Educational Policy in India

Educational Research for Policy and Practice 1: 23–33, 2002.© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Educational research in India: Policy and Practice

M. S. KhapardeNCERT, New Delhi, India

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of educational research in India and its implication for policymaking and practice. It begins with the description of the system of education in India. Thepaper further presents a conceptual framework for undertaking policy research in education.The policy research may be related to its formulation and implementation. The research cantake the form of theoretical analysis, critique, field survey and studies, and case studies. Theresults of this research provide feedback to the educational policy. An analysis of an educa-tional research in India indicates that most of the research has primarily been of academicnature and rarely attempts have been made to conduct studies having policy implications.Input for the formulation of educational policy in India has mainly come from the reports ofthe Commissions and Committees, Five Year Plans, All India Educational Surveys, etc. Thepaper argues for undertaking researches on socially relevant problems having implication forpolicy and practice.

Introduction

In the Indian context, educational policies are formulated by the constitutionalauthority that forms the basis of action of Governments at different levels. Edu-cational policies play a vital role in shaping the future education of the country.Education as a process of development evolves certain meaningful policies basedon certain models and structures which in turn are expected to bring out improve-ments in the system of education. Research, as a problem solving activity, helps inthe development of such models and structures. This paper briefly presents policyformulation scenario in the context of school education in India and also the natureof research in education and its contribution to educational policies and practice.

The System of Education in India

A significant aspect of educational development in India during the post indepen-dence period has been the continuous and sustained efforts to evolve a system ofeducation relevant to the life, needs and aspirations of the people. After the countryattained independence in 1947, systematic efforts have been made towards prepara-tion of educational policies in India such as: the University Education Commission

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(1948–49), The Secondary Education Commission (1952–53), and the EducationCommission (1964–66). Historically 1968, 1986 and 1992 are landmark years inthe formulation of India’s education policy. The 1968 educational policy led to theacceptance of a common structure of education throughout the country and the in-troduction of the 10+2+3 pattern of education, which has been implemented by themajority of the states in India. The National Policy on Education (NPE, 1986) wasbased on an in-depth review of the whole gamut of the education sector and wasformulated on the basis of national consensus. While the comprehensive frame-work enunciated by the NPE (1986) continues to be relevant, the developmentsduring the years since then, and the experiences gained in its implementation,have necessitated certain modifications. These changes were introduced in the NPE(1992) and a revised Programme of Action (1992) was adopted. In addition tothese policy initiations, an important development took place in 1976 in the formof the 42nd amendment of the Indian Constitution. Prior to this education was astate subject and the union government had a limited role. The 42nd amendmentincluded education in the concurrent list, thus investing the Parliament with theauthority to legislate on education. This required a new sharing of responsibilitybetween the union government and those of the states.

In order to assist and advise the Government of India in the formulation and im-plementation of policies and programmes in the field of school education, a numberof specialized institutions at the national level were set up. One such institution isthe National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which wasset up in 1961, with a view to assist and advise the Union Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD) and State Governments in the formulation andimplementation of policies and programmes and other initiatives in the field ofschool education. The National Institute of Educational Planning and Administra-tion (NIEPA) assists the MHRD in its efforts to improve the educational planningand administration in the country. The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) was set up to conduct Secondary and Senior Secondary level examinationsof the schools affiliated to it. However, at the state level, there are state boardswhich conduct examinations at the secondary and senior secondary levels.. TheKendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) runs a chain of schools in the country withthe aim of providing educational facilities to children of defense personnel andtransferable Central Government employees. In pursuance of the recommenda-tions of the NPE (1986), to provide quality education to talented children fromrural areas, the Navodaya Vidyalayas were set up. The Union Ministry of HRDis also advised and assisted on matters related to development of languages bythe Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Central Institute of English andForeign Languages (CIEFL), Rashstriya Sanskrit Sansthan and the Kendriya HindiSansthan.

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN INDIA: POLICY AND PRACTICE 25

Figure 1. Educational structure at school level in India.

Educational Structure

After the recommendations of the National Policy on Education (1968), most Statesin India now follow 10+2+3 pattern of education i.e., ten years of primary andsecondary education (grades 1–10) followed by two years of higher secondaryeducation and three years of tertiary education leading to the award of the firstdegree (refer Figure 1). A child is normally admitted to grade 1 at five years of ageand she is expected to complete grade 5 at the age of 10+ years, grade 8 at the ageof 13+ years, grade 10 at the age of 15+ years and grade 12 at the age of 17+years. Figure 1 also indicates that the facility of non-formal centers/open schools isalso available for children who for different reasons find it difficult to pursue theireducation in the formal system.

