Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 26: A brainstorming session on India’s Draft New Education Policy and Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme’ (EQUIP) was held in New Delhi.
Organized by StratFirst India, the session was attended by various stakeholders, including renowned academics, who supported the initiatives but sought wider consultations before finalizing the policy.
The experts included Professor Amitabh Mattoo (Former member, National Knowledge Commission, Government of India and chief mentor Stratfirst), Professor B Venkatesh Kumar (Tata Institute of Social Sciences & National Coordinator RUSA), VS Chauhan (Chairman NAAC and former Acting Chairman of UGC), Vinay Sheel Oberoi (former Secretary, HRD), Prof Yogesh Tyagi (Vice Chancellor, Delhi University) and Dr (Prof) Chandra Bhushan Sharma (Chairman NIOS).
Favouring the idea of focus on early childhood education and the recommendation to amend the Right to Education to include children from the age of 3-18 years, they stressed for bringing the bill into the next session of parliament itself. They also supported proposals for a state level education commission as well as a census to determine student’s progress across various stages in schools.
On higher education, the participants said that 6% of GDP must be spent on education. They hoped that this recommendation as well as the idea of accountability, affordability, access and EQUIP must be translated into reality as soon as possible, from the next financial year onwards.
They also sought governance reforms to ensure real accountability of teachers, administrators in terms of delivery. Lauding the idea of having GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) of 50% by 2030, they said that separating UGC from a new National Regulatory Authority was an idea whose time has come.
They also felt that NAAC while having accredited a large number of institutions did not have the capacity to be able to generate the kind of capacity within its current status to be able to affiliate all the various institutions; therefore private players needed to be brought into the picture.
Voicing great support for the creation of a National Research Foundation, they said that recurring budget of Rs 20,000 crore per year, which has been envisaged, might be too small in view of challenges India faces to realise the research potential of its scholars.
Nancy Jain, CEO Stratfirst said: “A vibrant new debate on the future of the country’s education has been initiated with the release of Draft New Education Policy. Informed interventions are required from a range of stakeholders in order to formulate a coherent, inclusive and sustainable policy that can be rooted in the Indian experience while recognizing global best practices.”
Follow our WhatsApp channel
