This document discusses equity and excellence in secondary education in India. It defines equity as fairness and equal treatment, and excellence as outstanding quality. It provides an overview of India's secondary education system, noting it aims to make good quality education accessible to ages 14-16. Government policies advocate for both equity and excellence, ensuring equal access to secondary education while also focusing on quality to promote excellence.
This document discusses equity and excellence in secondary education in India. It defines equity as fairness and equal treatment, and excellence as outstanding quality. It provides an overview of India's secondary education system, noting it aims to make good quality education accessible to ages 14-16. Government policies advocate for both equity and excellence, ensuring equal access to secondary education while also focusing on quality to promote excellence.
Original Description:
Equity and Excellence: Glimpses from Secondary Education of India
Original Title
Equity and Excellence: Glimpses from Secondary Education of India
This document discusses equity and excellence in secondary education in India. It defines equity as fairness and equal treatment, and excellence as outstanding quality. It provides an overview of India's secondary education system, noting it aims to make good quality education accessible to ages 14-16. Government policies advocate for both equity and excellence, ensuring equal access to secondary education while also focusing on quality to promote excellence.
This document discusses equity and excellence in secondary education in India. It defines equity as fairness and equal treatment, and excellence as outstanding quality. It provides an overview of India's secondary education system, noting it aims to make good quality education accessible to ages 14-16. Government policies advocate for both equity and excellence, ensuring equal access to secondary education while also focusing on quality to promote excellence.
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Equity and Excellence: Glimpses from
Secondary Education of India
Deepti Sharma1Manish Agrawal2 & Sumit Sheoran3
1Senior Research Fellow, Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 1Senior Research Fellow, Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India 2Research Scholar, Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS), I.C. College of Home Science, CCSHAU, Hisar, Haryana, India Introduction Secondary education is not merely a link between primary and higher education system but it also equips the student to lead a respectable life as well as to contribute for the society significantly. Therefore, it does not remain solely as a bridge while it is a full and holistic process to generate knowledge and expand the possibilities. Equity and Excellence: Concept and Definitions The Collins dictionary defines Equity as “the quality of being fair and reasonable in a way that gives equal treatment to everyone”. The Oxford dictionary defines Excellence as “the quality of being outstanding or extremely good”. Secondary Education in India: An Overview “Secondary school education comprises of two years of lower secondary and two years of higher secondary education. The lower secondary level is for students aged 14 to 16 years” (British Council, Dec. 2014). “Higher secondary schooling system in India Senior secondary education comprises two years of higher secondary education, which starts at approximately 16 years and ends at the 17th year of the child” (British Council, Dec. 2014). “Secondary school: Ninth and tenth standard/ class/grade (for 14- to 16-year-olds)” (British Council, Dec. 2014). Secondary Education in India “As the UNESCO World Education Report (2000) on 'The right to education' clearly demonstrates, primary education has expanded significantly in many developing countries since the 1950s, and this has resulted in a significant increase in gross enrolment in secondary education. However, as access to secondary education has expanded, its overall quality has often been on the decline due to over-stretched resources combined with less efficient systems” (as cited in Rani, 2007). Equity and Excellence in Secondary Education of India “Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) is the Government of India’s Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) to achieve universal secondary education. The aim is to make good quality education available, accessible and affordable to all young people in the age group 14-16 years (grades 9 and 10)” (MHRD, 2015). “The CABE report in 2005 on Universalization of Secondary Education reiterated and emphasised the suggestion of Education Commission (1964-66), that quantitative expansion should promote social justice and equity a reduce social exclusions from secondary school” (MHRD, 2015) . Conclusion Equity and excellence go on parallel and reciprocally. Secondary education policies advocate equity and excellence. The focus is on the equity and excellence in secondary education. The policies ensure that each child has an equal right to receive secondary education. The deprived ones are promoted and assisted to enhance their participation. It focuses on quality education which pushes excellence. References British Council India (2014). Indian School Education System - An Overview. British Council, Dec. 2014, www.britishcouncil.in/sites/default/files/indian_school_education_system_- _an_overview_1.pdf. MHRD, GOI (2015). Equity and Efficiency in Expansion of Secondary Schools: RMSA-TCA. Retrieved from http://rmsaindia.gov.in/administrator/components/com_pdf/pdf/fc9763ef75ce7091da433f5f2da1dffa- Equity-and-efficiency-in-expansion-of-secondary-schools-final.pdf Rani, P. G. (2007). Secondary education in India: Development and performance. presented at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Indian Econometric Society (TIES) Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, January 5-7, 2007. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Geetha_Rani3/publication/23778564_Secondary_Education_in_ India_Determinants_of_Development_and_Performance/links/0a85e5336885e39331000000.pdf Web Pages https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/equity https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/excellence THANKS