Education Across Generations in India (1928–2025): Access, Affordability, Technology, and Institutional Development

Introduction

Recent youth-led protests in Nepal (2025), Bangladesh (2024), and Sri Lanka (2022) have drawn greater attention to generational divides in South Asia, especially regarding Gen Z and the systems that shape them. Education in India has evolved from a limited colonial system to one of the world’s largest education systems. To understand why today’s youth feel empowered by the education system, we must trace nearly a century of transformation—from the colonial classroom of 1928 to the AI-enabled learning environment of 2025. Each generation experienced education differently, shaped by policies, social conditions, technological change, and economic development.

This article presents an intergenerational review of education in India from 1928 to 2025, covering access, affordability, competitiveness, digital transformation, nursery school quotas, the expansion and collapse of engineering education, and inter-state and overseas migration trends.

Education Across Generations in India: A Historical Review

The Silent Generation and Late Colonial Era (1928–1947)

Born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation grew up under British rule. The Hartog Committee (1929) exposed the stark reality: only 8 % of Indians were literate, and higher education was an urban, English-medium privilege reserved for a tiny elite. Institutions such as Presidency College, Kolkata, Aligarh Muslim University, and Banaras Hindu University existed, but access remained extremely restricted. Fees were prohibitive for most families, and technology meant nothing more than chalk, blackboards, and printed textbooks. Education served the colonial administration rather than the masses.

Baby Boomers and the Dream of Nation-Building (1947–1970s)

Independence brought constitutional commitments (Article 45 promised free and compulsory education up to age 14) and ambitious targets. Enrolment in primary schools increased from 19 million in 1950–51 to over 110 million by 1980–81. The University Education Commission (1948–49), Secondary Education Commission (1952–53), and especially the Kothari Commission (1964–66) laid the intellectual foundation for a standard school system and scientific education.

The first five Indian Institutes of Technology—Kharagpur (1951), Bombay (1958), Madras (1959), Kanpur (1959), and Delhi (1961)—were created during this period. So were the Indian Institutes of Management at Calcutta and Ahmedabad in 1961. However, public expenditure on education remained around 2–3% of GDP; the recommended level was 6%. Rural infrastructure remained poor. Gender and caste disparities were glaring.

Generation X and the Era of Liberalisation (1970s–1990s)

Born 1965–1980, Gen X experienced both the licence-raj slowdown and the 1991 economic reforms. The National Policy on Education 1986 (revised 1992) and Operation Blackboard aimed to improve primary school infrastructure, while District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) were established for teacher training.

Private engineering and medical colleges mushroomed after liberalisation. Higher-education gross enrolment ratio (GER) climbed from about 5 % in 1980 to 10 % by 2000, but primarily through self-financed institutions with high capitation fees; this was the first generation to openly talk about education as an “investment” rather than a social good, and many families took out loans or sold land to fund professional degrees.

Millennials and the Digital & Rights-Based Expansion (2000–2015)

The Right to Education Act 2009 made elementary education (ages 6–14) a fundamental right and introduced a 25% reservation in private schools for economically weaker sections. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (2001) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (2009) dramatically increased school infrastructure.

By 2016–17, the higher-education GER went over 25%. Coaching hubs in Kota and online distance-learning programs like IGNOU and state open universities gave millennials choices their parents did not have. Early internet access and smartphones after 2010 made this generation comfortable with blended learning, but the gap between urban and rural areas stayed large.

Generation Z and the Age of Disruption (2015–2025)

Gen Z is the first truly digital-native generation in India. The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) promises the most radical overhaul since independence: multidisciplinary undergraduate programmes, multiple exit options, Academic Bank of Credits, vocational integration from Class 6, and a targeted 50 % higher-education GER by 2035.

Technology milestones include:

• DIKSHA platform (2017)
• SWAYAM MOOCs (hundreds of courses free of cost)
• PM e-VIDYA unifying all digital efforts
• Explosive growth of edtech unicorns (Byju’s, Unacademy, upGrad) during the COVID-19 pandemic

Yet the same generation faces severe contradictions:

• Youth unemployment rate touched 23–25 % in 2023–24 (CMIE data)
• Repeated paper leaks in many states (VYAPAM, NEET 2024 controversies)
• Skyrocketing fees in private universities (₹15–40 lakh for a four-year engineering or medical degree)
• Persistent rural digital divide (only 38 % rural households had internet in 2023–24, against 72 % urban areas)

Looking ahead to Generation Alpha (2013–present): this cohort is born entirely in the smartphone-and-AI era. Gen Alpha is entering a school system shaped by NEP 2020. Early childhood care, coding and AI in the curriculum, and personalised adaptive learning platforms are becoming the norm in privileged schools. The challenge for India is clear. These transformative tools must not further widen inequality.

Education Across Six Generations in India: A Story Told Through One Table (1928–2025)

The story of Indian education over the last hundred years is like a family saga: one table, six generations, and one main truth. Each new generation had more opportunities than the last, but also faced higher emotional and financial costs.

