305started a postgraduate course titled as M. Ed (Masters in Education) for a duration
of 1 year. The first doctoral degree in education was awarded by Bombay University
in 1943 for a thesis titled ‘Factor Analysis of Arithmetic Ability’ (Rani et al. 2012 ).
These were beginnings of emergence of education as a field of study.
Over a period of time, there were proliferation of universities offering courses
and study programmes leading to degrees in education. At present more than 150
universities and nearly 1100 colleges in India offer study programmes in education
(Table 17.1). Nearly 73% of the study programmes are M. Ed which are mostly of
1-year duration, while 25% are Master’s degree programmes (Master of Arts in
Education) which are of 2-year duration. The education study programmes enrol
nearly 1.29 million students accounting for 5.4% of the total enrolment in higher
education (UGC 2014 ). In 2013 the universities in India awarded a total of 1570
research degrees in education.
It can be seen that the study programmes in education proliferated over a period
of time. The study programmes were essentially for preparation of teachers for the
school sector and for education departments in the colleges and universities. The
study programmes leading to undergraduate or graduate degrees in higher education
are almost absent in India.
Educational Research in India
The educational research takes place in India through universities, specialized
research institutions, private bodies and governmental and non-governmental orga-
nizations. A good share of educational research, especially higher education
research, takes place through social science research (SSR) institutions. India is
strong in terms of institutional framework for SSR and education sector is a benefi-
ciary of SSR efforts in India.
India has a stronger research tradition in education and social sciences than other
countries in South Asia. While other countries in the region were not only late to
enter the field of research but also that they relied on external funding or NGO sup-
port for social science and education research, India, on the other hand, relied
mainly on public institutions and government funding for SSR and education
research. No wonder, nearly 75–80% of social science research institutions in South
Asia are located in India (Krishna and Krishna 2010 ).
Table 17.1 Degree and above level programmes in education in 2015
Degrees Number of colleges offering Per cent
MA (Education) 277 25.3
MBA (Education) 11 1.0
M. Ed 773 70.6
M. Ed (Special Education) 24 2.2
M. Sc (Extension Education) 10 0.9
Total 1095 100.0
Source: compiled from the courses from institutions MHRD 2015
17 Education Research and Emergence of Higher Education as a Field of Study in India