The Hindu Business Line : Education reforms

We need to make rapid strides in education reforms to cater to the galloping industrial requirements and rising competition from China. There is need for a universal regulator under Human Resource Development Ministry merging the functions of NCERT, UGC, AICTE, NAAC, DOEACC, CBSE, ICMR, ICAR, NKC, and, say, a HRD Commission. The commission needs to declare top two colleges as National Institutes in Health, Science, Commerce, Law, Agriculture, Management, Polytechnic, etc., on the lines of NITs, in each State with sufficient number of seats and funds.

We need standardisation in degree-nomenclatures and course durations. The commission must work towards evolving standardised course curriculum, entrance examinations and assessment system right from elementary to secondary to higher levels of education and research with reasonable access andcost to students.

The exercise must focus on boosting research and innovation, competence and capability and credible minimum capacity on deliverables expectationsof the industry/market respectively out of students from three categories of institutions.

We can evolve common assessment and industry-academia e-platforms and institutionalise them. For instance, enlarge the scope of online GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test Examination) across all educational streams.

The `National Literacy Mission' can fulfil its objective by specifically targeting socio-economically underprivileged children under umbrella institutions at State levels, on the lines of Central Schools.

Anurag Kumar

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