Social Functions of Education

Education is concerned with all people and considered as basic social need
of all societies. John Dewey viewed that being a social need it performs
major functions to the society as following.

(a) Transmission of culture: Human beings are world building creature.

The sum total of such creations, its preservation and transmission to the
next generation are the core concern of any culture. The culture makes a
distinction with other creatures. Each society has its own cultural heritage
which they preserve and transmit to next generation. The most important
role of education is to transmit the tradition, culture, skill and
knowledge to the new members of the society. Thus culture is the most
common link between society and education. Now you must be
interested to know what is culture and its relation with society and
education. Culture is a broad term which includes everything of human
society. E.B. Tylor, British social anthropologist, defined culture as ‘a
complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs,
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society’. Since inception of society itself, we can see that each society has
some or other mechanism to educate and train their members through
various agencies of society, like family, community, and other formal
institutions.

(b) Reduce inequality and disparity: Education gives us knowledge and

knowledge is power. Education plays a significant role to society by solving
its problems. Rabindrinath Tagore writes “In finding the solution to our
problem, we shall have helped to solve the world problem as well....If India
can offer to the world her solution, it will be a contribution to humanity.”
Through education one can acquire knowledge and participate in the
process of empowerment. Indian traditional education system was neither
open to all nor it had any uniformity. It was elitist in character and
supported with religious purpose rather based on rationality which has
created socioeconomic inequality. After independence, constitutional
provisions (Article 21-A and 45) changed this elitist approach to egalitarian
approach and the process of empowerment observed in various empirical
studies. UN Millennium Development Goals (2000) targeted eight goals in
which two are significant here- first is to achieve universal primary
education and secondly, gender equity. These have been accepted by 189
countries of the world including India. Following this goal Sarva Sikhsa
Abhiyan (SSA) as a national flagship programme launched. For female
literacy many initiative have been taken such as Mahila Sankhya, Kasturba
Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) etc. So far as concern of regional disparity,
development of any region directly correlated with education status of that
region. Thus, regional development is very much dependent on education,
health and economic status of any region.

(c) Social mobility and social change: Social stratification is a universal

social fact. Social mobility refers the movement of individual and group
position or status in the social hierarchy of any society. There are two
important factors of social mobility- education and income status. Now, free
and compulsory education to all provides opportunity to enhance one’s
educational and income status. In India, since independence, Equality of
education opportunity has proved which was earlier restricted.

(d) Development of new knowledge: Education is the way to acquire

knowledge to achieve success in its life. Through education we develop new
knowledge or addition to the existing knowledge to fulfil our new necessity.
As we know that necessity is the mother of inventions. From simple savage
society till present postmodern society, we can observe the drastic changes
due to many inventions and discoveries. The initial knowledge of metals, fire
and wheel played critical role in ancient development throughout world
civilization. It acted as the turning point from food gathering to settled
agriculture society. Similarly, there are many other examples of new
knowledge in the history of mankind. Contemporary technological revolution
through internet, multimedia and communication made the whole world as
one village.

(e) Individual development- Education is very important for an individual’s

success in life. Education provides pupils with skills that prepare them
physically, mentally and socially for the world of work in later life. Higher
education helps in maintaining a healthy society which prepares health care
professionals, educated health care consumers and maintaining healthy
population. If there is a deficit of educated people then society will stops its
further progress.

Therefore, we can see the role played by the education process towards
society as a whole. Here, Education system included all forms including
formal, informal and non-formal education. The combination of these forms
may vary with time and space. Informal education process is the oldest form
and its existence is as long as society itself. Formal and non-formal are
plays later development. Informal education is characterized with changed
relationship between learner and teacher in informal learning context, while
the goals of informal education are always rooted firmly in value system. It
has no direct concern with degrees or diplomas and supplements both
formal and non-formal education. All these forms of education not evolved
uniformly in different parts of the world. The Percentages of the population
with no schooling varied greatly among less developed countries from less
than 10 % to over 65 %, while more developed countries had much less
variation, ranging from less than 2 % to 17 % (World Development Report
2000).

