Education in South Asia

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter looks at the way the forces of globalization and, contextual factors together have shaped the trajectory and outcomes of education in the South Asian region which comprises India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. External influence on the education of this region is not at all a recent phenomenon. The arrival of rulers from Central Asia, the spread of Christianity and Islam through trade connections during the first millennium and finally, the British Colonialism influenced the nature of education in the region historically. The social context, for example, the caste system or discriminatory gender norms also determined the access to education and the ways through which it developed over time. [For the complete volume, "World Education Patterns in the Global South: The Ebb of Global Forces and the Flow of Contextual Imperatives. International Perspectives on Education and Society. Volume 43B," see ED674982.]