Destination Uttar Pradesh The Next Big Education Hub

Taking education to all and ensuring opportunities to learn skills in this tech-driven world, the State of Uttar Pradesh, the most populated place of the country, is a place to look at, writes Akash Tomer of Elets News Network (ENN).

With education taking a central role in everyday life to survive, especially in term of employment prospects, Uttar Pradesh is fast emerging as an education hub of the country.

Uttar Pradesh has a rich history of education and learning. The continuous efforts by every Government has helped the State to improve its overall literacy rate, number of schools, colleges, technical institutions and universities.

With over seven Institutes of National Importance, and cities like Kanpur and Allahabad as the hub of preparation for engineering and medical entrance exams and government jobs, Uttar Pradesh is likely to emerge as the education hub in north India.

The State Governments’ persistent multi-pronged efforts have led to more enrollments of children in school, improved retention rate of students especially from the weaker sections, effective implementation of adult education programmes. It has also led to establishing of centres of education that are at par with the global standards. As a result, UP is ranked amongst the first few States to have successfully implemented the “Education for All” policy.

The State’s current education system follows schools-to-university structure which was developed during the British administration of the country. It took a long time for Uttar Pradesh to improve the condition of education within the State. Today, there are many prominent private schools, institutions and universities.

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh

In the existing pattern, students of the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Uttar Pradesh, find it hard to score marks, the NCERT pattern would replace it. within a year, games facility, digital black board, e-library, smart classes and Wi-fi facility would be provided to every aided and government school.

Include Skills, Training in the Curriculum

With Uttar Pradesh witnessing a major transformation in all departments due to the government’s policy to take education to all sections of society, there is a need to understand it segment wise. The education system of Uttar Pradesh can be classified as:

  • Primary School
  • Secondary School
  • College Education
  • University Education
  • Research/Doctorate
Dr Dinesh Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
Dr Dinesh Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh

In the existing pattern, students of the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Uttar Pradesh, find it hard to score marks, the NCERT pattern would replace it. Within a year, games facility, digital black board, e-library, smart classes and Wi-fi facility would be provided to every aided and government school.

School Education System

With 57 per cent literacy rate and 34 million school-going children, the State has turned its hurdles into benchmarks, ensuring that 93 per cent of children are enrolled in school according to a report by UNICEF.

The same report also mentions that today, the State has 1,22,000 schools, around 3,00,000 teachers and around 1,00,000 para-teachers to take care of the needs of students at primary and upper primary levels.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) – Universal Elementary Education scheme – has been the main catalyst in recent years in spearheading this metamorphosis in education in the State. The Unicef supports SSA to ensure all children have access to quality education and complete a full course of elementary schooling.

Over 25,000 out-of-school children have benefited from the accelerated learning approaches, which have allowed them to catchup with other children of their age group in formal schools.

Gaurav Chauhan, Business Head, Global Classroom Pvt Ltd
Gaurav Chauhan, Business Head, Global Classroom Pvt Ltd

Education in Uttar Pradesh is always emerging day-by-day. Even government schools and colleges are making their students more capable and developing as well as polishing their skills to empower India

Higher Education System

  • Uttar Pradesh has a large number of academic and research institutes. These institutes are either under the jurisdiction of the Central Government, the State Government, or are privately run. The premier institutes in the State are:
  • Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is a Central University in Varanasi. It evolved from the Central Hindu College of Varanasi, envisioned as a Hindu university in April 1911 by Annie Wood Besant and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. Considered as one of the largest residential universities in Asia, it has more than 128 independent teaching departments. Several of its colleges — including science, linguistics, law, engineering (IIT (BHU) Varanasi) and medicine (IMS-BHU)—are ranked amongst the best in India.
Prof (Cdr) RP Singh, Director (Training and Corporate Relations), Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University (SRMU)
Prof (Cdr) RP Singh, Director (Training and Corporate Relations), Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University (SRMU)

Collaborations with the International Institutions of Higher learning is the key here. Virtual collaborations can help the Institutions in UP to sync with the Global Institutions for Knowledge Exchange Programs, Distant learning, e-learning and Joint Research etc.

  • The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), established in 1959 in the industrial city of Kanpur and enjoys the status of an Institute of National Importance. The institute focuses on undergraduate, post-graduate and research studies in engineering and related science and technology fields.
  • In 2012, IT-BHU was officially rechristened as IIT (BHU) Varanasi. The institute has 13 departments and three inter-disciplinary schools. It enjoys the status of an Institute of National Importance.
  • The Indian Institute of Management Lucknow was established in 1984 by the Government of India. It was the fourth Indian Institute of Management to be established in India, after IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore.
  • The Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad (MNNIT) was formerly Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad. It is among one of the leading institutes in the country established in 1961 as a joint enterprise of the governments of India and Uttar Pradesh.
  • The Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) in Jais, Raebareli was established by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG) of the Government of India through an Act of Parliament. RGIPT has been designated as the Institute of National Importance. Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) is an autonomous public central university located in the Fursatganj Airfield, Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.
  • Allahabad University is a Central University located in Allahabad. Its origins lie in Muir Central College, named after Lt Governor of North-Western Provinces Sir William Muir in 1876. At one point, it was called the “Oxford of the East”. It is the fourth-oldest university in the country.
  • The Aligarh Muslim University is a residential academic institution. This university is spread over an area of 1.5 sq km (370 acres). Modelled on the University of Cambridge, it was granted the status of a Central University by an Act of Parliament in 1920. It was among the first institutions of higher learning established during the British Raj.
Abhishek Dey, Co-Founder and Director, Studenting Era Private Limited
Abhishek Dey, Co-Founder and Director, Studenting Era Private Limited

It is not only Uttar Pradesh; the entire country is facing the challenges of providing enough number of teachers to the remote rural areas. In such a scenario, I feel there is still a long way to go before children in remote areas of Uttar Pradesh get skilled educationists.

  • The Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad was established in 1999 by the government of India. The institute was conferred deemed university status in 2000, empowering it to award degrees following the setting of its own examinations.

Key improvements in Uttar Pradesh

To make the population literate, steps are being taken by the Government to involve public participation, including the help of NGOs and other organisations. There are also special programmes, like the World Bank aided District Primary Education Program (DPEP). As a result, the literacy rate of Uttar Pradesh in 1981 was 28% which improved significantly in 2001 and reached to 42.22 percent. As per the 2011 Census, the literacy rate of the State was 57.18 percent which clearly reflects the efforts made by government and also the increasing inclination of State’s public towards gaining the education.

Abhishek Pratap Singh, Business Manager-Strategic Alliances, Peoplelink
Abhishek Pratap Singh, Business Manager-Strategic Alliances, Peoplelink

Technology is indeed making the learning environment more broad and participatory. Students of this generation live in a world which is greatly linked and agile outside the class room, so traditional methods won’t work now. An expected revolution in education will only happen via digitisation of education so that the students can learn at their own speed both within and outside the classrooms.

 

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