Suchergebnisse

Higher education is considered as an invaluable instrument for the sustainable development of human being and society through a dynamic process of creation, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge. In a fast developing country like India the role of higher education assume utmost importance. Universities have a pivotal role in realizing this goal. Our higher education system has had a glorious past in the form of world-class universities like Nalanda, Vikramsila, and Taxila, which attracted students and intellectuals from all over the world those days. However, in the present time we are lagging far behind in terms of qualitative education and research. This necessitates a serious concern and introspection to look into the nuances and flaws of our system that make our higher education system stand at where it is now. This paper, based on the analysis of various reports and Govt. documents, discusses some of the issues, which are at the core of the main concerns pertaining to higher education in India. Taking a snapshot of the historical trajectory of higher education system in India to the present time, this paper presents an overview of the higher education system in India and points out some most relevant concerns troubling the issue at the core.

The last couple of decades have witnessed sustained governmental efforts towards universalization of elementary education in India; yet the status of human development in the country is a matter of great concern. In the latest Human Development Report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), covering 187 countries across the world, India is ranked at 135, among the 'medium development' countries like Egypt, South Africa, Mongolia, Philippines and Indonesia. Among India's neighbours, Bhutan and Bangladesh too figure in this category. Though India has made considerable progress in social, political and economic spheres and has emerged as one of the fasted growing and the world's fourth largest economy. But it still has more poor people than any other country with about one third of the population living below the poverty line. One of the main reasons of the poverty of the masses is not having the access to adequate educational facilities and subsequent benefits of education. This paper presents the factual details of a study, which attempted to examine the status of marginalized children's access to education and retention in West Bengal, particularly of those children, whose parents work in the brick kilns of 24 North Pargana and Maldah districts of the State.