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'Revamp education from primary level'

Economic Survey: Education policy must be dovetailed with job opportunities
Last Updated 27 February 2015, 20:51 IST

Picking holes in existing education system, the latest Economic Survey has highlighted the need for improving quality of teaching and learning right from primary school level.

It also recommended dovetailing of education policy to employment opportunities, underlining that higher education needed to be “futuristic and offer suitable courses” for students.

“There is need to match the supply with demand,” the Economic Survey for 2014-15, released by the government, suggested. The survey noted that the lower penetration into higher levels of education was leading to higher dropouts, especially among the secondary and upper primary students. This resulted in accumulation of less educated and less skilled job seekers “at the bottom of the pyramid.”

“The percentage of educated also falls progressively with higher levels of education. The problem of low employability levels owing to poor quality of education is accentuated by the fact that fewer students opt for higher education,” it said.

India has achieved near universal enrolment and enhanced hard as well as soft infrastructure including schools, teachers, and academic support staff.

However, the overall standard of education is well below global standards, it said, referring to the observations made in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reports as well as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER).

“The overall standard of education is well below global standards. The PISA 2009+ results ranked Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh 72 and 73 out of 74 participants, higher only than Kyrgyzstan, exposes the gaps in our education system.

“Clearly, the policy prescription lies in shifting attention away from inputs to outcomes and focusing on building quality education and skill development infrastructure,” the survey noted.

While the Right to Education Act and the Juvenile Justice Act were promulgated to bring children into education rather than emplo yment, they have allowed youth in the 15-18 age-group to slip through the cracks.

“India has about 100 million young people who fall in this category. Since there are educational and age requirements for entry into most vocational skilling programmes, and job placements are not possible before age 18, the vast majority of this population could land up in the unorganised sector,” the survey noted.

It also suggested that there was need for research into the type of knowledge or skills required to address the opportunity gaps and to improve productive capacity in the unorganised sector.

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(Published 27 February 2015, 20:51 IST)

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