Monastic orders of education under the supervision of a guru was a favored form of education for the nobility in ancient India . The knowledge in these orders was often related to the tasks a section of the society had to perform. The priest class, the Brahmins, were imparted knowledge if religion, Philosophy,a nd other ancillary branches while the warrior class, the Kshatriya, were trained in the various aspects of warfare. The business class, the Vaushya, were taught their trade and the lowest class of the Shudras was qenearlly deprived of educational advantages. The book of laws, the Manusmriti, and the treatise on statecraft the Arthashastra were among the influential works of this era which reflect the outlook and understanding of the world at the time.
Apart from the monastic order, institutions of higher learning and Universities flourished ub India well before the commonera, and continied to deliver education to deliver education into the common era. Secular Buddhist institutions cropped uo along with monasteries. These institutions imparted practical education, eg. medicine. A number of urben learning centres became increasigly visible from the period between 200 BCE to 400 CE. . The important Urben centres of learning were Taxila and nalanda, among others. these institutions systematically, metaphysics, arts and crafts.
By the time of the visit of the Islamic Scholar Alberuni (973-1048 CE), India already had a sohisticated system of mathematics and sience in place, and had made a number of inventions and discoveries. With the arrival of the British Raj in India a class of westernized elite was versed in the Westren system of education which the British had introdiced. This system soon became solidified in India as a number of primary, Secondary, and tertiary centres for education cropped up during the colonial era. Following independence in 1947, Maulanna Azad, India's first education minister envisaged strong central government control over education throughout the country, with a uniform educatuonal system. However, given the cultural and Linguistic diversity of India, it was only the higher education dealing with science and technology that came under the jurisdiction of the central government. The government also held powers to meke national policies for educatuonal development and could regulate selected aspects of education throughout Inda.
The cnetral government of India formulated the National Policy Education in 1986 and also re-enforce the Programme of Action in 1986. The government initiated several measures including the setting up of Navodaya Vidyalaya selective schools in every contains the National System of Education, which ensure some uniformity while taking into account reginal education needs. The NPE alsi stresses on higher spending on education, envisaging a budget of more than 6% of the overall national budget. While the need for wider reform in the primary and secondary sectors is recognized as an issue, the emphasis is also ont he development of science and technology education infrastructure.
