ASSIGNMENT No. 1

Q.1 Discuss different phases of development of comparative education.

The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) was founded in 1956 to foster “cross-cultural understanding, scholarship, academic achievement, and societal development through the international study of educational ideas, systems, and practices.”

Comparative education is a discipline in the social sciences that involves the analysis and comparison of educational systems, such as those in different countries. People in this field are interested in developing meaningful terminology and standards for education worldwide, improving educational systems and creating a framework for assessing the success of education programs and initiatives. Usually, graduate degrees are required to work in this field, although some people can find employment in this field after earning four-year degrees.

An important aspect of comparative education is contextualization. A nation’s educational system cannot be viewed properly without also looking at other things that might influence or affect it. Social, political and economic conditions are all involved in shaping educational systems and determining outcomes. Nations that have strong national traditions of education, for example, might have better outcomes with less funding than nations that historically have not placed a great value on education. Understanding cultural influences also is important when developing techniques for assessment and comparison or when working on new educational programs that can be introduced to specific regions. What works in one nation or region might not work as well in another.

Comparative education is used in the development of educational testing procedures and the creation of educational programs and frameworks. Comparing systems can provide educators with ideas for revitalizing one system by incorporating elements of others, and it can allow people to track progress over time. This can strengthen an educational system in addition to creating an objective method of evaluation and study, providing meaningful data for people who are concerned about educational outcomes and techniques.

Comparative education: it refer to the process of studying education system of other country similarity and differentiate from your country.

Importance of comparative education:

1. It helps to determine strength and weakness of education in your country
2. It helps to improve teaching and learning process.
3. Help to improve education curriculum of the particular country
4. It improve teaching technique and method
5. Encourage friendship between two or more country

Comparative and International Education is a vast, rich, and growing field of inquiry that is concerned with the academic study of a wide range of key educational issues and themes across a range of cultures, countries and regions. Comparativists come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and therefore come to the field with different subject expertise and ideas about how best to conduct research in the field. There has been much debate over the theoretical, epistemological and methodological frameworks and tools that should be used when carrying out research in comparative and international education as well as discussions over the future directions of the field. The SIG welcomes interest and contributions on these important debates.

Examples of issues that have been researched by our SIG members include (but are not at all limited to): EU education policy; citizenship and human rights education; global education policy; students’ and teachers’ identities; learning and teaching; assessment and achievement; effects of gender, race and social class on learning and achievement; textbook research; parental choice; international schools and intercultural education; education in developing countries.

Evidently, much of our research fits in comfortably with other SIGs, but what we are all essentially concerned with as Comparativists is exploring similarities and differences between the structures, processes, dynamics, policies and practices of different education systems. Much of the work we do is also international in nature. We strongly encourage BERA members whose work fits in to this field to join the SIG and contribute to knowledge exchange, especially through submitting abstracts to BERA conferences. We stress the importance of learning from comparing and remind members of the important words stated by Robert Edward Hughes (1901: 52) in his seminal text ‘Schools at Home and Abroad’ that ‘the basis of all knowledge is comparison’.

Aims to provide a forum within BERA for academics, practitioners and students from a range of disciplines who are involved in research in comparative and international education to engage in dialogue and debate, share theoretical and empirical research, and exchange knowledge and ideasto raise the profile of comparative and international education through the annual conference and by hosting seminarsto encourage the publication of high quality research papers within BERJ and other journals.

Q.2 Differentiate between distance education approach and online approach.

Comparative education is a discipline in the social sciences that involves the analysis and comparison of educational systems, such as those in different countries. People in this field are interested in developing meaningful terminology and standards for education worldwide, improving educational systems and creating a framework for assessing the success of education programs and initiatives. Usually, graduate degrees are required to work in this field, although some people can find employment in this field after earning four-year degrees.