Policy Research in Education: A Conceptual Framework

A policy refers to the system or measures adopted by the government of a coun-try in the management of public affairs. Viewed in this context, educational pol-icy refers to a systematic and well-designed action adopted and pursued by thegovernment to bring out improvement in the educational scenario of the country.McClellan (1971) points out that a policy statement is: (i) intended to be a bindingguide on actions of those designated by the statement; (ii) enforceable and enforcedby the society (large or small) which formulates it; and (iii) formulated and adoptedthrough a political process – that is, a process which acknowledges the reality andlegitimacy of conflicting interests and desires among its participants.

All societies, however large or small they may be, adopt certain courses ofaction or policies which guides smooth functioning of its different sub-systems.

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Figure 2. Schematic representation of the steps involved in policy research.

Research and other available evidences provide significant input in the develop-ment and evaluation of a policy. Policy research includes the search for solutionsto pressing educational or social problems. In the context of national development,it is necessary to take into account the relative importance and priorities of devel-opment, needs and problems that deserve greater attention and efforts on the partof researchers. Policy makers and educational administrators expect educationalresearch to help them in planning and execution of reforms for improving thesystem of school education so as to respond to the changing social context. Theteachers as classroom practitioners look for the results, which help them in improv-ing teaching, learning and evaluation techniques and strategies. Policy research hasdirect application to current issues in educational policy or practice. It consists ofcareful, systematic attempts to understand the educational process, and to improveits efficiency (Nisbet, 1985).

It is evident that policy research involves both theoretical and empirical analysisof the policy. The theoretical research may include analysing the policy based on aconceptual framework, critique, and social problem. The empirical evidence maybe collected through surveys, field studies/experiments, and case studies. Imple-mentation research is broadly concerned to investigate the structures and processeswithin which policy objectives are put into practice (Fitz et al., 1994). These aregenerally conducted to determine the reasons for the successes or failures of certainprogrammes and policies.


Figure 2 presents a model for policy research. The research studies may fo-cus on policy formulation or its implementation or both. Studies related to policyformulation may analyze the policy in terms of its purpose, process, outcome, orassumptions. It may also include the role of information and values in policy for-mulation. Policy implementation may be assessed either by employing top-downapproach or backward mapping approach. The methodology for this research couldbe theoretical and/or empirical. On the basis of the information so collected, a setof recommendations may be proposed which may be used to bring out necessarymodifications in the policy.

It is evident from Figure 2, that decisions about an educational policy, dependupon the research in the form of theoretical analysis, critique, social problem analy-sis, surveys, field studies and case studies. It may, therefore, be worthwhile toexamine the educational research in India with a view to comment upon the impactsuch research has on policy making and practice.

Trends in Educational Research in India

International Context

A look at the international scenario indicates that since the beginning of 1970s,more emphasis is being placed on policy related research. It does not mean thatearly work in education had no policy implications. The notable work of AlfredBinet (1911) who sought to distinguish truly mentally ‘defective’ children fromthose who were not succeeding in schools for other reasons in the early 1900s, laidthe foundation of psychometry. Similarly, the work of Thorndike (1924) and othersin the 1920s on the psychology of the elementary school curriculum aimed to in-fluence educational policy and practice. However, as Nisbet (1985, p. 3957) noted,the distinction between practical and theoretical research was not stressed at thattime. The two kinds of inquiry were seen as complementary. During the 1950s, anawareness was generated that educational research could make a significant con-tribution towards policy and practice. The following decade saw the beginning ofpublic funds being made available for research in education and by the beginning ofthe 1970s there was a massive increase in publicaly funded research in education.It was around this time that the issue of accountability gained prominence. It waspointed out that the publicly funded research ought to be practical in nature. Re-search which is not linked to policy is at risk of being seen as a dispensable luxury,and researchers have to be ready to tackle major policy issues as legitimate topicsfor inquiry and, sometimes, even as the only topics worth studying. Nisbet (1985,p. 3957) observed: Across the world, educational research is now an integral partof modern administrative procedures. Increased investment in research had led to aconcern that the conduct, organization, and funding of research should be directedtowards maximizing its effect on policy and practices. The major questions to which

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answers are still sought are: what forms of research should have priority? And whois to decide?

The systematic collection and analysis of relevant information using social sci-ence research methods to help formulation and elaboration of policy, to developaction plans/strategy, to assess the performance and to evaluate outcomes constitutethe domain of policy research. The difference between the policy research and thebody of research in social science areas lie in the purpose, scope and adequacy tomake decisions. The researches completed in the social sciences at large are likereadymade garments with their own sizes and designs. They may not satisfy allthe requirements. On the other hand, policy researches are like customized designsserving a specific context in time and space. But, there will be no difference inmethods and techniques of conducting policy research as compared to social sci-ence research in general. Its contribution to formulation of policies is more in theform of arranging the data and predicting the effect of policy generated causes andeffects and some times they give feedback on current status and outcomes.

