Indian classroom was once characterized by students sitting through hour-long teacher monologues. Now, technology is making life easier for both students and educators. Schools are increasingly adopting digital teaching solutions to engage with a generation of pupils well-versed with the likes of PlayStations and iPads, and trying to make the classroom environment more inclusive and participatory.

Take Smartclass from Educomp Solutions, one of the first Indian companies in this space. Smartclass is essentially a digital content library of curriculum-mapped, multimedia-rich, 3D content. It also enables teachers to quickly assess how much of a particular lesson students have been able to assimilate during the class. Once a topic is covered, the teacher gives the class a set of questions on a large screen. Each student then answers via a personal answering device or the smart assessment system. The teacher gets the scores right away and based on that, she repeats parts of the lesson that the students dont appear to have grasped.

Technology makes the teaching-learning process very easy and interesting, says Harish Arora, a chemistry teacher at the Bal Bharti Public School in New Delhi who has been using Smartclass since 2004. For instance, [earlier] it would easily take me one full lecture to just draw an electromagnetic cell on the blackboard. Though I could explain the cell structure, there was no way I could have managed to show them how it really functions. This is where technology comes to our aid now I can show the students a 3D model of the cell and how it functions. Instead of wasting precious time drawing the diagram on the blackboard, I can invest it in building the conceptual clarity of my students.

According to Abhinav Dhar, director for K-12 at Educomp Solutions, more than 12,000 schools across 560 districts in India have adopted Smartclass. More importantly, the number is growing at almost 20 schools a day. On average, in each of these schools eight classrooms are using Smartclass.

When we launched Smartclass in 2004 as the first-ever digital classroom program, it was an uphill task convincing schools to adopt it, Dhar notes. These schools had not witnessed any change in a century. It is a completely different scenario now. Private schools across India today see [technology] as an imperative. A digital classroom is set to become the bare-minimum teaching accessory in schools, just like a blackboard is today.

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Dhar recalls that one major roadblock for Educomps proposition in the early days was on the price front. At US$4,000 (at the exchange rate of Rs. 50 to a U.S. dollar) per classroom, schools found the product very expensive. To get over this hurdle, Educomp quickly decided to make the initial investment and gave the schools an option to pay over a period of three to five years. The strategy worked. Enthused by the market response, in January Educomp launched an upgraded version the Smartclass Class Transformation System with more features, including simulations, mind maps, worksheets, web links, a diagram maker, graphic organizers and assessment tools.

Huge Potential According to the Indian Education Sector Outlook Insights on Schooling Segment, a report released by New Delhibased research and consultancy firm Technopak Advisors in May, the total number of schools in India stands at 1.3 million. Of these, private schools account for 20%. Educomps Dhar points out that only around 10% of the private schools have tapped the potential of multimedia classroom teaching whereas in government schools, it has barely made any inroads.

The current market size for digitized school products in private schools is around US$500 million, says Enayet Kabir, associate director for education at Technopak. This is expected to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 20% to reach the over US$2 billion mark by 2020. However, the market potential then might get as big as US$4 billion [i.e. if the total population of private schools that could adopt multimedia actually adopt it.] Apart from this, the current market size for ICT [information and communications technology] in government schools is US$750 million. We expect this to grow five times by 2020 due to the current low level of penetration in government schools.

Kabir lists Educomp Solutions, Everonn Education, NIIT, Core Education & Technologies, IL&FS and Compucom as dominant players in this sector. New entrants include HCL Infosystems, Learn Next, Tata Interactive Systems, Mexus Education, S. Chand Harcourt (India) and iDiscoveri Education. Except for S. Chand Harcourt, which is a joint venture between S. Chand and US-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, all the others are Indian firms.

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A recent trend is that schools in tier two and tier three cities are increasingly adopting the latest technology. Rajesh Shethia, head of sales and marketing at Tata Interactive Systems, which launched Tata ClassEdge in early 2011 and has partnered up with more than 900 schools, says that more than half of the demand for digital classrooms is from tier two and tier three cities. According to Shethia, schools in these smaller cities realize that it is difficult for their students to get as much exposure as students from tier one cities. [So] they proactively subscribe to solutions such as ours, which richly

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benefit both teachers and students by simplifying the syllabus. Even parents want the best for their wards and are not averse to paying a little extra. They see value in these initiatives by schools to modernize the way teaching is imparted today. Making some back-of-the-envelope calculations Shethia adds: If we consider the top 100,000 private schools in India as the captive market, the potential is approximately two million classrooms of which currently just about 80,000 have been digitized.

