let a new beginning be made and a National Commission on Education set up urgently. It could change the face of India and transform the country to meet the surging expectations for a better and higher quality of life for all
Submitting the report of the National Commission on Education, to the then Union Minister for Education MC Chagla, its chairman DS Kothari highlighted in his forwarding note: “It is characteristic of a world permeated by science that in some essential ways the future shape of things is unpredictable. This emphasises all the more the need for an education policy which contains built-in flexibility so that it can adjust to changing circumstances”. He goes on to emphasise the importance of experimentation and innovation, and also indicates the nature of resistance to be confronted in shaking up the existing system.
The 1968 National Policy on Education was formulated on the basis of the Kothari Commission report. The next revision took place in 1986 and in 1992. Needless to say that the pace of change is far more alarming than in 60s.
The curriculum revision for school education was carried out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005. While one could cite encouraging statistics in terms of increase in literacy rate, enrollment in schools, reduction in dropout rates, increase in number of schools and institutions of higher education, it is universally recognised that quality is on the downward slide across the board.
India continues to expand its education system without caring much for the inadequacy of infrastructural support on one hand and the alarming number of vacant positions of school teachers and university academics on the other. Situations are just not conducive to provide a congenial environment for education, research and innovations. A hard and futuristic look needs to be taken on education policy formulation.
Immediate steps need to be initiated to appoint a National Commission on Education. Its first task shall be to prepare a report like that of Kothari Commission taking in to account the present position and India’s vision for a bright future. This report shall lead to the formulation of a new National Policy on Education that would replace the NPE-1986/92.
The commission should be converted into a statutory body and assigned the task to undertake continuous monitoring and envisioning changes and corrections in educational plans, strategies, methods, materials and researches to make India a knowledge society. It would help and develop India’s institutions of higher learning and research as centres of international pursuit of knowledge and learning. It would ensure that the school system extends itself to every child and provides adequate learning and skill acquisition to them.
This commission shall promote researches, survey studies and innovations. Capacity building would be one of its major responsibilities. It is worthwhile to recall the following from the Union Government resolution setting up the Education Commission in 1964: “The Government of India is convinced that education is the key to national prosperity and welfare and that no investment is likely to yield greater returns than investment in human resource of which the most important component is education…The nation must be prepared to pay for quality in education, and from the value attached to education by all sectors of people it is clear that they will do so willingly”. These certainly are the most valid words which could not be translated into practical realty.
The National Commission on Education to be set up in 2014 would present a roadmap on enhanced public investment of the long-promised six per cent of the GDP and also strategies to enlist support from people and communities in men and materials.
The setting up of the commission requires adequate prior planning. The Kothari Commission had 15 members in addition to the chairman, one secretary and associate secretary. Five of the members were international experts and so was also the associate secretary. It appointed 20 international consultants to the Commission and these were the most illustrious of the scholars and experts of their times. Further, it constituted 12 task forces and seven working groups. A couple of these had sub-groups set up to assist the task force and the working groups.
The commission to be set up in 2014 shall have to conduct a thorough review of all the progress and development in education, and also in allied sectors like health, child labour, employment opportunities and the like. In addition, the Commission shall have to conduct face-to-face interactions, apart from seeking inputs through electronic and print media. Only then, the process of policy formulation would be really effective.
let a new beginning be made and a National Commission on Education set up urgently. It could change the face of India and transform the country to meet the surging expectations for a better and higher quality of life for one and all.