By Sadaket Malik
In the current scenario, technical education determines the development and socio- economic condition of a nation, there is a greater need for quality technical education to produce technically skilled manpower.The process of liberlisation has changed the rules of the game for the business and policy leaders around the world. The era of globalisation is not only inviting foreign capital but also foreign technology in India. Since the early eighties, due to rapid industrialization and economic growth,
engineering and technical education has been fast developing in India than
anywhere else in the world. India now has the second largest engineering students in the world.
The most important economic policy facing India is how to increase the current trend of output per capita. In this environment, the lure of better growth policy is
compelling. In addition, it is believed that this rapid change of technological change was fostered by an education system that provided the essential input and steady flow of people trained in the scientific method and in the state of art in their area of specialization. If this interpretation of our recent past is correct then it is no false to say that industry relies heavily on polished diamonds coming out of various varsities. It is wrong to say that in the last 5-6 years, the innovation policy in India has
completely ignored the structure of institutions especially with regard to Govt institutions. The top down direction of the curriculum is a pox upon our public education system. University education does not necessarily prepare the youth for Life; also there is no guarantee of a job after a university degree. We require an entire spectrum of skilled man power.
In this process, India is also killing budding entrepreneurs who can bring significant shift in the economic stance of the country in Asia and the world at large.
The point here is that performance regarding placement cell is different between Govt-run institutions and private institutions. Despite so many students looking for jobs, the placement scenario is absurdly poor. Part of the problem is that most educational institutions in the state have no placement cell to keep track of placement statistics.
Though it is a matter of pride that private institutes have also started churning out industry moulded graduates. Private institutions usually have tie-ups with big
companies and often industry experts are called upon to give lecture to students. Its de facto that rich people can only afford private institutes and jobs simply fly into their arms. But the fact is more than half of India lies in the heart of middle class and poor section. The cost of studying in such colleges is a nightmare for them, besides they get subsidized rates in Govt higher education institutes. The superficiality of impartiality and non-permanence of teaching staff is quite evident in Govt run institutes and so expecting a placement cell seems a far-fetched dream. Not
everybody has the capacity to go outside their state to study or get loads of dollar bills to fund their education. Providing students with facilities of faculty and
placement cells has become an important measure of giving quality education. In such case, it is important to know the desires and demands of students which are expected out of good professional colleges.The need of the hour for any institution is to produce industry groomed manpower. Who will the regulate the entire spectrum ? Who will do this ? who will bell the cat? and who will be the resposible agent to
monitor the arena are the question need to be answered.
In order to meet the demands of the changing labor market, IDA supported India’s long term program of reforms in the middle level technical education system dealing with training of technicians/ supervisors. The policy reforms exhorted increased participation of women, tribal communities, handicapped, rural youth and other disadvantaged groups in technician education though formal and non-formal education and training. The IDA’s total investment in the three projects has been about USD 700 million with IDA funding of about USD 530 million. The rest was
contributed by the states and the Government of India. IDA support played a catalytic role in expediting implementation of a National Policy of Education reforms.In particular, IDA promoted introduction of new relevant programs, and increased women’s participation by supporting the establishment of 33 women’s polytechnics, hostel facilities for women, and appointment of women faculty. According to the world bank broup he Third Technician Education Project in India, will assist the industrially, and economically under-developed, in remote states of the Northeastern region, to expand capacity, and improve the quality of technician education, in order to meet specific economic needs of each state. It will also increase the access of disadvantaged groups - i.e., women, and rural youth - to technician education, and training.
In fact, institutions needs to make their syllabus more vocationally oriented so as to groom, nurture and develop the talent in a proper fashion, catering to needs of the industries. A dynamic and pro active placement cell needs to be created in every institution to keep a track of all the placings of its students and to attract good industries. The student engineers should be encouraged to attend techinical seminars, workshops leadership training and should be made aware of the latest develpoments in techonologies and its impact on bussiness. Equal importance should be given to the communication skills of students for clear ex-pression of ideas, With private sector institutions leaving no stones unturned in providing the best possible openings to their products, it becomes all the more important for Govt. aided
institutions to reinvigorate themselves to meet the added challenge of better placement. A student placed according to his area of interest will automatically ensure the growth of the industry and his institution. The need of the hour is, that the educational institutes takes to the training and placement facilities more
seriously and scientifically.
