Pune: Encyclopedia II - Pune - Education

Pune - Education

Schools in Pune are either run by the PMC, in which case they are called public schools, or privately by trusts and individuals. Private schools have been preferred by a majority of city residents because of better facilities and the use of English language as the medium of instruction. All private schools are affiliated either with the Maharashtra state SSC board or the all-India Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and CBSE boards. Demand is especially high for ICSE, CBSE affiliated schools and those run by convents or by the Jesuits. The government-run public schools lack many facilities, but are the only option for most of the poor who cannot afford the fees in private schools.

After ten years of schooling, students enroll for two years in a Junior College where they choose from one of the four popular streams: Arts, Commerce, Science and Law. This is followed by a professional degree course in the corresponding stream. All professional colleges in Pune are affiliated to the University of Pune, one of the largest universities in the world in terms of matriculation. The Government College of Engineering, Pune, one of India's premier engineering universities, and the SNDT Women's University, open to women only, are the other universities in Pune.

National Defence Academy (NDA), which trains officers of India's armed forces, is located at Khadakwasla, on the outskirts of Pune.

Students from all over India and the world come to Pune for higher education, particularly in engineering and management. Pune is also rapidly becoming a major center for Information Technology (IT) in India. With numerous engineering and management institutes it was called the Oxford of the East by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Education", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki