Educational Change in India: A Century of Effort

The study is a social scientist’s analysis of selected educational reforms in India which evolved over a long period of time. Four educational reforms have been considered as crucial attempts to change the educational scene and through it the nation’s efforts for socio-economic transformation. These reforms are–universal primary education, basic education, multipurpose school and protective discrimination. These reforms have implications for the purpose of distributive equity and allocative efficiency in the entire economy. Some of these reforms have evolved through several decades of experimentation. The present study attempts to examine the socio-economic and political causes and consequences of each of these reforms. An attempt is also made in the study to develop certain conceptual insights about the reform process in education focusing on the socio-economic context of the country. This study draws upon the experiences with regard to several other reforms also introduced in India at different points of time. The study may be considered as one of the pioneering attempts to present a socio-economic perspective about educational change with illustrations from the reform process in India, one of the leading developing countries, where a series of attempts for educational changes have been initiated in the past from time to time.