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SOURCE: 20 May 2009, TOI
HRD MINISTRY
Teach India: Make free education for all a reality
Akshaya Mukul | TNN
The foremost task before the new HRD minister is getting the Right to Education Bill, ensuring free and compulsory education to children in the 6-14 age group, passed. All set to be introduced in the last session of Parliament, dithering and last minute pressure by the strong private lobby had ensured its delay.
Whatever might be the shortcomings of Arjun Singh’s tenure as HRD minister, there was clarity about the state’s role in school education — that it has to be in the driver’s seat. The failure of Public-Private Partnership in setting up 6,000 model schools in small towns should be a lesson for the new minister. Driven by Planning Commission, the scheme could not take off because of the private sector’s demand for fixed revenue and its refusal to accept conditions on quality set by government. The new minister has to get cracking on it.
The success of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) led to a similar programme, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), for secondary education, which was launched a day before poll dates were announced. There are lakhs of children who after free education through SSA will be coming out of class VI/VII and look for a similar State intervention. Their need has to be addressed immediately. The rapid expansion of the school system, and the right to education, imply a huge need for trained teachers. The lackadaisical approach witnessed till now in this key area — recognition to hundreds of incompetent training institutes — needs to be abandoned forthwith and a comprehensive policy guided by strong monitoring put in place.
The last five years witnessed a growth in institutions of higher learning, including IITs, IIMs and central universities. But most of these new institutions are functioning out of makeshift campuses and on borrowed faculty. This has to be tackled urgently. There has been criticism of Singh's regime for the manner of appointments to higher educational institutions, with many reportedly close to him geting plum posts. A case in point was the hurried manner in which vice-chancellors of 15 new central universities were appointed, on the eve of the announcement of poll dates. Most of them, it is said, are mediocre academics.
UGC needs a complete overhauling, with corruption charges being levelled against it. While systemic change in UGC can take some time, a probe may be in order into the grant of deemed university status — 100 in last five years — to private institutions.
TOP PRIORITIES
Bring Right to Education Bill immediately
Ensure greater role for govt in school education
Monitor quality of teachers’ training
Put Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan on track
New IITs/IIMs/Central Universities should become fully functional
UGC should be overhauled
Probe into grant of deemed varsity status to private higher education body
HRD MINISTRY
Teach India: Make free education for all a reality
Akshaya Mukul | TNN
The foremost task before the new HRD minister is getting the Right to Education Bill, ensuring free and compulsory education to children in the 6-14 age group, passed. All set to be introduced in the last session of Parliament, dithering and last minute pressure by the strong private lobby had ensured its delay.
Whatever might be the shortcomings of Arjun Singh’s tenure as HRD minister, there was clarity about the state’s role in school education — that it has to be in the driver’s seat. The failure of Public-Private Partnership in setting up 6,000 model schools in small towns should be a lesson for the new minister. Driven by Planning Commission, the scheme could not take off because of the private sector’s demand for fixed revenue and its refusal to accept conditions on quality set by government. The new minister has to get cracking on it.
The success of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) led to a similar programme, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), for secondary education, which was launched a day before poll dates were announced. There are lakhs of children who after free education through SSA will be coming out of class VI/VII and look for a similar State intervention. Their need has to be addressed immediately. The rapid expansion of the school system, and the right to education, imply a huge need for trained teachers. The lackadaisical approach witnessed till now in this key area — recognition to hundreds of incompetent training institutes — needs to be abandoned forthwith and a comprehensive policy guided by strong monitoring put in place.
The last five years witnessed a growth in institutions of higher learning, including IITs, IIMs and central universities. But most of these new institutions are functioning out of makeshift campuses and on borrowed faculty. This has to be tackled urgently. There has been criticism of Singh's regime for the manner of appointments to higher educational institutions, with many reportedly close to him geting plum posts. A case in point was the hurried manner in which vice-chancellors of 15 new central universities were appointed, on the eve of the announcement of poll dates. Most of them, it is said, are mediocre academics.
UGC needs a complete overhauling, with corruption charges being levelled against it. While systemic change in UGC can take some time, a probe may be in order into the grant of deemed university status — 100 in last five years — to private institutions.
TOP PRIORITIES
Bring Right to Education Bill immediately
Ensure greater role for govt in school education
Monitor quality of teachers’ training
Put Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan on track
New IITs/IIMs/Central Universities should become fully functional
UGC should be overhauled
Probe into grant of deemed varsity status to private higher education body