An important aspect of comparative education is contextualization. A nation’s educational system cannot be viewed properly without also looking at other things that might influence or affect it. Social, political and economic conditions are all involved in shaping educational systems and determining outcomes. Nations that have strong national traditions of education, for example, might have better outcomes with less funding than nations that historically have not placed a great value on education. Understanding cultural influences also is important when developing techniques for assessment and comparison or when working on new educational programs that can be introduced to specific regions. What works in one nation or region might not work as well in another.

Comparative education is used in the development of educational testing procedures and the creation of educational programs and frameworks. Comparing systems can provide educators with ideas for revitalizing one system by incorporating elements of others, and it can allow people to track progress over time. This can strengthen an educational system in addition to creating an objective method of evaluation and study, providing meaningful data for people who are concerned about educational outcomes and techniques.

Comparative education: it refer to the process of studying education system of other country similarity and differentiate from your country.

Importance of comparative education:

6. It helps to determine strength and weakness of education in your country
7. It helps to improve teaching and learning process.
8. Help to improve education curriculum of the particular country
9. It improve teaching technique and method

Encourage friendship between two or more country

The following are the example of comparative education

• Education of Tanzania compared to education of Kenya, US, China, Uganda and Rwanda

Comparative education Comparative education is a discipline in the social sciences which entails the scrutiny and evaluation of different educational systems, such as those in various countries. Professionals in this area of endeavor are absorbed in advancing evocative terminologies and guidelines for education worldwide, enhancing educational structures and producing a context to which the success and effectivity of education programs and initiatives can be assessed

1. It helps to determine strength and weakness of education in your country
2. It helps to improve teaching and learning process.
3. Help to improve education curriculum of the particular country

Comparative education Comparative education is a discipline in the social sciences which entails the scrutiny and evaluation of different educational systems, such as those in various countries. Professionals in this area of endeavor are absorbed in advancing evocative terminologies and guidelines for education worldwide, enhancing educational structures and producing a context to which the success and effective of education programs and initiatives can be assessed.

As it is with all other disciplines of study, comparative education is also faced with some challenges in the process of studying it both to the learner and the teacher. These challenges are worth considering exposing the learner to them and allowing the learner to have an opportunity to suggest possible solutions, to these challenges. It is worth noting that the challenges are not exhaustive in themselves, taking into account the dynamics of the discipline at each and every stage. We therefore look at some of the predominant challenges to the study of comparative education.

1. i) Challenge of Definition;

The first challenge relate to the definition of comparative education as an area of study. As noted earlier various scholars define comparative education differently depending on their orientation. One big challenge among the scholars in relation to defining comparative education has been whether it should be defined by its content or method. Indeed to date scholars are still divided on whether comparative education is a field of study or just a method of researching on educational issues. In many universities in the developing world, the subject is seen just as a subset of history of education or sociology of education and is often taught by educational historians or sociologists. However the University of Nairobi has endeavored to train comparative educationist of which the author of this book is the first graduate. Other students are currently studying comparative education at the post graduate level and with time there will be scholars of comparative education trained in Africa. It is worth noting that, today many universities in Africa are offering comparative education as a core unit in graduate teacher education training as recognition of the fact that comparative education is a discipline in its own right, whether defined from the point of view of its content or its method.

1. ii) Challenge of Comparability

Most issues in comparative education are linked to the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of particular countries. These are further related to issues like equal opportunity, curriculum relevance among other issues which are all interpreted differently in different cultures and educational systems. In consideration of these different interpretations it becomes tricky and sometimes misleading affair to make comparisons of educational system and issues across national boundaries. For an effective comparison to be made, it calls for an understanding of all the parameters to be considered in comparison to have where possible one meaning and interpretation. This is only possible if one understands the various cultural and social contexts of the educational system.

iii) The challenge related to Method.