Srikanth B. Iyer, COO of Pearson Education Services, also sees tremendous potential in the smaller cities. Pearson provides end-to-end education solutions in the K-12 segment. Its multimedia tool, DigitALly, has been adopted in more than 3,000 private schools across India since 2004. DigitALly installations have been growing at three times the market for the past two years, Iyer says. Currently, more than 60% of our customers are from tier two and tier three towns, such as Barpeta (in the state of Assam), Sohagpur (in Madhya Pradesh) and Balia (in Uttar Pradesh).

In order to make its offering attractive to the schools, Pearson has devised a monthly payment model under which a school pays around US$2 per student per month. As the price point is affordable, schools across all locations and fee structures find it viable to opt for ou r solution, Iyer notes. We focus on tier two and tier three towns and cities where penetration is relatively low and desire for adoption of technology is high. HCLs Digischool program, which launched about 18 months ago, has also made a strong beginning, with a client base of more than 2,500 schools.

Partnering with State Governments Meanwhile, state governments are also giving a boost to the adoption of technology in schools. Edureach, a divison of Educomp, has partnered with 16 state governments and more than 30 education departments and boards in the country, covering over 36,000 government schools and reaching out to more than 10.60 million students. Edureach leads the market with 27% of the total schools where ICT projects have been implemented, says Soumya Kanti, president of Edureach. We are looking [to add] 3,000 more schools this fiscal year and 20,000 to 25,000 additional schools in the next five years. As of now, Edureach has created digital learning content in more than 14 regional languages for these projects.

In the northern state of Haryana, CORE Education and Technologies is implementing a US$59 million ICT project that aims to benefit 5 million students across 2,622 schools. Five of these schools will be developed as Smart schools. CORE is also implementing ICT projects in the states of Gujarat, Meghalaya, Punjab, Maharashtra and Nagaland. The scope of work in these projects ranges from implementation of computer-aided learning in schools, installing bio-metric devices to monitor

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attendance of teachers, and setting up computer hardware, software and other allied accessories and equipments.

The task has not been an easy one, admits Anshul Sonak, president of CORE. There are several logistical issues. Delivery of equipment to rural ar eas is a big challenge in itself. There is lack of basic infrastructure either there are no classrooms or there are ones with no windows. Some schools dont even have toilets. Moreover, the power availability in these areas is often poor and we have ha d to deploy generator sets in many schools.

But despite the challenges, educationists are optimistic. Rahul De, professor of quantitative methods and information systems area at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIM-B) believes that ICT can have a huge impact on our education system. He points out that ICT can result in increasing the reach [of education] and in keeping the costs low. With increasing penetration of mobile phones and Internet kiosks, the potential is indeed immense, he adds.

A study conducted by De in 2009 on the economic impact of free and open source software (FOSS) in India found that it resulted in significant cost savings. FOSS can play a huge role in education, De notes. In the state of Kerala, it has already had a huge impact in both saving costs and providing state-of-the-art access computing to students in government schools. FOSS has a huge number of packages for school students, many of which can be ported to local languages and used in schools. It is also helping disabled students in a big way, by enabling them to access digital resources using audiovisual aids.

Edureachs Kanti adds that a study by the Centre for Multi -Disciplinary Development Research in Dharwad in Karnataka in 2006 revealed significant improvement in student enrolment and attendance, as well as a reduction of student dropouts due to ICT interventions. Yet another study conducted by the Xavier Institute of Management in Bhubaneswar in 2007 revealed that computeraided education has improved the performance of children in subjects such as English, mathematics and science, which are taught through computers using multimedia-based educational content.

All in a Tab In line with this increasing interest in technology for school education, there has been a rush of education-focused tablet computers in the market. The most high-profile of these has been Aakash, which was launched by Kapil Sibal, union minister for human resource development, in October 2011. The Aakash project is part of the ministrys National Mission on Education through Information & Communication Technology (NME-ICT). It aims to eliminate digital illiteracy by distributing the

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Aakash tablets to students across India at subsidized rates. While the project itself has become mired in delays and controversy, it has generated a lot of awareness and interest among students around the educational tablet.