Liberalization of the Indian economy, its gradual integration with the world economy and rapid transformation into a knowledge-based society will be increased only when we master workforce that is not only literate and has mastered specific skills, The Government run institutions should be monitored and regulated by advisory
committees like UGC, National Board of Accreditation (NBA) medical Council of India (MCI) Distance Education Council (DEC) and other apex bodies of the Government of India before according approval to an institution.
26. 'A Poet cannot become a Chemical Engineer'
It's a rising irreversible tide. Though not a few within the political class and the nation's powerful bureaucracy are in denial, there is an emerging consensus within India's 5 million-strong academic community that the nation's moribund, mouth- eaten education system fashioned by Lord Macaulay over a century ago, needs an urgent makeover.
With 21st century India burdened with the world's largest population of illiterate citizens, an estimated 59 million children in the 6-14 age group out of school, and the aggregate number of names and addresses of job-seekers in the registers of
employment exchanges across the country having swollen to 41 million — not
because there aren't sufficient jobs, but because youth streaming out of the obsolete education system are unemployable — alarm sirens are wailing in all sections of Indian society.
This is due to the lack of diversification of subjects at common schooling. The choice of courses is compelling in order to get a gainful employment and acquire skills and competence at large.
The starkest evidence of the rising tide of anxiety about the quantity and quality of education being provided to GeNext is indicated by the unprecedented provision made in the Union budget 2008 presented to Parliament, to impose a 2 percent cess on all Central taxes to raise additional resources for elementary education. Moreover in his budget speech, Union finance minister P. Chidambaram committed the 100- days-old United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre to raising the
national outlay for education from the current 3.5-4 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to 6 percent in the near future.
Conterminously up gradation of the nation's languishing public education systems is top priority on the agenda of the National Advisory Council (NAC) chaired by
Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi.
Inevitably, there is considerable scepticism about the declarations of intent and grand pronouncements made by governments at the Centre and in the states which are seldom followed up with policy implementation programmes. But even within the civic society and general public, there is a never-before, new millennium awareness that quality education is the best social leveller and passport to gainful employment, affluence and social respect. Hence, despite the rigorous and travails of license- permit raj which has migrated from industry to education, there's a flurry of activity in terms of promotion of new schools, colleges and institutes of professional
education, particularly in the private sector.
This urgent flurry of activity within the hitherto somnolent education sector has ensured that the vital importance of qualitative education has permeated down to the lowest income groups across the subcontinent — a development accentuated by the promotion of the country's 517 urban benchmarked Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya residential schools in rural India.
Simultaneously, it has focussed public attention upon hitherto arcane subjects such as syllabus design and curriculum development and shifted national attention from ritual to real education. Suddenly paper degrees and qualifications are not as
important as professional and life skills which school leavers and college graduates must acquire within their institutions of learning.
Therefore the newly emergent consensus that reform of India's Macaulayan system of education based on rote learning and memorisation rather than development of problem-solving, conflict-resolution skills and Information technology schemes requires urgent attention.
And even as several specialist committees constituted by the Union ministry of human resource development are currently engaged in the process, the public interest demands a wider ambit for the national debate on syllabus and curriculum reform.
We deemed it incumbent upon ourselves to ask several educationists and industry leaders with proven commitment to improving the education system by
implementing the milestones and initiate multi pronged strategy.
To a greater or lesser degree, all the educationist and policy makers are in favour of addressing the supply side of education to eliminate capacity shortages which are the root cause of the overwhelming majority of the hundreds, if not thousands, of rackets which plague post-independence India's education system.
