Education Commissions A Critical Analysis

The Indian education system has evolved to a great extent from the Vedic days to today’s computer age and e-learning. However, there is one thing that remains common between the two scenarios, and that is the importance of education. In India, there has been a constant effort to improve the education system therefore various commissions have come into play to fulfill this need. All the education commissions and policies have reiterated the need to bring about quality education in India and this can be seen right since the colonial era till post-colonial period. The Indian education system is predominantly based on the recommendations of some of the important committee and programmes viz., Hunter Commission (1882), Sadler Commission (1917), University Education Commission (1948-49), Secondary Education Commission (1952-53), Kothari Commission (1964-66), National Policy on Education (1968 and 1986), Ramamurti Committee (1992), National Curriculum Framework (2005) etc. It is also working under various apex bodies, such as, University Grants Commission (1956), NCERT (1961), NUEPA (1979), CBSE and so on.When one of these commissions failed to meet the expected goal of education, they faced criticism and consequently another policy or programme popped up. In this way, several changes and modifications on the previous recommendations have been observed so far. From the last century, India has been experiencing numerous changes in the form of recommendations which may lead to a better society. However, changes are required as these changes will reap the best when it is planned well. Keeping this in mind, this book is an attempt to critically review the education commissions and policies so as to view the recommendations from a different perspective. The present book also deals with two topics related with modern education and lifelong education which form an integral part of any education system.The editorial board is indebted to its authors, colleagues and friends for their contributions and making an in-depth study of some of the significant commissions as well as throwing light into the relevance of modern education. The team expresses a heartfelt gratitude to the publisher for taking keen interest in bringing out this book.