Evolution of Higher Education in India

The evolution of higher education in India can be traced to the ancient times where the the educational system is divided into two categories- Brahmanical and the Buddhist systems of education. The nature of higher education in India was mostly based on religion during the ancient era which played a crucial role in shaping the dynamics between both the educational systems. The background study tries to provide an insight to the ancient, mediaeval, colonial, post independence and the current trend in higher education system in India. Wherein it focuses on various teaching styles and how the same has progressed over the years. It has a special focus on the status of girl education in the society and how the same developed from the ancient to the current trend. Few studies suggest that during the ancient times, higher education was subservient to the requirements of priesthood and ritualistic religion and hence, considered to be very significant. Then the study further moves on to describing the Buddhist period where it considers higher education to be both religious and secular. It grew out of the teachings of the Buddha as classified as Vinaya (monolithic discipline), Sutta (group discourse) and Abhidhamma (works of doctrine). Taxila has been described one of the most famous learning centres during the Buddhist period. After the Buddhist period the it focuses on the Mediaeval time, where he states, the history of education in Mediaeval India reflects a part of the wider study of the history of society, social history broadly interpreted with politics, economics and religion. It suggested that Madrasa emerged as the important centre of education all through the mediaeval era. It offered various courses which included grammar, logic, rhetoric, theology, metaphysics, literature, jurisprudence and science. It seemed as attaining a huge goal where the intellectuals learned to live together. People were educated to ensure a measure of balance between the aspirations and actions of different social groups. Then comes the colonial era where it was largely based on ancient religious and philosophical literature of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. The Hindu college at Calcutta was established as a learning centre for higher education during this period. It confers two conflicting influences -influence of a semi–rationalist school concerned to foster secular training, and sympathetic with corresponding movements in England, and the missionaries for whom English Education was mainly important as a vehicle for religious teaching. Lastly, the background to the National Education Policy along with growth trend in enrolments and analysis of higher education enrolled since 1950s. It further concludes that the higher education in India has seen progress when it comes to gauging the developmental process of the Indian education system. It states that discrimination based on caste, class, gender, religion, region and language creates a hindrance towards the learning process hence, affecting levels of education. There is a need for stronger implementation of policies and programs of government which could provide better results and thus boosting higher education in India.