Over the years, some of the analytical tools used in the study of comparative education have been in most cases considered to be primitive as compared with the tools currently being used in other social inquires. For example, the use of questionnaires sent through post office prove to be unsatisfactory in that unreliable data is likely to be provided because of different interpretation given do different levels of education and the understanding of the purpose for which the data are collected. In other instance some of the social inquiries are difficult to use because of time and expanses involved. Also in comparative education different issues require unique methods to address them. As is with other social sciences, each study will require a specific method of study and as such comparative education faces the challenge of choice of method of approach in addressing educational issues and process being studied. A scholar in comparative education has a wide variety of methods from which to choose from and making the right choice often proves to be a big challenge in the study of comparative education.

1. iv) Challenge related to Subjectivity of Analysis.

In many studies, there is a human tendency to view issues with ones social background. Since we all come from various social backgrounds, some from the primitive, conservative and sometimes rigid, while others come from the modern, open minded and move receptive to changes. The social background brings with itself divergent views that are of comparative nature. As such, when people are not natives of the countries where the study is being taken, they tend to have biases and this poses challenges in comparative education since it results in subjectivity of analysis of the educational issues. All studies ought to be objective rather than subjective for that is the essence of every study even in comparative education.

1. v) Challenge related to Culture and Language.

Quite often than not, ones social background is greatly influenced by ones culture and language. Every country or regional of the world has its own culture and language. These in themselves pose as challenges in comparative education study since there is always a need for fresh studies as one moves from one cultural language group to another. In order for one to have a very good understanding of the issue of study, it will require him or her to employ a thorough examination of the terminology to be employed and used in the study. This is because any terminology used need to be clear to make the study meaningful and useful to the stake holders. Any ambiguity of terminologies may render the study useless and meaningless. Clarity of terminologies in terms of culture and language is of uttermost importance in comparative education studies.

(vi) Challenge related to the Dynamic Character of Education.

The character of education is often said to be dynamic because of the parameters that influence it. For example, it is impossible to find two different communities or societies or even countries which are at the same stage of development. The difference in stages of development of various countries of the world makes it almost impossible to compare two different systems of education. In regard to the time aspect, it is sometimes difficult to access the collected data on good time and this result in outdated data that is collected even before comparisons can be made. New discoveries are also made on daily basis and this influence the type of education offered in different parts of the world. In the so called first world or developed countries, new knowledge that is discovered is disseminated easily and quickly because of the development in technology. While in the so called third world or the developing countries they tend to lag behind in terms of embracing new knowledge. All these and others which influence the character of education, remains as a challenge in comparative education.

(vii) The Challenge of National Character

Just as education has its own character, so does each country have its own national character. In education theory and practice, we cannot understand the education system of a country without sufficient knowledge of the physical and social context, within which the educational system operates.

The character of a nation remains a challenge to comparative education because it influences the educational aims and content of that particular system. Many studies in many countries show that the national character is determined to a large extent by both physical and social environment. According to Michael Sadler a renown comparative education scholar said that “things outside the school often influences things inside the school”. When he talks of things outside the school system he has in mind, geographical, social-economic, historical, religion, technological and cultural environment. These aspects are the ones which shape the national character. As issues, they become important for our understanding of our educational system because they are what determine the national character which in turn influence or determine the education cum school system of country.

(viii) The challenge of Cost and Time.

Comparative studies by and large require substantial amounts of money and more real time. In conducting comparative studies, one requires relevant equipment, traveling, and assembling data from foreign sources. Obtaining the relevant equipment as well as traveling costs to collect reliable first hand data often prove to be enormous. This is why most comparative studies are done either through correspondence or through documentary analysis. This also is not assumed to be cheap. Because of these challenges and others, most universities and especially in developing countries find it increasingly difficult to allocate adequate funds for comparative research. This therefore remains a big challenge to scholars in comparative education.  

Q.3 Describe the concept of Distance Education

Distance education is defined as the practice of using correspondence, either written or virtual, to learn. With this practice, a teacher in New York could provide instruction to students all over the United States and the world. This helps students access teachers who may live geographically too far away to attend a class; it also assists students who cannot take classes during traditional hours because of work or other responsibilities.

