The success of any country largely depends on its educated citizens and this can be realised only if the education system functions well. This must be the reason why the National Policy on Education, 1986, revised in 1992, stressed the need for strengthening the education system in the country.
The government should have complete faith in the teaching community and the teachers’ associations should play a significant role in improving education, upholding professional integrity to enhance the dignity and status of the teacher. Keeping this in mind, on behalf of teacher’s federations representing teachers at all levels, from nursery to university level in India, a memorandum was presented to the Centre some time back requesting urgent attention to establish the Indian Education Service (IES). It would be a step in the right direction if organised on proper lines.
The National policy on education, 1986 and its Programme of Action, 1992 emphasise the need for a very strong educational management structure in order to make this system work effectively with positive results. The inclusion of education in the concurrent list is a landmark in Indian education. The revised National Policy on Education has the distinction of giving an operational meaning to concurrency. The government of India is now equipped with adequate power to give new direction to educational management.
Upgrading the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development also reflects the concern of the government of India for harnessing education for national development.
A proper management structure in education will entail the establishment of IES as an all India service. It will bring a national perspective to this vital sector.
The basic principles, functions and procedures for recruitment to this service will call for detailed consultation with the states so that they adequately appreciate the need and benefit of the structure particularly in the context of attracting talented personnel and giving them a stature commensurate with their responsibilities. In the programme of action (revised in 1992), chapter 23 para 28.8.3, there is a very specific commitment for the creation of IES. The programme of action says that the establishment of IES will be an essential step towards promoting a national perspective on management of education.
In 1991, the government of India assigned high priority to the National Policy on education and programme of action and two eminent committees - Acharya Ramamurthy and Janardhan Reddy committee reviewed them. Both have endorsed the creation of the Indian Education Service (IES).
Urgent attention
The entire teaching community of India will appreciate the commitments which the policy has made to the nation, to the people, to the education, and the management system. The management system is a high priority item in education and it should receive urgent attention and support. The idea of creating IES should be therefore top priority for the government of India for the betterment of education. Along with a number of dynamic steps in the economic and development fields, the educational management should also get top priority. I strongly feel that creating IES is the most urgent aspect of modernising and streamlining the entire process and management of education.
The whole nation is aware of the bureaucratic predicaments and mounting frustration of teachers and their colleagues in administration of education at all levels. They are unable to give their best because top bureaucrats do not appreciate creativity and innovation. It is most shocking that the human relations of top bureaucrats with the rank and file of education workers have reached their lowest level in some cases. There are many instances where the administrative head of the education department refuses to meet teachers and their representatives. Frustration and discontent must be checked at any cost and human relations must be improved. By creating IES, specialists in education will occupy top administrative posts and motivate their colleagues to work with all concern and devotion
The following needs to be kept in mind for improving the education scenario in our country. Teaching should be regarded as a profession. It is a form of public service, which requires of teachers expert knowledge and specialised skills, acquired and maintained through rigorous and continued research and study. It also calls for a sense of personal and corporate responsibility for the development and welfare of the pupils they are in charge of.
Working conditions for teachers should promote effective learning and enable teachers to concentrate on their professional tasks.
Teachers’ organisations should be recognised as a force, which can contribute greatly to education advancement and therefore should be associated with the determination of educational policy.
It is a well known fact that in many countries, education has been given top priority and as a result, they have modernised their educational administration. In India, there is an urgent need to translate basic tenets of professional behaviour into action and this will remove the mounting cold war between the specialists and the generalists, between the professional and the bureaucrat. The acid test of democratic participatory educational management is that everyone should do their best. Establishment of the Indian Education Service will go a long way in improving the educational system and help teachers to function better, to guide and motivate students at all levels.
(The writer is an associate professor in education at Regional Institute of Education, Mysore)