The current literacy rate of India is 64.8% in which state of Kerala has highest i.e 96.2% and least is of state of Bihar i.e 46.2%. In the ancient times education was not given much importance as feeding the stomach was far more important. At that time, either land owners, King's ministers or Brahmans were the only ones who were educated.
In India, during ancient times, the system of Varna was practiced. Entire society was divided into 4 sections: Brahaman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra. Brahmans were considered the superior ones, as they were assumed to be intelligent and knowledgeable in the society. Shudras were considered as the lowest of all and were made to feel left out from the society. They and their children weren't allowed to enter the village among other upper sections. Brahaman pandits used to teach only to the prince.
Later when the Varna system was abolished, due to poverty, people were unable to give education to their children. Only rich landlords and farmers could afford education for their children.
As time passed, India got independence from Britishers, and the government of independent India started to focus and upgrade the education system of India. It tried to uplift the literacy rate of India. As India was newly independent and lakhs of people were killed at the time of Partition, people were starving for food. The focal point of the government was to remove poverty and increase the production of grains in the country. Until the 4th five-year plan (1969-1974), improving education facilities was the second priority of the government.
Later after the emergency, in 1975, the education system began to improve. Government schools were built so that poor people could send their children to school with no fees. All sections of people could get education. Most of the people were from agriculture background and used to work in farming. In order to earn more income they wanted every member of the family to engage in work. And so they avoided sending their kids to school.
Decades passed and after 1990 the system of education improved, areas of study improved, standards of universities and schools improved, living standards of families improved. People started to afford education for their children in private schools. However, there are many children who are unable to go to school, especially girls despite a fundamental right mentioned in the Article 21 of Indian Constitution i.e right to education.
As people started to go to school and colleges, a time has come when people don’t go to school for knowledge. They want qualification certificate and a degree which gives them a sign of being literate
When the education system was built it revolved around exams. Pass or fail. I doesn't matter how a child passed, what amount of knowledge he gained? Did he explore anything on his own? Did he learn something to bring change in society as well as within himself? Only the bundles of sheets of homeworks were increased, and personality was still down. No doubt co-curricular activities are practised in Indian schools for personality development, but somewhere they are unsuccessful to find hidden talents of a child as they lack opportunities in many fields.
Whatever you teach a child from the beginning, he adapts it for his entire life. In childhood, from kindergarten, you start testing them, giving them grades and numbers and promoting them to the next class. From here the child starts thinking that he has to get good marks, so that he can be promoted to the next class. He can get that certificate of promotion. This is what every second student here does. They focus on numbers. It's not necessary that you are not a merit student so you have less knowledge. Sometimes low grade students turn out to be geniuses. As a single sheet of paper cannot decide your future and cannot declare your personality.
Along with this mentality of students, teachers who get job of teaching not only in government school, colleges and universities but also in government also have the mentality that no matter what you have taught to your children, doesn't matter even if you have taught or not, you just have to give them a number and grade because this reduces their burden as well this satisfies the student. Core knowledge, personality and perfection are not a priority here.
Now the problem arises when no proper input is given inside the brain of a student, but output is expected and the level of examination conducted is of a genius level.
Secondly corruption in India is practiced at its peak. Everyone wants a government job and hence bribes and political power are used for recruiting ineligible candidates due to which deserving ones who can manage well, who can think well, who can administer well fall behind.
Of course it's not true that each and every college adopts the same system. The nation is developing because many intelligent and deserving candidates are working in the fields of IT and space, but the sad thing is that at most of the places in India this type of wrong teaching and learning techniques are prevalent.
Earlier people were not aware of all the jobs and various examinations to qualify for those jobs. Also not everyone completed an undergraduate level degree and hence competition for jobs was least. But since awareness increased, facilities increased, technology increased the level of competition for jobs has raised to its peak.
In India if something has been amended it takes decades for its implementation. Let's say the NEW EDUCATION POLICY declared by the Modi government last year. It's hard to say when it's going to be implemented in the nation. That's a great challenge.
Another important thing which is lacking in the Indian education system is that children cannot decide their career on their own. They don't know what they have to do and what is their goal. Even if they set a goal here, they aren't dedicated towards it and keep on wasting years and years upon it and contribute to the increasing unemployment faced by the country.
In India, parents decide what their child is going to be, which subject he is going to choose, what degree he is going to pursue, what job he will do, which exam he will take and till when he will study. Independence of taking career decisions is not given here to the children and somewhere the child himself is responsible for their failure in career. Not earning a single penny and giving time to useless education is such nonsense.
No doubt that India is developing in every field. It's going ahead. It has given so much to the world. It has given birth to many geniuses and still it gives. It's also not necessary that every single child becomes a successful person of the nation, but India has a bad record on overall average. Literacy level and employment level needs to be increased, because the country is built by the members of the nation. Good level of employment leads to development of the nation and true knowledge leads to self development which is the most important thing in human life.
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