While the exact start time of distance education is under debate, the earliest modern form can be traced back to Europe in the early 1800s. The earliest courses were pre-designed materials that would be mailed through the postal service to learners who couldn’t attend universities either because of geography or the high cost of tuition and board. These early courses were called correspondence courses.

In these early courses, there were no opportunities for direct interaction, such as face-to-face meetings or instruction. The student would send an order form in the mail and receive a set of printed course materials. The student would review materials and return assignments in the mail, which the teacher would grade. At the end of the course, the student would take an examination and return the results via post. This provided no opportunities for students to ask questions about assignments or have a discussion with their teacher as it would have taken days or weeks to correspond.

By the late 1800s, correspondence courses had taken off, especially in the United States. Colleges and universities began offering correspondence courses, including some large schools such as Baylor University and the University of Chicago. As popularity in distance education grew, so did the number of schools offering the courses. By the mid-1900s, schools all around the world relied heavily on correspondence courses to supplement their on-campus student bodies.

Distance learning describes any learning that happens without the students being physically present in the lesson. (However, this could also apply to the teacher in certain situations.)

Historically, this described correspondence courses in which students would communicate with their schools or teachers by mail. More recently, distance education has moved online to include a huge range of systems and methods on practically any connected device.

Though there are lots of learning (and teaching) options online, there are a few types that are well supported by existing systems and established pedagogies.

• Video conferencing is a common way for teachers to interact directly with students in live lessons. This could be a one-on-one session or a class-like scenario in which multiple students connect to the teacher live.
• Synchronouslearning is when all the students learn together at the same time (and often even place) but the instructor is at another location. It often features video or teleconferencing that connects teachers and learners digitally.
• Asynchronouslearning is a less connected but also less constrained format. Instead of live online lessons, students are given learning tasks with deadlines. They then self-study to complete the assignments.
• Open-scheduleonline courses add yet another layer of flexibility. It is a type of asynchronous course setup, except there aren’t any deadlines either. This is ideal for learners with other demands on their time, such as professionals or stay-at-home parents.
• Fixed-timeonline courses are a type of synchronous course that requires online users to all visit a specific virtual location at a set time and place (e.g. a webinar). Unlike more rigid synchronous lessons, this does allow students from anywhere in the world to connect and interact online.
• Computer-baseddistance education is a fixed-time, synchronous lesson on computers, usually a computer lab. This is most common in existing institutions that already have access to the necessary devices.
• Hybrid learningis a specific type of blended learning where students are learning the same lesson in real-time (i.e. synchronous distance learning) but some of the students are physically present while others are learning remotely.

Distance education is clearly different from regular education in terms of a student or teacher’s physical presence. But what does that mean, exactly?

For the most    part, it translates into increased freedom for both learners and educators, but it also requires higher degrees of discipline and planning to successfully complete the course of study.

The enhanced freedom of remote learning is most clearly seen in the fact that students can choose courses that fit their schedules and resources. (Teachers can do the same.) And in the case of digital learning, students can also choose the location and teaching styles that best suit their needs.

The flip side of freedom, however, is the discipline required to make the most of the lessons. Students need to self-motivate in order to actually get the work done, especially in systems that don’t require them to be present in some specific time or place. Teachers also need to be better organized with contingencies should their students need additional explanation, again especially if they are not teaching live and able to “read the room.”

In certain cases, however, distance learning is not just required but the best possible option. There are times when the advantages of remote education really have a chance to shine.

Advantages of Distance Learning

Certainly, live instruction is great. The face-to-face contact lets teachers and students connect in a very authentic way, which often results in strong rapport and understanding. While not impossible, this kind of connection still seems much easier in person.

Flexibility

The top benefit of distance education is its flexibility. Students can choose when, where, and how they learn by selecting the time, place, and medium for their education. For those who want direct, live access to teachers there are video conferencing options. But for students who may be doing their training around a job or other responsibilities, a more relaxed schedule may work better. There are options to match virtually anyone’s needs.

And thanks to the proliferation of online learning options, there is a course structure on practically any subject that a person would want to study.

Easy Access

Whether due to remote location or being differently-abled, some students lack basic access to educational facilities. Remote learning programs offer every student the opportunity to learn and improve themself in the environment they find the most effective.

Remote learning also opens up new horizons of education in terms of international institutions. Major universities and trade schools the world over now offer recognized degrees, certificates, and professional qualifications online to learners of all ages.

Less Cost

Thanks to the scalable nature of digital learning especially, distance learning is driving down the cost of education. Online degrees are becoming almost commonplace, and there are even accredited online-only universities that can eliminate expensive infrastructure overhead and get straight to the teaching.

Q.4 Compare and Contrast the primary education methods in USA & Pakistan.

While sitting in a class room in Pakistan, almost every student has a dream to move to USA or other developed countries their higher education. But the point is this why students are not satisfied with education system in Pakistan and why they want to move overseas.

As I found an opportunity to study in USA for one semester and I am writing today about the differences in education of Pakistan and USA that i observed here.

Major Selection:

As far as major selection is considered, it is very flexible, you can change your major at any stage of your Undergraduate Degree. It is also common here to have two or more than two majors in a degree. You have choice to study whatever you want, no matter in which subject or major you were enrolled for the first time. There are no hard and fast rules to switch your major.

In Pakistan, this situation to have multiple majors is not common. No doubt, in many universities Pakistani students has choice to choose their majors after two years of study in their four years Bachelor’s degree. In Pakistan students can study their Master’s degree in a different subject rather than their First major. Conclusion is this that all these options to switch major are not easy to avail sometimes but it exists.

Class Rooms:

It would not be wrong if I say that class room culture in USA Universities is almost totally different from that in Pakistan in both aspects, Behaviors of Students/Teachers and resources availability.

An USA teacher has more resources available in class room than that are available to Pakistani teacher. Almost class rooms of every university are smart class rooms, Teachers can record their lectures that are easily available to students later. Lecture recording is not common in Pakistan but still class rooms in Pakistani universities are equipped with multimedia systems. Behavior of teachers with their students is friendlier than in Pakistan.

Financial Situation of an USA Student:

When I compare the financial situations of USA and Pakistani university students. I found it very worse for USA students and I realized that my country is blessed in this regard.

A Pakistani student who has never traveled to USA, it’s hard for him/her to even imagine how expensive education in USA is.

Most of the students has thoUSAds of dollars loan when they complete their education. During their student life they also have to work hard to manage their finances.

In Pakistan, more option of financial assistance are available to students. And best part is that students have not to return this money after completing their education.

Quality Education:

When we talk about the quality of education in Pakistan and Unites states. It is reality that overall Pakistan is far away from developed countries in this comparison. During a comparison, different points came to mind from curriculum development to teaching styles and behaviors of students.

If I compare the behavior of students in Pakistan and USA.USA students are more keen to learn new things, they do not stick to just their course work. While in Pakistan this trend is not common, one of the tragedy in Pakistan is that students do not read text books but only Power point presentations that is different from USA.

As far as teaching style is concerned, In USA class rooms, teachers engage student in different Interactive and problem solving activities, use of work sheets and to discuss real life scenario is common. Lectures are not boring and easy to understand in USA colleges and Universities.

Community Service in USA Universities:

Volunteer work and community service in USA universities is very common. Students have a belief that to serve back community helps them to groom their personality and it gives satisfaction.

Unfortunately, this trend is not too common in Pakistan.

Conclusion:

In USA I feel that one of prevailing flaws in education is that education is really expensive and students have to work hard to pay tuition and sometimes they are not able to pay or did not find time to focus on their academics in a good way.

This situation sometimes may lead to depression and stress in the life of students.

While in Pakistan, fortunately we have a lot of resources, need of the hour is to just modify teaching techniques and training of teachers. There is also a need of counseling of students and to help them build a positive attitude toward effective learning.

