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Since the United Progressive Alliance government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to power last year, education has received the highest priority and attention which it deserves. The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of UPA has pledged to raise the plan allocation on education to 6 per cent of the GDP. It has also decided to impose a cess in Central taxes to finance schemes to make qualitative improvement in infrastructure necessary for education to realise the dream of universal primary education a reality. The government has also decided to set up a National Commission on Education to advise it on fund allocation and initiation of pilot schemes in key areas concerning education.
Today India is on the threshold of a new knowledge revolution. Hence education has been given the highest priority in the 2005-06 budget. The outlay of Rs. 8,225 crore in 2004-05 has been hiked to Rs.18,337 crore in 2005-06 – a jump of 120 per cent. Similarly, the plan expenditure on health has been increased by 25 per cent, social welfare and nutrition by 58 per cent along with enhanced focus on drinking water schemes, improvement in water quality and sanitation. Thus, there is increased focus on key social sectors which are often so inextricably linked to the goal of ‘education for all’ and would lead to an all-round development by achieving the UN’s millennium development goals.
Focus
The main focus of the government has been on primary and secondary education. It has been decided that henceforth credible non-government organizations will be involved in imparting primary education. The government has also decided to universalize the Integrated Child Development Services scheme and pursue the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan earnestly. To ensure an all-round personality development of children, infrastructure is being created to introduce N.C.C. and N.S.S., sports, games and cultural facilities in all schools. A goal has been set to ensure that every child above the age of five goes to school. A proper environment is being created to give holistic education to the children by providing them cooked food under the mid-day meal scheme, building toilet facilities and uninterrupted drinking water supply, construction and maintenance of school buildings and providing the needy children with school uniforms, books and other teaching-aids. The government has asked for the participation of NGOs and individual citizens to come forward to make the movement of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan a success as it is not possible for the government alone to realise the goal without popular participation. The effective implementation of the mid-day meal scheme has halted the dropout rate in schools.
Initiatives
The Expert Committee on revamping the examination system in the country has submitted its report to the Government. It has suggested how to reduce the burden of studies at the secondary and higher secondary levels. The Committee has recommended that the standard of admission test and questions of premier institutes be brought at par with plus two examination standard to reduce the psychological and physical burden on students. The government has also formed a review committee to remove all traces of sectarian and communal approaches in school textbooks. The process to accord autonomy to the centers of higher education and professional learning may be decentralized.
IIT Abroad
The quality of higher education in India in certain key sectors is of global standard. The fame of IITs and IIMs has crossed Indian shores and proposals have been received from many friendly nations to open IITs and IIMs there as well. During his budget speech the Finance Minister also announced that certain centers of higher learning would be accorded premier status and the government would sanction budgetary grants to bring them at par with world standards. Efforts in that direction have already begun.
Jobs
Unemployment among the educated is another area of concern. Hence the government has decided to overhaul the education system at secondary and higher secondary levels by introducing a number of modern vocational courses to link education with jobs. A number of regional engineering colleges have been upgraded to provide more thrust to technical education.
In the past one year the institution of NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) under the aegis of the University Grants Commission has been strengthened. There is a growing realization among institutes of higher education about the need for quality assurance, especially in view of WTO agreement on higher education and competition from institutes of advanced western countries opening their centers in India. NAAC has been successful in implementing an institutional review as a combination of self-study and peer assessment based on predetermined criteria. About 30 per cent of colleges and 20 per cent of universities have completed their assessment through voluntary participation in the past one year.
India is an acknowledged super power in Information Technology now, especially computer software and Space Technology. The Manmohan Singh government has decided to reap the benefits in these two critical areas of knowledge and provide a special thrust to them by setting up Technology Parks in different States in collaboration with the private sector. Export Processing zones are also being set up to utilize the technical and trained manpower available for earning crucial foreign exchange.
The UPA government today understands that increasing outlay is not enough. That is winning only half the battle. The money must reach the people it is meant to serve. Thus the emphasis is on physical targets and not financial targets. In the past one year the goal has been to make education an instrument of social, political and economic changes.
*Head, Department of Mass Communication, Calcutta
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