The Silent Generation (born 1928–1945) knew education as a rare privilege. Schools were few, higher education was almost unheard of outside an English-educated elite, and engineering or medicine was the dream of a handful of families in Calcutta, Madras, or Lahore. Digital devices did not exist, costs were low only because almost nobody could afford to study, and migration for education was practically unknown.

Their children, the Baby Boomers (1946–1964), stepped into a newly independent India brimming with hope. Government schools multiplied, the first IITs and IIMs were born as national temples of merit, and engineering began its slow rise as the great middle-class dream. Access was still limited, devices non-existent, costs low (because the government subsidised everything), and studying abroad remained an elite curiosity.

Generation X (1965–1980) grew up with NCERT textbooks and the familiar green-blackboards of government schools, but they were the first to witness the quiet privatisation of dreams. Early computers appeared in a few urban schools, higher education remained difficult, and private engineering colleges began to sprout across Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. Costs moved from low to moderate—many families quietly sold gold or took their first education loans. Migration for educational purposes began, but it remained modest.

Then came the Millennials (1981–1996), the generation that lived through India’s great education explosion. Private school chains covered cities and towns, computer labs became common, higher education expanded dramatically, and between 2000 and 2012, India added more engineering seats than it had in the previous fifty years combined. Kota in Rajasthan became the world’s largest coaching hub. Costs shot up, education loans became normal, and migration—both within India and abroad—became a mass phenomenon; this was the generation that truly believed “engineering = secure future”.

Generation Z (1997–2012) entered school under the Right to Education Act, with smartboards on walls and smartphones in pockets. Higher education access looked impressive on paper, entrance exams became brutally competitive, and yet the very branch their parents had worshipped—engineering—began a visible decline. Thousands of private colleges began closing or running at half-capacity as jobs dried up. Fees reached dizzying heights, the “study abroad” dream became mainstream (even middle-class families targeted USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, and Germany), and a deep sense of betrayal set in: the most educated generation in Indian history was also staring at the highest youth unemployment rates in decades.

Finally, Generation Alpha (2013–2025 and beyond) is growing up in smart classrooms shaped by the National Education Policy 2020. Tablets and AI tools are standard in privileged schools, higher education is expanding faster than ever, and competition for the best institutions has become ferocious. Costs are the highest in Indian history, engineering is no longer the default dream (new fields like AI, design, and liberal arts are rising), and migration—both within India and abroad—has become the default middle-class strategy. For Alpha, studying outside their home state or even outside India is no longer an aspiration; it is the plan.

Six generations. From “almost nobody went to college” to “almost everybody wants to leave the country for college”. From blackboards to AI tutors. From government subsidies to multi-crore education loans. From quiet acceptance to loud frustration on the streets. This table is not just data—it is the story of a nation that opened the doors of education wider with every passing decade, but somehow forgot to build enough dignified livelihoods on the other side.

Summary Table: Education Across Generations: 1928–2025

Generation	Years	School Access	Digital Devices	Higher Education Access	IIT/IIM/Medical	Cost	Engineering Trend	Migration
Generation Alpha (6)	2013–2025	Smart classrooms, NEP reforms	AI tools, tablets	High expansion	Highly competitive	Highest	New rise	Very high (India + abroad)
Generation Z (5)	1997–2012	Smartboards, RTE era	Smartphones	Good access	Highly competitive	High	Decline, closures	High
Millennials / Gen Y (4)	1981–1996	Private school boom	Computers, early digital	Large expansion	Tough	Rising costs	Massive rise (2000–12)	High migration
Generation X (3)	1965–1980	NCERT era	Early computers	Moderate	Very tough	Low–Moderate	Slow rise	Moderate
Baby Boomers (2)	1946–1964	Government expansion	None	Limited	Elite	Low	Early growth	Low
Silent Generation (1)	1928–1945	Very limited	None	Rare	Elite	Low	Pre-engineering era	Rare

Concluding Observations

India has made significant progress in expanding access to schooling and higher education. However, disparities persist across social groups, states, rural–urban locations, and income levels. Digital divides remain a significant barrier despite the rapid adoption of technology. Engineering education needs to be restructured to meet contemporary skill needs. NEP 2020 offers a future-oriented framework, but implementation gaps continue.

Unfinished Tasks (Based on Enrollment, Dropout, Transition, Retention Indicators)

• Universalisation of secondary education with reduced dropout rates.
• Improved teacher availability, training, and motivation.
• Strengthening digital infrastructure, devices, and connectivity in rural areas.
• Reducing financial burden on families due to rising fees.
• Ensuring quality engineering education is aligned with industry demands.
• Better data transparency; many key educational datasets are no longer publicly accessible etc.

Suggested Reading

• National Education Policy (2020)
• UDISE+ Reports (2012–2024)
• All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)
• ASER Reports
• AICTE Annual Reports
• UNESCO & World Bank Education Reports

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