Indian Context

Systematic efforts have been made to promote educational research in India afterindependence. Further, various attempts have been made in the past to documentthe trends in educational research. Prominent among them are the five Surveysof Research in Education (Buch, 1974, 1979, 1987, 1991; NCERT, 1997). Draw-ing upon these and some other recent sources such as Indian Educational Ab-stracts, this paper attempts to delineate the trend of research in education. It may bementioned that the surveys primarily included doctoral dissertations. Independentstudies/projects undertaken by various research institutions and university scholarswere less frequently reported.

The first survey of research in education contained 729 research abstracts, thesecond survey contained 806 research abstracts, the third contained abstracts of1481 studies, the fourth included abstracts of 1652 researches and the fifth surveycontained 1828 research abstracts. Table 1 contains area-wise classification of re-search studies and how the areas of research have moved from the period of firstsurvey to fifth survey of educational research.

By the period of the first survey, the maximum number of studies were related toeducational evaluation and examination, which was followed by the developmentof tests and measurement. The educational evaluation procedures and examinationhave been the subject of extensive research. Related to this has been the devel-opment of tests and measurement procedures for the assessment of psychologicaland educational characteristics of children. The development of tests was at itspeak in the 1960s and 1970s and there was a decline in subsequent years. Thedecline was so prominent that the fifth survey did not contain a separate chapteron tests and measurement. There were only few researches which were includedin Educational Evaluation and Examinations. In the first survey a relatively higher


Table 1

Percentage of Studies Covered in Five Surveys of Research in Education.

Areas Surveys

I II III IV V

1. Philosophy of education 3.8 1.7 2.6 2.8 2.1

2. History of education 5.8 5.9 3.0 2.0 0.4

3. Sociology of education 7.7 12.4 16.9 8.9 2.3

4. Psychology of education (including creativity 10.8 9.9 15.2 16.2 18.0

5. Guidance and counseling 5.8 5.2 2.6 1.6 0.7

6. Tests and measurement 11.2 8.7 5.6 2.1 –

7. Educational evaluation & Examination 13.9 5.1 3.5 1.8 3.3

8. Curriculum, methods and textbooks 9.5 8.8 6.8 2.8 1.2

9. Correlates of achievement 6.0 6.0 5.4 5.3 7.1

10. Teacher behaviour/education 9.2 11.1 10.8 10.3 9..3

11. Educational administration 7.5 10.7 14.0 6.7 3.8

12. Economics of education 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.1 0.7

13. Comparative education – 1.4 1.6 3.5 0.7

14. Higher education – 5.7 – 3.1 1.6

15. Language education – – 4.7 4.7 4.9

16. Social science education – – – 0.8 0.5

17. Educational technology – 2.7 2.6 3.1 4.6

18. Mathematics education – – – 1.4 2.5

19. Science education – – – 3.5 3.3

20. Pre-school education – – – 1.8 2.5

21. Primary & non-formal education – 2.5 2.1 3.7 6.0

22. Vocational and adult education 2.9 – – 6.0 3.4

23. Education of the disadvantaged – – – 4.6 7.4

24. Women’s education – – – 0.9 4.3

25. Secondary education – – – – 1.7

26. Policy research – – – – 0.4

27 Others 4.3 – – – 7.1

number of studies related to curriculum, sociology of education, psychology ofeducation, educational administration, and teacher education were reported. Thecurriculum related studies were at their peak by the period of the third survey andthereafter a decrease in the number of such studies is observed. The studies inthe field of sociology of education recorded a five-fold increase by the period ofthe third survey but thereafter a decrease in the number of studies is observed.Studies in the field of psychology of education have consistently increased over

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the years. Apparent decreases may be due to the fact that the contents of educa-tional psychology split into different chapters, such as cognitive, social processes,motivation and mental health. A considerable improvement is observed in the areaof educational administration and management till the period of the third survey;however, a decline is observed in the fourth and fifth surveys. Teacher behaviourand teacher education is another area where one observes considerable growth overtime. Foundation areas, such as philosophy of education, history of education, andeconomics of education, have not shown considerable growth. In the second survey,areas such as comparative education, higher education and non-formal educationwere also included. To examine the role of technology in education, increasinglygreater number of studies have been conducted over the years. Language educationwas additionally included in the third survey as a separate area.

