Education system | Essay education system in India.

The history of Indian education system dates back to the times of Ramayana and Mahabharata. The historic Indian education system is synonymous with the Gurukula system. There were gurus (teachers) and shishyas (students) who used to live together under one roof in Gurukula. The shishya was expected to help the guru in all the daily chores as a part of one's learning. The children were taught all the subjects from Sanskrit to holy scriptures and mathematics to metaphysics by the gurus. The Gurukula system focused on the practical aspects of life. The students were taught in the open classroom in the vicinity of nature. This system of education continued for years until the modern education system came into the picture.

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The modern education system was brought in our country by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the early 19th century. The foundation pillars of this education system were the examinations and a well defined curriculum which gave importance to subjects like science and mathematics and subjects such as philosophy, metaphysics were given a back seat. The open classrooms in the Gurukula were replaced by the brick and mortar classrooms. The essence of the guru shishya bond was lost to a more formal relation between the teacher and the student. Examinations were conducted at frequent intervals in order to check the learning and understanding of the student. The focus of education system shifted from learning to memorising of the concepts in order to score good marks in the examinations.

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Instead of understanding the concepts, students started cramming the things. Under the aegis of the modern education system, there were different boards set up in the country. The Uttar Pradesh Board of High Sechool and Intermediate Education was the first board to be set up in India. Later, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) were established. Besides the aforementioned national level boards, there are state boards in each state. The schools which are affiliated to these boards need to follow the guidelines of the respective boards. Also, there is National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) which is a board for distance education and falls under the Union Government of India.

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It offers a number of vocational, life-enrichment and community-oriented courses besides the academic and general courses. At present the secondary education is based on CCE (Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation) pattern. There are government, private and semi-government schools all over the country. The Right To Education (RTE) Act entitles a child to free and compulsory primary education in our country. The school education in India falls under the control of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) which assists Central and State Governments on academic matters. It provides support and technical assistance to the different schools and looks into the matters related to the education policy.