JOIN USEducation revamp soon
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has realised the need to formulate a new national policy on education after 24 years, as the policy formulated in 1986, during the regime of the then prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, is now unable to meet the present global challenges despite some amendments were carried out in the policy in 1992.
“There is an urgent need to frame a new national policy on education as the existing policy is too old to meet new challenges emerging out of globalisation now. The last policy was framed in the year 1986. And some minor modifications were undertaken in 1992. Since then, our education scenario and nature of employment opportunities have changed substantially,” a ministry official told Deccan Herald.
The new policy will seek to bring substantial changes in education system by introducing academic reforms so as to bring improvement in quality of education. The vocational education will be another focus area, besides increasing access and quality in education to meet the international standards, to take advantage of the demographic dividend of the country and to fulfill the aspirations and rights of youth to gainful employment and contribute to national productivity.
Test of time
The ministry feels that the 1986 education policy has stood the test of time, but neither does it fit into the context of current educational scenario nor can it meet the present day employment requirements.
Considering the present needs, the Centre does not want to cause further delay in formulating a new education policy, sources in the ministry said.
A national-level conference of vice-chancellors, organised by the University Grant Commission in March, too, had recommended a new education policy at the earliest.
It had suggested that it was important to look into the kind of a policy framework appropriate for analysis of access, equity and quality in higher education in India.
The participants underlined that development of tertiary education is largely dependent on the output of secondary education as the secondary school sub-sector contributes substantially to access and equity concerns observed at the entry level of the undergraduate courses.|
“The interventionist approach by the university and the state can significantly influence and expand opportunities for the underserved by assessing the transition loss from secondary to tertiary education and recommending strategies to improve this situation, and promoting strategic planning and management at the university level for its greater engagement with society,” the vice-chancellors suggested.
While the ministry is considering the recommendations of the vice-chancellors, it has already initiated a nation-wide survey on school education.
The eighth All India School Education Survey is jointly being conducted by the ministry, National Informatics Centre and all the state governments.