To strengthen the Indian Education System, an educational policy was adopted by the Indian Parliament in 1968. Education was made an important and integral part of the national development efforts. After independence there has been an effort to spread education to all levels of Indian society. Statistics point to the fact that 99 per cent of children in age group 6-11 years have been enrolled in school. However, to bring the remaining into the ambit of universal primary education is proving difficult because some reside in inaccessible areas, there is a deep rooted prejudice against educating girls there are practical difficulties of distance and inaccessibility of schools. Moreover, the dropout rate is so high that universal elementary education (UEE) is quite an elusive goal.
Since, education is important for the growth of developing nation like India, various steps have been devised to reduce the percentage of dropouts. Non-formal education to provide educational facilities for the drop-outs and to fulfill the desire for additional education in the grown-up-drop-outs is being given a new orientation to make it purposeful and to attract a broad spectrum of the drop-out population.
In Indian Education system, adult education programmes covers the age group 1-35 and has been vigorously implemented by the government with the cooperation of many voluntary agencies. Even then much has to be done to realize the target which is 100% coverage adults.
With regard to the pattern of secondary education experiments have been going on since Independence. The 10+2+3 system of education which was recommended by Kothari Commission of 1965 is now being implemented in almost all the States and Union Territories of India. This system (pattern) provides for two streams hi the higher secondary schools; the academic streams paving the way for higher education and the vocational stream of terminal nature. However, very few schools live been able