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL DIVERSITY

Let us analyse the influence of social diversity on education and vice versa
in terms of access, participation and achievement:

Differential Access: Reaching the Unreached

Following constitutional commitment of providing education to all, there

has been considerable expansion of educational facilities since
Independence. A major bottleneck in this respect has been the persistence of
group and regional disparities. There are still a large number of inaccessible
habitations most of which belong to the disadvantaged groups. A large
number of children are out of school. Besides there is the problem of social
access to school, as even in the habitations with school the children
belonging to SC/ST and minority groups either do not get enrolled or are not
attending the school. The problem of inadequate access, therefore, needs to
be studied in terms of groups. The children from different social and
economic groups attend different types of school. While the children from
higher socio-economic groups attend good quality schools (i.e. schools well
equipped with infrastructure and competent teachers), the children from
disadvantaged groups end up in the poor quality schools (i-e. single teacher,
multigrade situations, poorly trained teachers). The need, therefore, is to
intensify the efforts to make educational facilities accessible to such
deprived groups in the deprived regions. This, in turn, means making
special provisions to the disadvantaged children such as girls, SC/ST and
minority groups. Furthermore this also calls for going beyond the rigid
education system and making provisions of non formal or alternative
education for children who either drop out or do not enrol at all. In order to
cover the remote and inaccessible areas and groups, the government has
adopted two strategies: a) reducing the norms (population and distance) for
opening schools in smaller habitations and b) opening various alternative
education centres to suit the needs of particular groups.

Uneven Participation and Completion

The children's access to school does not ensure their participation in

schooling. The children should stay in the school to complete full cycle of
elementary or secondary schooling. By participation, we mean children's
enrolment, attendance and completion of the schooling. The problem of
differential access is compounded by differential participation. Despite
improvement in enrolment rates, the dropouts continue to remain high, and
higher among girls, SCs and STs (GOI, 2003). The group disparities are also
reflected in regional disparities. One of the immediate tasks for the
government is to bridge all gender and social gaps in enrolment and
retention within a specified time frame. This also emerges from our
constitutional concern as has been expressed in Article-46 of the
Constitution of India, 'The State shall promote with special care the
educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and
in particular the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and shall protect them from
social justice and all forms of exploitation'.

Fulfilling constitutional commitment requires targeting of educational

interventions to the needy groups. A number of programmes have been
launched for improving the children's participation in school such as
midday meal and other incentives (attendance allowance, free textbooks and
uniforms), early childhood care and education, ashram schools etc. hem
from social justice and all forms of exploitation'

Achievement: Equitable Quality in Education

The school education system in India has expanded manifold. This obviously
poses a major challenge not only for efficient management but also for
mobilizing resources and maintaining a reasonable level of quality. It is
recognized that quality improvement in education cannot be carried on a
turnkey basis. One of the major challenges of the education system in a
diverse country like India is to provide a quality education to all the groups
who are at different stages of development.

On theoretical plane, there is an inherent conflict between quality and

equality in education. Quality breeds inequality, while equality hampers
quality. The term 'quality' means excellence. Excessive emphasis on
excellence in education may become discriminatory, as the children from
various disadvantaged groups who have not been exposed to modem
education so far, find it difficult to cope with demands of the education
system. The higher dropout rate among the disadvantaged children is also
related with learning difficulties due to excessive curriculum load. Treating
all the groups at par would, therefore, not be a suitable strategy in this case.
On the other hand, if educational standard is set at the minimum for all
children by keeping in mind the disadvantaged children, it would go against
the children belonging to well educated family. The cycle of deprivation is
likely to continue for the disadvantaged children in both the cases.

This dilemma has the implication for a pedagogic strategy sensitive to the
prevailing social diversity. Education for social diversity therefore amounts
to a carefully programmed induction into the complexity of the society and
achieving equitable quality in education. Achieving excellence is the prime
objective of education, but the system should create suitable environment
for all the members of society. One may argue that in curricular terms,
social diversity means diversified approach to knowledge or acquisition of
knowledge.

Furthermore, the quality of education in government schools has been

deteriorating over the years. The deteriorating condition of government
schools has implication for disadvantaged children, as they are the ones
who end up with these schools .Evidence shows that it is the poor people
who access government schools. The children from higher income groups
usually study in private schools. The dysfunctional schools continue to be
an area of concern in the more underdeveloped regions of the country.
Recent reports have indicated gender bias in school choice by parents. That
is, the villagers send girls to government schools and boys to private schools
for two reasons a) they still consider girls as liability and b) girls are entitled
to various types of incentives.

On the whole, social groups are at different stages of educational

development. This is reflected in their differential responses in the schooling
system in terms of access, participation and achievement. The delay in
achieving the Universal Elementary Education is related with differential
educational development of the groups.

