The early impact from the late 18th century and the 19th century led to some awakening which primarily aimed at abolition of certain social practices and reinterpretation of traditional religion. In the same period were set afoot certain developments, which led to a greater awakening of India later. The response-pattern of educated Indians to the phenomenon of Westernization that occurred from the second half of the 19th century had been different from what it was earlier. During the seocnd phase, modernization increasingly meant sense of nationalism and secularism. The changes that were introduced in education coupled with mass media led to the growth of new consciousness and structure of values. Some of the institutional developments which had a direct bearing on the creation of a "Great Tradition" of modernization (Yogendra Singh) were the growth of universalistic legal super-structure, expansion of education, urbanization and industrialization, growth of communication network, and growth of nationalism and politicization of society.
Talking of education, the system of education as introduced by the British has been both quantitatively and qualitatively different. Modern education is liberal in content and it is steeped in modern scientific world-view. Freedom, equality, humanism and denial of dogmas are the themes of this new education.
The means of imparting education has been the English language from 1835 onwards. The very means has been instrumental in the opening up of the vast store of Western knowledge to the educated people of India.
Apart from the content part, in structure also, education has been transformed. The first is the primary vernacular education. The second is high school and secondary education. From the very beginning, a contradiction existed between the primary and the college-university level of education on account of both the medium and the content of education. Regarding medium, the primary education is based on the vernaculars; whereas, the college-university education is based on English language. Content-wise the primary education primary aims at the imparting of rudimentary knowledge but not enlightenment.
Also, an interesting dimension to this structural change in education has been the social classes which made use of this development. Ritually superior classes and the economically poor strata of society seek only primary education. Logically, this has resulted in the bifurcation of society into two categories of people- the high and the low. In other words, a new creation has come to the introduced in the stratification of society. And this disjunction between the educated in English medium and the others in the vernaculars still continues.
The significance of education in the process of modernization can be analysed in three areas. From the content point of view it has been modernizing and liberal in nature. The literary content of the courses in humanities and social sciences is primarily drawn from the literatures of Europe after the 16th century and its themes are humanistic, secular and liberal. It is interesting to note that John Stuart Mill's eassy "on Liberty", soon after its publicaition, became a text in Indian colleges: Another interesting element in the content of education has been the emphasis on humanistic evolution of social, political and historical issues. This led to the sociological consequences of disenchantment with traditional education and even traditions. Study of subjects like history, geography, economics and political science draws the attention of students to the social and physical realities of the world as it is today, thus leading modern generations away from the traditional outlook and system of values.
Regarding the organization structure, the new system is quite different from the old. Teachers are appoinated on the basis of achievement in education, irrespective of caste or birth. In other words, the structure of the teaching profession has also come to be secularized. As already said this eduation has been divided into three levels leading to a new kind of separatism of society.
The third feature of the education is the continuing growth of the whole system. The number of entrants to educational institutions as well as the education institutions have grown phenomenally. The percentage of girls going to schools and colleges has also increased. In states, schooling has been made free and compulsory till a particular age. Vocational and technical institutions have been started for the economic and social growth of the country.
Despite these vast changes, the expansion of education has not led to any sociologically meaningful degree of mobility and change in stratification system. Higher education is still confined to the upper classes. Nearly 70 per cent of the people are still illiterate. The per-capita expenditure on education is very low.
Even then, education has been one of the most influential instruments of modernization of India. It has contributed to the growth of an intelligentsia which is eager for social and cultural reforms even till today. It has created a sub-culture of students consisting of elements of transition from tradition to modernity. The growth of strains in the sub-culture is an indication of stress of transition of the whole of India itself. Most important contribution of education has been the growth of new forms of rationally organized structures in the shape of schools, colleges and universities which serve as cultural networks for the transmission of knowledge and cultural categories which are modern in nature.