The fourth survey included subject specific and discipline specific researchessuch as social science, science, and mathematics education as well as pre-primaryeducation, primary education and vocational and technical education. These studieswere covered in the earlier surveys in various foundations and other areas. Also,included were areas like women’s education, and the education of the disadvan-taged and children with special needs. In the majority of these areas one observesan increase in the number of studies from the fourth to the fifth survey. In the fifthsurvey, studies related to physical education, art and aesthetic education, distanceeducation, policy research were also covered. However, scant attention has so farbeen given to policy related researches. In general, except psychology of educa-tion, one observes a decline in the studies in the foundation areas over the years.Researchers are now focusing more in subject-specific educational domains andon socially-relevant issues such as the education of the disadvantaged, women’seducation, and so forth.

Research in Elementary Education

To develop a deeper understanding of the nature of educational research in India,182 studies conducted from 1987 to 1999 in the field of elementary educationwere analysed. This area was particularly selected for in-depth analysis as thisoccupies a significant place in the educational scenario of developing countriesincluding India. One of the limitations of this analysis is that the results are basedon the abstracts of studies/theses, which are included in the research surveys. Fullpapers/theses/reports were not available for analysis.

Efforts were made to analyse the sample size, sample composition, tools andtechniques used in research, type of statistics used, and use of qualitative/quantita-tive approach in studies at the elementary level. Results indicate that about 24%studies used a sample size of less than 100, and in about 20% studies the samplesize ranged between 100 and 300. In about 23% of the studies, sample size was notspecified. About 36% studies in elementary education were related to children and


27% to teachers. The number of studies related to the teacher educators has beenrelatively low. The questionnaires/tests/scales/inventories were employed in abouthalf of the studies. The methods of interview and observation were employed inabout 18 and 7% of the studies, respectively. The use of the case study methodand other qualitative approaches has been negligible. Less than one per cent of thestudies employed qualitative approach.

It is evident from the above analysis that most studies reported use of question-naires as a tool of measurement covering a sample size of up to 300 students. Alarge number of studies have been quantitative in nature. Little effort has been madeto analyse the school or classroom processes. Further analysis of these researchesmay indicate their imitative nature of the Western researches. The concepts andtools developed in the West have been employed in the Indian context withoutconsideration of the local/regional variations. Obviously, this type of research haslittle value for policy making.

Inputs for Educational Policy

Input for educational policies in the Indian context have come primarily from thediscourse generated by various commissions constituted by the governments at thecenter and the states. To what extent these commissions used information generatedthrough policy researches is a moot question and very difficult to answer. Thedata from census, periodic surveys carried out by statutorily constituted bodieslike NSSO, NCERT, etc., and annual reports of the government departments findmention in these reports. Except broad policies, most of the strategic policies andprogrammes in the education sector are made through Five Year Plans in India.The Five Year Plans deal with both resource requirements and the way in whichthe resources need to be spent with definite targets. Data required for these planningexercises are drawn from institutionalized sources. Central Census Organization isone such organization responsible for conducting the mammoth task of decennialcensus. This is one of the important sources of data used for policy formulationand measure change over the period of time.

Another source of data in the area of school education comes from All IndiaEducational Surveys (AIES) conducted periodically. Six such surveys have beenconducted during the post independence period. The first All India EducationalSurvey was brought out by the Ministry of Education in 1960. Second to SixthAll India Educational Surveys were brought out by the National Council of Ed-ucational Research and Training (NCERT) in the years 1967, 1979, 1982, 1992and 1999 respectively. These surveys provide a database for educational planningand research at micro as well as macro levels. The surveys cover a wide spectrumof school education, comprising more than a thousand data items by using censusmode for core variables (needed for micro-level planning) and the sampling modefor issue-specific variables (needed for macro-level planning). The surveys give

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information about rural habitations, number of schools, pupil-teacher ratio, type ofmanagement of schools, enrolment, facilities for non-formal and pre-primary edu-cation, education of disadvantaged population groups, building and other facilitiesetc. This information has been widely used in policy formulation at the nationaland state levels.

To what extent the expansion, development and quality of education over theyears can be accounted to planned research based approach is difficult to judge.Relative to the size of the country, the variations in educational contexts and sizeof investment on education, the incidence of research based policy formulation isrelatively low. There is a need to give priority to educational researches in Indiafocusing on socially relevant problems and issues of immediate concern in schooleducation having implication for policy and practice.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to colleagues Dr C. G. V. Murthy, Dr A. K. Srivastava, and Dr C. S.Nagaraju for their help in preparation of this paper.

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Educational Policy in India