Uttar Pradesh - Education

Education

Uttar Pradesh has a long tradition of education, although historically it was primarily confined to the elite class and religious schools. Sanskrit-based learning formed the major part of education from the Vedic to the Gupta periods. As cultures traveled through the region they brought their bodies of knowledge with them, adding Pali, Persian, and Arabic scholarship to the community. These formed the core of Hindu-Buddhist-Muslim education until the rise of British colonialism. The present schools-to-university system of education owes its inception and development in the state (as in the rest of the country) to foreign Christian missionaries and the British colonial administration. Schools in the state are either managed by the government or by private trusts. Hindi is used as a medium of instruction in most of the schools except those affiliated to the CBSE or the Council for ICSE boards. Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing secondary school, students typically enroll for 2 years in a junior college, also known as pre-university, or in schools with a higher secondary facility affiliated with the Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education or a central board. Students choose from one of three streams, namely liberal arts, commerce, or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students may enroll in general or professional degree programs.

Uttar Pradesh has more than 30 universities, including 4 central universities, 20 state universities, 8 deemed universities, 2 IITs, 1 IIM in Lucknow, 1 NIT in Allahabad and several polytechnics, engineering colleges and industrial training institutes. Prestigious institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, and the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology are known worldwide for their quality education and research in their respective fields. The presence of such institutions provides the students of the state with ample opportunities for higher education. Other universities in the state include Banaras Hindu University, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Aligarh Muslim University, University of Allahabad, Indian Veterinary Research Institute Bareilly, IMT Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Technical University, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, and King George's Medical University.

The Integral University, a state level institution, was established by the Uttar Pradesh Government to provide education in different technical, applied science, and other disciplines. The Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies was founded as an autonomous organization by the national ministry of culture. Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University is the only university established exclusively for the disabled in the world. A large number of Indian scholars are educated at different universities in Uttar Pradesh. The state has produced likes of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Motilal Nehru, Harish Chandra and Indira Gandhi.