EDUCATION
Prime Minister’s concern about
the declining quality of education in India is worth giving a relook. He
rightly noticed that the Indian Universities have failed to make up to the list
of world’s top educations institutions. He has talked about the lack of
inter-disciplinary researched, shortage of faculty, growing demand of education
with expanding economy and population.
India has been neglecting heath
and education sector for a long time. We have very low budgetary allocation for
both the sectors. Our budgetary allocation for education in 2013 budget stood
at: Rs. 65, 000 crore. Out of which, the flagship scheme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA) was allocated Rs.27,258 crore (aimed at implementing the Right to Education Act that
promises education to all children in the 6-14 age group).
Amartya Sen is of the view that
heath an education do not only help in improving the human capital that goes on
to support the economic growth but the two actually lies at the very heart of
the development goals of a State. There is a complementarity here. If people won’t
be healthy and educated all other developments will become soulless and
unsustainable.
We have talked about increasing literacy
percentage in India but it should be noted that the definition of literacy had
been 'both ability to read and write in any language’ as per Ministry of Home
Affairs, GoI. Several studies have shown that students in class five find it
difficult to add or subtract four digit numbers. The mid-day meal scheme has
been instrumental in improving the enrolment figures but quality of education
imparted is still a question mark. Then there is a problem of shortage or
absentee teachers. Without a holistic scheme on education that includes
training teachers and incentivising the occupation of teaching by raising
salaries, we cannot hope for achieving the right ends.
Corporate investment under
Corporate Social Responsibility in raising educational incubators can improve the
educational facilities in higher education.
Education and Skill Development and the 12th Five Year Plan
The 12th five year plan
identifies the concern that a fifth grade student finds difficulty in reading a
second grade text at many places. It calls for decentralization of recruitment
process of the teachers so as to address the problem of accountability in
teacher selection process. There are half-million vacancies of teachers in
India. For the successful implementation of RTE, 2009, teacher recruitment
becomes the first priority. 0.6 Million teachers in public schools are untrained.
The National Curriculum Framework
for Teacher Education, 2009 calls for a shift to four year teacher training
programme. To access the grade competency and quality of teacher there should a
grading system in place. The government can also consider training teacher
under PPP model.
MDMS can draw private investments
if the government comes up with certain tax exemption for private investors who
are willing to invest in education. There is also a need of to converge the
Central schemes such as MGNREGA with education schemes to as we can provide a
holistic development to the poor. Web based monitoring of SSA and MDMS aimed at
making the schemes more transparent can make the implementers more accountable
to public.
Expansion of Secondary Education
Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) at
the secondary school stage (classes IX-X) is currently around 60.0 % which is
very low. The Rastriya Madhamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) was launched during the
11th five year plan with an aim of improving the enrolment and
quality in secondary schools. The centrally funded Kendriya Vidyalayas and
Navodyalayas have done well so far. There is a need expanding their coverage.
Right now there are 1,060 KVs and 576 NVs.
Vocational training should be aligned
with school education. This will improve occupational mobility. The National
Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) is already in place.
Higher Education
Currently 18% of budget allocated
for education is spent on higher education. It should be raised to 25 %. State
Universities and their affiliated institutions provide for 90% of total
enrolment and yet they suffer from severe fund constraints and poor governance.
Some reforms are underway.
Educational tribunals for quick redressal of disputes, National Commission on
Higher Education and Research (NCHER) to ensure more autonomy of the
institution and entry of foreign education providers.
There is need of connecting the
students with the society. The NSS and NCC need adequate boost. Our problems
can be solved with our innovation and that can come with more engagement of the
educational centers with the public.
In India the scientific and
research community works in isolation and there is little contact with the
students pursuing graduate courses. This has to be corrected. When the students
will have more contact, they will aspire to go into research and it will help
in improving the quality of research in the long run.