Sri Lanka’s education structure is divided into five parts: primary, junior secondary, senior secondary, collegiate, and tertiary. Primary education lasts five years (Grade 1 to Grade 5) and at the end of this period, the students may elect to write a national exam called the Scholarship exam. This exam allows students with exceptional skills to move on to better schools. After primary education, the junior secondary level (referred to as middle school in some schools) lasts for 4 years (Grades 6-9) followed by 2 years (Grades 10-11) of the senior secondary level which is the preparation for the General Certificate of Education (G.C.E) Ordinary Level (O/Ls). According to the Sri Lankan law, it is compulsory that all children go to school till grade 9 (age 14) at which point they can choose to continue their education or drop out and engage in apprenticeship for a job or farming. However, the Ministry of Education strongly advises all students to continue with their studies at least till the G.C.E Ordinary Level. Students who are pursuing tertiary education must pass the G.C.E O/Ls in order to enter the collegiate level to study for another 2 years (grades 12-13) to sit for the G.C.E Advanced Level. On successful completion of this exam, students can move on to tertiary education, there for the GCE A/Ls is the university entrance exam in Sri Lanka.^[13]

Due to the variety of ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, many schools teach only in either Sinhala medium or in Tamil medium and not the English medium. It is compulsory to do the primary education in Sinhala medium. However since 2002, there are Engish medium classes conducted in majoriy of government schools. The elite colleges in major cities such as Colombo and Kandy, teach in all three media.

Primary

• Kindergarten: 3-5 year olds
• Grade 1: 5-6 year olds
• Grade 2: 6-7 year olds
• Grade 3: 7-8 year olds
• Grade 4: 8-9 year olds
• Grade 5: 9-10 year olds – Scholarship Examination

Most of the schools in Sri Lanka are maintained by the government as a part of the free education. Currently there are 10,012 government schools with a student population of 4.2 million and 235,924 teachers, 736 Pirivenas and also 104 private schools with 127,968 students.<> With the establishment if the provincial council system in the 1980s the central government handed control of most schools to local governments. However the old schools which had been around since the colonial times were retained by the central government, this creating three types of government schools;

• National Schools
• Provincial Schools
• Pirivenas-Schools for Buddhist priests

Q.5 critically analyze the Finances and Control of secondary schools in USA and how Pakistan can benefit from their policy?

Education in USA starts at Pre-School till the university level. The government undertakes the responsibility of a sound education system. Pre-Tertiary education (pre-school to secondary education) is under the Ministry of Education (MOE) and tertiary or higher education is looked after by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The Government aims at making USA a centre of educational excellence. You can study in Malyasia by appearing for the TOEFL test.

Organisational Structure of the Ministry of Education

The pre-tertiary phase of MOE comprises the following:

• The Policy and Educational Development Sector
• The Education Operations Sector
• The Teacher Professional Development Sector
• The Education Development Sector
• The Education Management Sector
• Matriculation Division
• State Education Departments
• Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka
• USA Examination Council

The higher education phase comprises the following departments and sectors:

• The Department of Higher Education
  • Public Higher Education Management Sector
  • Private Higher Education Management Sector
• The Department of Polytechnics Education
• The Department of Community College Education
• The Higher Education Management Sector
• The Higher Education Development Sector
• USA Qualifications Agency
• National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN)
• National Professor Council
• Higher Education Leadership Academy

Primary and Secondary Education in USA

Primary education has duration of six years.  Secondary education is of five years duration, which comprises of three years of lower secondary and two years of upper secondary education. It is a total of eleven years of free education.
The minimum age limit for admission to the first year of primary education is seven. Primary education is compulsory for all children aged between 7 to 12 years. A common entrance examination is held at the end of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels.

Post-Secondary Education in USA

After the completion of secondary education, students can opt to pursue 1 to 2 years of post-secondary education. It is a preparatory course to pursue higher education at the university level. The basic entry requirement to the first year of Bachelor’s degree is the total of 12 years of primary and secondary education.
USA government provides 95% of the primary and secondary education and 60% of tertiary education along with the private sector. USA Qualification Agency (MQA) ensures that quality education is being provided in all the public and private educational institutions.

