Ancient Time
| Vedic India | – Gurukul system; Guru- Shishya parampara |
| Mauryan Period | - Trade and commerce grew so subjects related to it like Math, Astronomy which are useful for navigation, medicine study (Sushrut and Charaka) took more importance. |
| Gupta Period | - Jain and Buddhist Centres of learning |
| Post-Gupta Period | - Temple education (Ghatika) |
Medieval Period
| - Islamic system of education | – Makhatabs (School education) and Madarsas (Higher education) | – Mughals provided grand for education | – Urdu and Persian learning |
British Period
| – 1781 - Warren Hasting established Calcutta Madarasa. |
| – 1792 - Jonathan Duncan established Sanskrit College. |
| -Spread of education by Christian missionaries |
| – 1835 - Macaulay's minute strengthened Western education in India. It also increased importance of English language. |
| – 1854- Wood's dispatch by which Universities were established at Bombay, Madras and Calcutta |
| – 1904 Indian universities act brought all universities and colleges completely under government control |
| – Overall the British attitude was creation of urban educated elites for administration purpose rather than educating rural masses |
Post Independence in India
Constitutional provisions about education
| Education was sole responsibility of state till 1976 but constitutional amendment made it concurrent subject |
Fundamental Rights
| - Article 21A: Right to Education |
| - Article 28 : Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions. |
| - Article 29: This article provides equality of opportunity in educational institutions. |
| - Article 30 : Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions |
Directive Principles
| - Article 41: Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases |
| - Article 45: Provision for free and compulsory education for children and Provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years |
| - Article 46: It provides for special care to the promotion of education and economic interests of the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and the weaker sections of society. |
Fundamental Duties
| Article 51 A :(k) Who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years. |
| – Article 337: This provides for special provision with respect to educational grants for the benefit of Anglo-Indian community. |
| – Article 350A: This article relates to facilities for instruction in mother tongue at primary stage. |
| – Article 350B: It provides for a special offer for linguistic minorities. |
Amendments:
| 86th amendment: Right to education( inserted 21A and 51k) |
| 93rd amendment: Provided amendment to article 15 ,which provide reservation for SC,ST and OBC in private institutions. (including self-financed but excluding minority educational institutions and it also nullified Supreme court’s judgment in Inamdar case that State cannot impose reservation on private unaided institutions. |
Developments through years:
| – 1966 - Kothari commission on education viewed education as a means of national development |
| – 1976 - Education was put in concurrent list from state list |
| – 1986 - Natioanl policy on education – Uniformity in education, adult education as a mass movement, providing universal access, retention and quality in elementary education, special emphasis on education of girls, establishment of Navodaya Vidyalayas in each district, vocationalisation of secondary education, synthesis of knowledge and inter-disciplinary research in higher education, starting more Open Universities in the states, strengthening of the All India Council of Technical Education, encouraging sports, physical education, Yoga and adoption of an effective evaluation method, etc. |
| – 1988 – National literacy mission |
| – 1992 - Program of Action lays down a detailed strategy for the implementation of the various policies |
| – 2001 - Sarva shiksha abhiyan |
| – 2009 - Rashtriya madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan |
| – 2009 - Right to education |