ICT and Distance Education:
Prasaar Bharti have been using
the television platform for educational purposes. ISRO launched GSAT-3 (EDUSAT)
in 2004. The satellite is totally meant for educational purposes. Many people
or India who don’t have access of means, can get education through satellite.
More investment in such endeavour coupled with improvement in technology can go
a long way in educating more and more Indians.
There are three challenges involved
in distant education:
1. Challenge
of Language: India is a multi-lingual country and it is not possible to meet
the needs of one and all without translating the study material in several
languages.
2. Challenge
of content: Being a vast nation, the content has to vary from place to place.
3. Challenge
of Cost: India is still battling to provide for the basic needs of living such
as food and shelter to a vast number of its people. The network devices are
costly. Aakash tablets are still to come up with some glitches such as low
battery backup, low capability etc.
With advancement of Information
and Communication Technology, the next goal that India can eye upon can be
spread of internet network and connecting more and more people with data so
that they can teach themselves.
ANNEXURE
What is the mandate of UGC?
UGS is a statutory body, established
in November 1956 by the GoI.
·
Promoting and coordinating university education.
·
Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination
and research in universities.
·
Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.
·
Monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and
university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.
·
Serving as a vital link between the Union and state governments
and institutions of higher learning.
·
Advising the Central and State governments on the measures
necessary for improvement of university education.
What is AICTE?
The AICTE was constituted in 1945
as an advisory body in all matters relating to technical education.
AICTE is an Apex which has
several functions, some of them being:
·
Undertake survey in the various fields of
technical education, collect data on all related matters and make forecast of
the needed growth and development in technical education;
·
Coordinate the development of the technical
education in the country at all levels;
·
Allocate and disburse out of the Fund of the
Council such grants, on such terms and conditions as it may think fit to
institutions.
·
Promote innovations, research and development in
established and new technologies, generation, adoption and adaptation of new
technologies to meet development requirements and for over-all improvement of
educational processes.
·
Formulate schemes for promoting technical
education for women, handicapped and weaker sections of the society
·
Promote an effective link between technical
education system and other relevant systems including research and development
organizations, industry and the community.
·
Evolve suitable performance appraisal systems
for technical institutions and universities imparting technical education,
incorporating norms and mechanisms for enforcing accountability;
·
Formulate schemes for the initial and in service
training of teachers and identify institutions or centers and set up new
centers for offering staff development programmes including continuing
education of teachers
·
Lay down norms and standards for courses,
curricula, physical and instructional facilities, staff pattern, staff
qualifications, quality instructions, assessment and examinations.
·
Fix norms and guidelines for charging tuition
and other fees.
·
Grant approval for starting new technical
institutions and for introduction of new courses or programmes in consultation
with the agencies concerned.
·
Advise the Central Government in respect of
grant of charter to any professional body or institution in the field of
technical education conferring powers, rights and privileges on it for the
promotion of such profession in its field including conduct of examinations and
awarding of membership certificates.
·
Lay down norms for granting autonomy to technical
institutions.
·
Take all necessary steps to prevent
commercialization of technical education.
·
Provide guidelines for admission of students to
technical institutions and Universities imparting technical education.
·
Inspect or cause to inspect any technical
institutions.
·
Withhold or discontinue grants in respect of
courses, programmes to such technical institutions which fail to comply with
the directions given by the Council within the stipulated period of time and
take such other steps as may be necessary for ensuring compliance of the
directions of Council;
·
Etc.
What is the mandate and functions of NCERT?
(a) Research and development.
(b) In-service and pre-service
training.
(c) Dissemination of research on
school education in India.
Accordingly NCERT:
• Develops curricula,
instructional materials, teaching aids and learning resources;
• Organizes pre-service and
in-service training of teachers, of teacher educators, and of other educational
personnel;
• Conducts and promotes
educational research related to pedagogical improvement;
• Disseminates improved
pedagogical techniques, practices and research findings;
• Acts as a clearing house of
ideas and information for all matters relating to school and teacher education.
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