The system of education in modern India, on the one hand, is constantly improving in accordance with the latest innovations in education, and on the other hand, it is rooted deep in the tradition of guru-shishya, the transmission of knowledge from teacher to disciple.
In ancient Indian schools called gurukula, which were situated in monasteries or in the homes of guru-teachers, noble disciples learned the basics of Hinduism and philosophy, Ayurveda and astrology, learned by heart huge passages from Ramayana and Mahabharata, learned classical Sanskrit literature and the art of government, and also acquired skills of weaponry. The guru was believed to give his disciples a second birth and should therefore be honored as a father and a mother. At the end of the training, the disciples had to perform the guru-dakshina, a rite of gratitude to the guru, which could consist either of offering the guru valuable gifts or money or of obeying his will without question.
The system of universities developed in ancient India, among which we can distinguish the educational institutions in Taqshashila (according to some sources, in the 5th century B.C., now in Pakistan) and Nalanda University on the territory of modern Bihar (5th century A.D.).
India’s turbulent history has had an impact on educational traditions. Even today, as well as secular, public and private, fee-paying and free schools, there are many religious educational institutions that may be located at temples or separately, such as Hindu ashrams, Muslim madrasahs, Sikh gurudwaras, Christian boarding houses. Under British rule in India, the British system of education, both school and higher education, became widespread and was actively introduced in the 1830s by Lord Thomas Bebington Macaulay. The Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Rabindranath Tagore in 1913 enabled the great poet to turn the school he had founded for peasant children in Shantineketan into India’s first free university, which is still in operation today.
The education system in independent India consists of three main levels – primary (compulsory for all, covers children 6-14 years old), secondary (by compulsory examination divided into two levels, 2 and 2+, covers children 14-18 years old) and higher. The main objectives of the state authorities overseeing the education system are to universalize primary education, to make education accessible to all social strata regardless of gender, and to improve the quality of primary and secondary education. There is an opportunity to receive education in one of the state and regional languages, which also applies to education in a number of universities – most often those that do not operate at the federal level, but at the state level.
India ranks 3rd in the world after the United States and China in the number of universities and the prevalence of higher education. There are a number of world-renowned Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), Allahabad Institute of Agriculture (new name Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technologies and Sciences Allahabad, AAIDU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), etc.
In addition to full-time education, many Indian universities offer distance learning (both at the level of individual special courses, and at the level of a full higher education), including for foreign students. Distance programs also exist on the basis of several universities that have joined together specifically to prepare such programs (for example, joint distance programs under the brand name “Virtual University.
Studying at a university for Indians can be both paid and free, which may depend not only on the level of preparation (there are a number of free universities and places, students who received the highest scores in examinations can automatically receive scholarships for training), but sometimes on the origin of the student (developed a system of quotas for members of various social groups, regtons, tribes, etc.).
Indian universities have a long and well-deserved popularity among foreigners. Traditionally, many students from neighboring South Asian countries as well as from the African continent come to study in India. Students from all over the world traditionally come to India in a number of areas, in which India is a world leader (first of all, in information and innovative technologies). This is largely facilitated by a well-thought-out policy in the field of higher education – instruction in English, internationally recognized diplomas, and reasonable prices for tuition and living in the country.
