|
A think-tank with a focus on higher education, Centre for Education Policy of India was started to facilitate a platform for discussion / debate among various stakeholders in the sector, be it educationalists, experts, students, teachers as well as those in educational governance amongst others. The ultimate aim is to influence policy with regard to education. The centre is governed by an advisory group of experts in the field of higher education, who together with other experts would enrich the discourse on educational reforms by sharing considered opinions, participating in consultations, bringing out White papers and influencing public opinion. In addition, the Centre would initiate surveys/studies to document the ills of the present system. The Centre is promoted by Kanohar Lal Trust Society (KLTS) Vision statement: To be an institution of excellence that, in partnership with experts and other educationalists plays a significant role at both state and national levels towards influencing policy in higher education; while exposing the degeneration in education system/governance. Objectives: • To provide a platform for discussion on issues affecting higher education • To voice concerns of stakeholders – students and teaching staff on systems, governance, etc. • To influence education policy, ensuring fair and free access to education for all • To mould public opinion on issues Brief on education sector in India: Education is a process of facilitating learning. It is through learning that we acquire new knowledge or modify existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, values and synthesize different types of information. Therefore, the education becomes the bedrock for progress for a nation. Education is so important that almost one third of one’s life is spent in acquiring it. It becomes even more critical for India, for being a young nation, almost one third of our population is undergoing the process of ‘education’ at any given time! Almost universally now, education is divided among the following groups: pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher education and technical/ professional education. Education as a subject under Constitutional scheme of things in India, is under concurrent list. This means that both the Central and the State Government exercise jurisdiction on its regulation- sometimes having overlapping and sometimes spaced which are not unregulated at all. With regard to primary and secondary education, it is largely a state subject that suffers from flaws such as lack of resources, corruption and poor management which is reflected in: • Highly deficient skills and learning abilities benchmarked to the class level • Ill equipped and inadequate classrooms lacking even basic facilities • Quality and quantity of teachers (poorly educated teachers selected through a corruption laden process, one teacher taking more than one class at a time) • lack of discipline in schools (flouted both by teachers and students) • cheating and use of unfair means during exams. Similarly the higher education system, with both the Central and the State governments exercising regulation, suffers from even greater malice, namely: • Lack of a nationally synchronized calendar for admission and conducting exams • Issues of quality and quantity of teachers in colleges; Pay disparity between government appointed and privately appointed teachers • Rise of ‘business’ of education: lure of quick money through capitation fee • 'Real-estatization’ of higher education with influx of black money in it (majority of new age private institutions are owned by politicians ) • Race for degrees without learning, resulting in serious mismatch in level of degree and commensurate skill and learning abilities • Majority of degree holders are found to be ‘not employable’ Why has the status-quo persisted for so long? The malice in education system runs deep. What does make it persist for so long? While beneficiaries- the students, are not organised for the purpose of improving the situation, other stake holders whose interests are served through status-quo- such as teachers, officials in education departments, private owners of Universities/ Professional colleges/ coaching institutes, are fairly organized. Secondly, the society is under a huge churn and the attention of the community organizations and pressure groups (through RTIs/ PILs) has been more directed on corruption of natural resources (having massive numbers) instead of critical issues such as education (having massive impact). Even when the community organizations focused on education, their focus has been on primary education or on local/ micro issues. Finally, because of all the above factors, the rot in higher education has become a blind-spot for media. It finds it either too complex to make sense or not news worthy unless there is a scandal as sensational as ‘Vyapam’ which has by now claimed over 40 lives, resulted in 2000 arrests and its scope exceeding Rs. 10,000 crore. What can be done and how? Apparently, it does appear that in a large noisy democracy like ours, getting one’s voice heard is not easy, unless one can take to streets in large numbers as a show of strength, can disrupt civic services or influence politicians directly. However, if results are not be judged from election to election, deeper and lasting changes could be brought about through intelligently influencing and moulding the public opinion through Think-tanks and Media. Kanohar Lal Trust Society (KLTS) Kanohar Lal Trust Society is a non-profit organization established in 1968 with the primary objective of furthering the access of education to girls and women in Meerut and Village Sonda in the district of Ghaziabad. Currently, there are over 7500 students studying at the various institutions founded and run by the Trust, while several million others, having received their education are serving in a variety of roles. KLTS has floated the Centre for Education Policy of India with its registered office in Green Park, New Delhi. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Centre for Education Policy of India」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|