Meanwhile, DataWind, the Canada-based firm that partnered with the union government for the Aakash project, has also launched UbiSlate7, the commercial version of Aakash. The opportunity for low-cost tablets in India is huge. In the next two years, it will exceed the size of the computer market in India i.e. 10 million units per year, says Suneet Singh Tuli, president and CEO of DataWind.

In April, technology firm HCL Infosystems launched the MyEdu Tab, which is priced at around US$230 for the K-12 version. The device comes preloaded with educational applications and also books from the National Council of Educational Research and Training, a government organization. Anand Ekambaram, senior vice-president and head of learning at HCL Infosystems, is in the process of partnering with more than 30 educational institutes across India for MyEd u Tab. MyEdu Tab has content offline and can be accessed over the cloud. It allows students to learn at their own pace, Ekambaram notes. With a topic revision application and a self -assessment engine, students can evaluate their skills and knowledge on their own. Teachers can upload content, which can be accessed by students and parents for tasks such as homework and progress reports on their respective devices. The parent can monitor the progress of his or her child through the cloud-based ecosystem.

Earlier this year, Micromax, a leading Indian handset manufacturer, also launched an edutainment device called Funbook. Micromax has also partnered with Pearson and Everonn to make available relevant content for students. Susha John, director and CEO at Everonn, was upbeat at the launch. Digital learning facilitated through tablets will revolutionize the educational space, John said. Everonn has invested in developing content and services targeted toward tablet audiences. To start with, we will offer our school curriculum-learning modules and at home live tuition products on the Funbook. Students can now have access to good teachers, educational content and a great learning experience anytime, anywhere.

At Pearson, Max Gabriel, senior vice-president and chief technology officer, is focusing on K -12 content in English to begin with. We are sitting on a huge repository of existing content. Adding the right level of interactivity and richer experience will be our priority. Meanwhile, Educomp is gearing up to launch content that is device agnostic and can be run on any tablet.

But even as schools in India are going through this transformation powered by technology, one key question is how big a role technology will play in the education sector. In an earlier interview with

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India Knowledge@Wharton, S. Sadagopan, founder-director at the International Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore, pointed out that there are four parts to learning lectures, library, laboratory and life noting that, Technology plays a critical role in all these. Kabir of Technopak adds another perspective. Despite numerous studies on the impact of ICT in education, the outcomes remain difficult to measure and open to much debate. It needs to be understood that technology is only an enabler and a force multiplier and cannot be treated as a panacea. We believe that impressive gains in teaching-learning outcomes are possible only through an integrated approach rather than a piecemeal intervention.

Don Huesman, managing director of Whartons innovation group, recommends caution in considering potential investments in educational technologies. These are very exciting times for online and distance education technologies, but there are risks facing parents, educators and policy makers in evaluating the opportunities these new technologies, and their proponents, represent.

Huesman points to the recent growth in high-quality, free, online educational courseware offered on websites like the Khan Academy and the Math Forum, as well as the work of the Open Learning Initiative in developing intelligent cognitive tutors and learning analytics. But such technologies, available from a global network of resources, only provide value when understood, chosen and integrated into a local educational community, he says. As an illustration, Huesman offers the example of cyber kiosks, provided in recent years by foundations at no cost to rural communities in India, exacerbating the gender divide in many traditional communities in which young women congregating at public cyber cafes, also frequented by young men, would be considered taboo. Interventions by governments and NGOs must be inclusive of local community concerns and aware of local political complications, Huesman notes.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Websites
1. Article- Education System in India Edcil( India) Ltd http://www.educationindia4u.nic.in/edu.asp

2. Articles from Wikipedia On Industry Characteristics of Industries, History of Industrial Revolution, Classification and various Sectors.

3. Article on Educational Institutions by All India Council for Technical Education. Institutions of National Importance.http://www.aicte-india.org/einp.htm

Magazines

Article - Indias Industrial Sector: Faltering Growth? By Author- Barry Bosworth 4. Lok Sabha Secretariat Parliament Library And Reference, Research, Documentation And Information Service (Larrdis) Members Reference Service Reference Note.-Current Economic Scenario. 5. Publication by ERNST & YOUNG Private sector participation in Indian higher education FICCI Higher Education Summit 2011. - Sources- UGC, UNESCO Global Education Digest.

Newspaper6. Education Times Article On Top Educational Institutions In India and The Growth of higher Education- Dated 18/01/2014 7. Economic Times Article Dated 15/01/2014 Emerging Industrial Sector in India

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