The learned justices of the Supreme Court agree. In its historic 2002 judgment in the TMA Pai Foundation Case (8 SCC 481), a full bench of the court expanded the right of
minorities to "establish and administer educational institutions of their choice" as mandated by Article 30 of the Constitution of India, to all citizens.
The education sector urgently needs to be set free. Let every child learn by its own environment, and let every body should have a right to be a torch bearer for
spreading education in any mean. This will facilitate entry of private firms offering short courses that equip young people for vocations and professions — be it
plumbing, or banking into the education sector. The three R's can also be easily taught by them using computers.
There is a general consensus that having failed miserably during the past half century to upgrade education standards, the Central and state governments
themselves should exit from syllabus design and mandate school examination boards to design syllabuses which test more than memory and rote learning ability.
Comments Kabir Mustafi, former headmaster of Bishop Cotton School, Shimla who advocates that the Centre should promulgate a new National Education Policy: "The NEP should mandate 'free-fall' curriculums from nursery to class VIII and direct all school examination boards to revise their syllabuses to test research, analysis, memory, comprehension and expression capabilities of students
Government must retreat from syllabus design. Central and state governments have to dissociate from dictating syllabi and curriculums to ascertaining whether or not government schools and institutions of higher education are delivering learning in their classrooms.
A new National Education Policy needs to be written. It should: (i) Empower local bodies such as SDMCs (School Development Monitoring Committees) and panchayats so that teachers and boards are accountable to the public; (ii) Upgrade teacher skills by establishing NDA (National Defence Academy) or ASCI (Administrative Staff
College of India) type academies for three-five year training and refresher courses with stipends; (iii) Ban arbitrary teacher transfers; (iv) Draw up stringent but
transparent recognition and accreditation norms as per CISCE/ CBSE/ NAAC/ AICTE
standards while de-licensing private initiatives in education.
Revise school syllabi. The NEP should direct all school examination boards to revise their syllabuses to test research, analysis, memory, comprehension and expression capabilities of students.
Standardise college admissions. The new NEP needs to mandate a single SAT type examination for college admission and a GRE/ GMAT version for postgraduate admissions. Modifications to existing successful models are entirely feasible. Targetted subsidies in higher education. The blanket subsidisation of tertiary
education needs to be replaced with need-based scholarships, grants and financial aid.
Involve local communities. The upgradation of teacher salaries and infrastructure for schools not well endowed should be entrusted to local communities including
corporates, against tax holidays and other fiscal benefits.
A comprehensive education policy for the country for all levels of education, taking into account the recent changes and requirements of a globalized environment is urgently required. It should be drafted by an expert committee drawn from India and abroad. Central and state governments should draw up incentive and grants-in-aid programmes to promote centres of quality education in rural areas across the
country. Education opportunities need to be spread out rather than concentrated in isolated geographic locations.
Upgradation of tertiary level syllabuses and curriculums. Higher education should be made relevant to meet industry requirements, so that students make a smooth
transition from academics to industry.
Industry needs employable graduates. Diverse rules and regulations prescribed by monitoring agencies in higher education inhibit growth and excellence in educational institutions. They should be given full autonomy for self-development while the
national accreditation process must become more stringent
If there is one question that we need to ask now, it is this: have we as a nation reflected on the policy choices that we are faced with now? If we are unable to answer this question with enough conviction, we may end up losing another
generation to poor quality education for the majority of the people in the country. Is that something that we can afford? We all know that India lives in rural areas and without making these areas literate, we can't make India a prosperous nation. Hopefully, the central and state governments will wake up now to make the
educational schemes and funds fruitful. Last but not the least, the parents and wards should also understand the importance of education and cooperate with the
government to make the educational schemes successful.
If we fail to make a choice of courses after senior secondary school, the following quote stands appropriate for us - "A Poet can not become a Chemical Engineer" By - Sadaket Malik
The author is a freelance columnist based in Jammu.
http://www.indiaedunews.net/In-
focus/October_2008/'A_Poet_cannot_become_a_Chemical_Engineer'_6343/