The Hindu Business Line : Inclusive education

Given the regional and income disparities that influence access to education, the Centre must lead from the front by setting standards for inclusive education.

Of late, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has been so frequently airing his views on the problems facing the economy that it leaves one wondering if it is a precursor to policy changes, a mere expression of regret at missed opportunities or a post-mortem of the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) record in office. As an architect of the reforms process and the head of a government that has presided over the fastest economic growth in decades, he should know best the hurdles that would have to be surmounted to sustain the mantra of inclusive growth. Since the challenges have been aired so often without any remedial plans, they are in danger of becoming mere clichés.

Addressing captains of industry at the Council of Trade and Industry, Dr Singh stressed the need to think creatively about turning education into a suitable tool-kit for the future. Considering that the critical sector has been the exclusive responsibility of the Centre and the states, that plea would have been more appropriate for Dr Singh’s council of ministers that assumed office promising universal education, among other things, through higher allocations and newer schemes. Budgets since 2005 have increased allocations for higher education, reversing the trend till 2003. But allocations are only the beginning and the pity is that the only policy concerning higher education that moved forward decisively was the attempt to get premier institutions into expanding reserved quotas; that, mercifully, has been shelved but the crisis has acquired a new dimension.

While social disparities still exist, skill shortages affect every economic sphere. While seeking private sector ideation, the Centre would do well to examine some of the reasons for this double-edged crisis. Start with the Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan or universal elementary education. A Parliamentary committee this year found wanting, among other things, the quality of teaching! The record of in-service training of 20 days for teachers was dismal not only in backward Bihar and Uttar Pradesh but even in Maharashtra. Another Committee was “dismayed” at the “vast imbalance” in the number of graduates and quality of teaching between the rural and urban areas.

Given the regional and income disparities that influence access to education, the Centre must lead from the front by setting standards for inclusive education. It must pay heed to the committee’s conclusion that “higher education in the country is largely a pro-rich and urban phenomenon” and equally to the “erosion and decline in work ethics and dilution of norms” in the university system.

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