Tertiary Education in USA

At the tertiary level, institutes offering higher education grants students with degrees, diplomas, certificate etc. The duration of a bachelor’s degree is 3 years and courses at this level are offered by both government and private institutions, attracting a fair amount of foreign students.

Secondary education occupies a very strategic position in the educational pattern of the country. It is the link between primary education and higher education. Primary education is intended to provide minimum requirements for survival where as secondary education enables an individual to become a full members of the complicated society.

After independence our country achieved a great remarkable changes in the field of secondary education. The Government of USA, Soon after attainment of independence appointed a number of committees and commissions to review the system of secondary education.

The various committees recommended certain suggestions for the improvement of secondary education both quantitatively and qualitatively. Tara hand Committee in 1948 suggested the multipurpose type of secondary schools without discouraging the unipurpose schools.

The university education commission 1948-49 which was appointed under the chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, remarked that “our secondary education remains the weakest link in our educational machinery and needs urgent reform.” The landmark in the reconstruction of USA’s secondary education is the secondary education commission report 1952-53.

The commission was appointed by the Government of USA, on September 23, 1952, under the chairmanship of Dr. A. Lakshmanswami Mudaliar to review the existing defects in the secondary education and made some suggestions regarding the improvement of secondary education.

Aims and Objectives of Secondary Education:

Various committees have given their valuable suggestions regarding the aim and objectives of secondary education after independence.

They are as follows:

Aims of secondary education according to secondary education commission (1952-53):

1. To bring all round development among the learner.
2. To train the young mass of the country to be good citizens who will be competent to play their part effectively in the social and economic development of the country.
3. To promote social virtues, intellectual development and practical skills of students.
4. To Train character of students to enable them to participate creatively as citizens in the emerging social order.
5. To improve practical and vocational efficiency of the students.
6. To develop a scientific attitude of mind to think objectively.
7. To inculcate the qualities necessary for living harmoniously and efficiently with one’s fellowmen.
8. To develop artistic and cultural interests which are essential for self-expression and development of all round personality of pupils.

Objectives of secondary education according to USA Education Commission (1964-66):

1. The main objective is “national reconstruction by raising the standard of living of our people.”
2. The education is to meet the needs of a modernizing democratic and socialistic society.
3. It would promote productivity.
4. It would strengthen social and national integration.
5. It would consolidate democracy to adopt as a way of life.
6. It would accelerate the pace of modernization.
7. It would enable students to participate in productive work in school, home, workshop, form and factory etc.
8. It would develop social, moral and spiritual values among the students.

As per the recommendations of USA Education commission, education was reconstructed for the economic and cultural development of the country. Importance was given on qualitative development of secondary education by relating education with the real life situations of the students. The NPE, 1986 and the Revised NPE, 1992 have discussed about the aims and objectives of education in general out of which some are relevant to secondary education.

They are as follows:

1. Secondary education is meant essentially for all round development, material and spiritual.
2. It develops manpower for different levels of the economy, ultimately promoting self-reliance.
3. It develops a sense of good citizenship among the learners.
4. It would inculcate democratic values, rights and duties in a democratic set up among the students.
5. It would strengthen the “whole world as one family” view and motivates, the younger generations for international co-operation and peaceful co-existence.
6. It should provide equality of educational opportunity for all not only in access, but also in the conditions for success.
7. It would inculcate in children scientific temper and independence of mind.
8. Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL) would be laid down and steps need by taken for fostering among students an understanding of a diverse cultural and social systems of the people.
9. It enables to develop physical health through physical education among the students.

Besides these, the secondary education should be based on a national curricular frame work which contains a common core along with other components that are flexible.

The common core would include the history of USA’s Freedom Movement the constitutional obligations and the other content essential to nature and national identity. Promotion of vocational efficiency should form an integral past of secondary education.