Renewed focus on output than on numbers
The Union Budget 2017-18 holds promise for significant reforms in the country's education sector. For the first time in recent memory, the Budget has demonstrated focus on quality output instead of on mere numbers of educational institutions, both at the school and the higher levels. This was necessary because, as successive findings by various agencies including the Annual State of Education Report, have informed about the abysmal quality of education being given to students, more so at primary and secondary levels. This had to do both with the quality of infrastructure and the quality of teachers. Besides, an over-emphasis on text-book teaching without additionally resorting to creative methods has hampered the rounded development of a student's mind. To begin with, Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley has enhanced the allocation for education by nearly 10 per cent over the previous year — to Rs 79,686 crore. More money in hand means more flexibility to adopt novel methods of teaching, besides providing for a host of services related to education. It's now up to the Ministry of Human Resource Development to make good use of the enhanced allocation and not fritter it away in directionless pursuits. The Minister concerned, Prakash Javadekar, should seize the occasion with both hands. But increased allocations are not new; many sectors get them in Budget after that. What is novel this time around is the Minister's announcement of the establishment of a National Testing Service (NTS) that will conduct all entrance examinations for higher educational institutions. Presently, there is a plethora of entrance tests for various courses, and there have been concerns over the erratic quality that comes with such diffusion. Moreover, certain entrance examinations, such as the National Eligibility Test for secondary schools, have run into controversies. Entrance tests to medical and engineering institutes too have run into some problem or the other. It should be hoped that a single body such as the proposed NTS will be able to sort the issues out and bring a sense of pan-India uniformity. In addition, the NET will take the burden off from organisations such as the Central Board of Secondary Education and the all India Council of Technical Education — which have been conducting entrance tests — and allow them to concentrate on the core activities of administering education in a more efficient manner.
The other interesting proposal in the Budget is to set up an ‘innovation fund' for secondary education. This is designed to promote creativity (among both students and teachers), expand the horizons of teaching and address the poor learning outcomes. However, for this to happen, the fund needs to be utilised equally creatively and not be exhausted in pointless projects. Finally, there are expectations that with these fresh measures, the level of autonomy, which educational institutions have been seeking, too will be addressed.