User:Swati1911972/Alternative schooling

== India ==

  India has a long history of alternate schools. Vedic and Gurukul systems of education from 1500 BC to 500 BC emphasized the acquisition of occupational skills, cultural and spiritual enrichment of the students. The guru and the students were the seekers of the eternal truth. Knowledge of religious scriptures, philosophy, statecraft, medicine, astrology, etc was imparted in an atmosphere which encouraged rational thinking, reasoning and critical questioning among the students.
   However, with the decline of local economies and the advent of the colonial rule in India, this traditional system of education went into decline. Policies of the colonial rulers ensured that these community-based schools were replaced by alien anglicized system. The schools set up by the British authorities were mainly to create work force competent enough to work for them, hence English language was the medium of instruction. Despite the attainment of freedom from the colonial rulers in 1947, Indian schools continue to work under the system developed in the colonial era. In the years since independence, the government has focused on expansion of school network so that it is available to a wider population, designing of curriculum according to the educational needs,local language as the medium of instruction, etc.
  By the end of the nineteenth century, many social reformers began to explore alternatives to the existing education system. Vivekananda, Dayananda Saraswati, Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, Syed Ahmed Khan and others were the pioneers who took up the cause of social regeneration, removal of social inequalities and promotion of girl's education through the establishment of alternative schools. In the early twentieth century educationists create models of alternative schools as a response to the drawbacks of the mainstream education which are still viable. Rabindranath Tagore's Shanti Niketan, Jiddu Krishnamurthy's Rishi Valley School, Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's Sri Aurobindo International Centre for Education popularly known as Ashram School are some of the examples.
    An upsurge in alternative education was seen from 1970's onward. As the national development failed to trickle down to the lower strata of the society, alternative thinking in education took root for the common goal of empowering the marginalized and ensuring the benefits of development to the disadvantaged. Most of the alternate schools established in India were the result of the individual efforts rather than the efforts of the government. The setting up of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)in 1989 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, taking all the alternative schools under its umbrage was one of the major steps taken by the government. The NIOS provide platform for the children to learn at their own pace, with individualized assessment and also provide a link to the entry in the mainstream.
    Some of the features of alternate schools which can be easily replicated in the mainstream schools 

1. Child-centered school philosophy
2. Emphasis on activities like sports, art, drama along with academics
3. More activities and fewer lectures in day to day teaching
4. Methods of evaluation for slow paced and differently-abled children 
5. Retraining of teachers
    In India, mainstream schools are more popular because these schools are more result and rank oriented. Hence, such schools are considered better for students who want to pursue professional course. But few are aware that in alternative schools also children take government prescribed examination. Moreover, the National Curriculum Framework by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has critically reviewed the current syllabus to develop books and curriculum in such a way that learning, in mainstream schools, shifts away from rote learning to experiential learning.
    Although the mainstream educational set up is dominant, the alternatives continue to thrive and expand.