Educational research in India: Policy and Practice

This paper examines the nature of educational research in India and its implication for policy making and practice. It begins with the description of the system of education in India. The paper further presents a conceptual framework for undertaking policy research in education. The policy research may be related to its formulation and implementation. The research can take the form of theoretical analysis, critique, field survey and studies, and case studies. The results of this research provide feedback to the educational policy. An analysis of an educational research in India indicates that most of the research has primarily been of academic nature and rarely attempts have been made to conduct studies having policy implications. Input for the formulation of educational policy in India has mainly come from the reports of the Commissions and Committees, Five Year Plans, All India Educational Surveys, etc. The paper argues for undertaking researches on socially relevant problems having implication for policy and practice.