RECENT CHALLENGES OF DIVERSITY FOR EDUCATION

The concept of social diversities cannot be understood adequately, unless

one is able to explain the underlying disparities prevailing within and among
the diverse groups. The social groups are at different levels of educational
and economic development. We will now look at some of the major
challenges currently being faced by the education system:

Achieving the Unfinished Task

The task of providing basic education to all the citizens remains unfulfilled
till today. The Article-45 of the Constitution of India set the deadline for
achieving the goal of Universal Elementary Education (UEE) in 1951:

'The State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the
commencement of this Constitution for free and compulsory education for
all children until they complete the age of fourteen years'

In response to the constitutional commitment, several programmes have

been launched for educational development. The constitutional goal of
achieving the UEE remains elusive even after over 50 years of planned
educational development and even now it is the most important challenge
for the Indian education system. One of the main reasons of the delay in
achievement of UEE is that the disadvantaged groups such as the SCI ST,
minority groups have not been able to take advantage of educational
facilities supplied to them. One can visualize this in differential educational
development of the social groups in India. That is, educational development
is still pursued in supply form. In recent years, various centrally sponsored
educational programmes and schemes have been launched for improving
the educational conditions of the people. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a centrally
sponsored scheme has been launched in all the states to achieve the goal of
universal elementary education. Much would depend how effectively the
programme is implemented.

Cultural Nationalism and Nation Building Diversity and Education

As discussed above, India is highly diverse in terms of ethnic composition,

religions and languages. The diversity has both assimilative and fissiparous
tendencies. The question that comes up is: 'Is social diversity likely to
contribute to the harmonious evolution of society or is it a potential threat to
social stability?' Recently, the country has been experiencing social tension
and conflict, posing threat to its unity. One of the major challenges for the
state is to maintain an integral balance among the diverse groups.
Education being an instrument of social stability and change has a vital role
to play.

The UNESCO Charter in its opening statement remarked, 'since wars begin
in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace
must be created'. Education, therefore, can play a vital role in creating
conditions of peaceful coexistence among the competing groups. This has
implication for pedagogy, teacher training and classroom transaction. One
needs to take into account questions such as: How should teachers assist
their students to realize their full potential in a highly diversified society like
India, or enable them to resolve conflicts arising out of pup differences?
What guidance can be given to the teachers, parents and others interested
in education that will help them to cope sensitively with the educational
needs of individuals from different social backgrounds?

Besides teacher training and classroom transaction, curriculum and school

textbooks need to be sensitive to the implication of prevailing diversities in
the society. By factoring diversity into our curriculum and textbooks, we
mean knowing about others and transcending the rigid cultural barriers.
The prevailing social and cultural practices and ethos should be reflected in
the textbooks. Recent controversies regarding history curriculum and
textbooks have brought the agenda of cohesion, peace and harmony to the
forefront. Multicultural approach should be adopted while imparting
education in a socially and culturally diverse society. This entails upon
incorporation of experiences of the diverse groups and promotion of
intercultural understanding.

Globalization and Education

Modern formal education is the medium through which globalization is

being spread throughout the world. The process is intensified ‘with
remarkable progress in the field of information technology. Globalization has
strong linkage with education, because the task of transferring ever
increasing knowledge and skills is entrusted with the education system.
India is not isolated from this impact. The history of educational
development in the country shows that education is both the cause and
consequence of globalization. In India, the modern formal education was
started by the British to serve its global interests. Even today, to a great
extent, the ethos and thrust of education remain the same. Both the school
education and higher education promote the cause of globalization, as they
prepare the learners for outside world by delinking them from their cultural
roots.

The process of privatization in all sectors heightens globalization drive.

Education is not untouched in this respect. A large number of private
schools are being opened in various parts of the country. The phenomenon
is also affecting the rural areas. The spurt in the number of private schools
is an outcome of unfulfilled educational demand of the affluent sections of
society and their dissatisfaction with low quality of education in the
government schools. It is most likely that the increasing privatization in
education sector will accentuate disparities between the disadvantaged and
the advantaged and reduce commitment for quality improvement in
government schools.

Globalization promotes individualism, by breaking down the cultural and

social boundaries. It makes the task of solving problems arising out of social
diversification. Globalization supports survival of the fittest policy for
individuals and intensifies further concentration of prevailing disadvantages
in particular groups. One of the impending dangers of globalization is that it
would put the disadvantaged groups at the mercy of individual whims and
break local indigenous survival networks without providing a viable
alternative. This process of alienation is embedded in the education system.
Mahatma Gandhi pointed out this danger in his remark that the greatest
evil of the present educational system was that it had broken up the
continuity of our existence.

SUMMARY
India is a land of diversities. Its diversity is expressed in terms of language,
religion, caste, tribes and gender. The diversity is a result of both internal
differentiation and external influence. The processes of differentiation and
unification have been going on simultaneously. The groups that have been
differentiated on one social marker may be seen united on others. For
instance, the groups which are divided on religious lines such as the Hindu,
the Muslims etc. are united in terms of languages, gender etc. Thus 'unity'
amidst diversity' prevails in the Indian society. However the balance between
diversity and unity is delicate and fraught with several problems. One needs
to analyze the power relations between diverse groups.

The major implication of the social diversity for the education system is
bringing the diverse groups at par, as the groups are at different levels of
educational and economic development. One basic objective of the education
system is to accommodate the diversities that exist in the population.
However assessment of the educational development indicates that although
substantial progress has been made in the field of education during the last
five decades, gaps continue to exist between regions, states in terms of
gender and social groupings. Despite the constitutional promise of equality
in Independent India, the hierarchies in terms of educational access,
participation and achievement are getting reinforced between the
advantaged and the disadvantaged groups. The tribes, dalits (Scheduled
Castes), minorities and girls continue to be deprived and further
marginalized.

The education system is facing the major challenges of achieving UEE,

bringing the disadvantaged into the national mainstream, and preparing
them against the dangers of globalization. One of the major challenges for
the education system in India has been to achieve universal elementary
education (UEE). The main reason for the delay in achievement of UEE is
that the education system has not been able to bring the most
disadvantaged, that is, the SC, the ST and girls within its fold fully. These
groups are suffering from multiple disadvantages. The education system
needs to treat the disadvantaged groups as special focus groups and reform
its pedagogy in such a way that the most disadvantaged gets the maximum
benefits and support.
ROLE OF EDUCATION IN THE ELIMINATION OF LINGUISM.

1. Education for national integration

2. Inculcation of democratic principle for language options in education

3. Creating interest for language study

4. Co-curricular activities: (a) Competitions, games, dramas promoting

respect for Indian Languages (b) Appreciation of contributions of great poets
and authors to the development of Indian languages.

5.The 3 language formula is given by Kothari Commission which is modified

and revised form of earlier policy, equalizes the language burden and also
develops the Indian identity in every in every citizens through the learning of
a common language and it has been adopted by all the states a. Mother
tongue/ Regional language b. Official Indian language or associate official
Indian languages c. Modern Indian language or western language not
included in (a) or (b).

CONCLUSION: Finally it should be remembered that in order to solve the

problems of linguism it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive viewpoint.
Each language should be encouraged by the government in every region. If
the prejudice concerning the other language is removed from the mind and
comprehensive and sympathetic viewpoint is adopted it becomes possible for
a number of languages to prosper

ROLE OF EDUCATION IN ERADICATING REGIONALISM:-

1. Encouragement of travel and communication

2. Propagating National History

3. Prevention of influence of Regional political parties in education

4. Purposive teaching of History In literature, not only English, Hindi and

the regional language must be included but other languages must also be
made familiar.

Conclusion: Education cannot solve the problem but it can create a

background in the minds of the children to think beyond regional
boundaries and to make approach wide and positive. Regionalism cannot be
considered as a big problem unless it hampers the nation‘s unity. It is such
a problem that cannot be solved all of sudden. The problem should be
handled tactfully and education is the most effective solution to create social
harmony.
ROLE OF EDUCATION IN ERADICATING COMMUNALISM/ RELIGIOUS
DISPARITIES

1.The government should not yield to communal pressures and their

negative influence on educational aims and policies. A Secular policy must
pervade nationwide in all educational institutions.

2. Educational system must be reconstructed to emphasize nature of our

culture and inculcate secularism and scientific temper among young
students

3. Curriculum and textbooks should be free from religious bias.

4. Co-curricular Activities should promote Secularism

(i ) General Assembly: Secular Atmosphere- prayers of all religious.

(ii ) Celebration of Festivals of all religions with equal fervour.

(iii) Emphasis on Essential contribution of different Religions.

(iv) Tribute to various Religious headers on important days.

(v) Emphasis on the importance of Democracy/Equality and Brotherhood