The Relevance of Internationalisation of Indian Higher Education

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July 1, 2011

Internationalisation is the crucial need of higher education with systematic approach to maximise the relevance of education

Interest in foreign education gained a big boost in March 2010 with the Cabinet approval of a bill to allow entry of foreign education providers in India. Although the bill is still awaiting approval by the Parliament, it has already created a sense of excitement not only among students but also among many institutions in India and abroad. However, there are some who are skeptical about the need and relevance of internationalisation in the Indian context. I argue that a national policy on internationalisation of higher education is needed to maximise the relevance and benefits at three primary levels: infusing excellence, encouraging diversity and capacity building.

Jane Knight defined internationalisation as 'the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education.' This definition clarifies that internationalisation is much broader, comprehensive and flexible concept. It recognises and encourages diverse approaches and accepts that there is no prescriptive formula of internationalisation for all institutions. Context of India is different and hence the concept of internationalisation should be adapted to the unique challenges and needs of the country and institutions.

Infusing Excellence

There is no denying the fact that Indian higher education is struggling to infuse quality at the systemic level and it has limited itself to a few islands of excellence of IIMs and IITs. Consider the recent case of the 100 percent cut-off requirement by Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi for admission to undergraduate program. Instances like this, question the whole rhetoric that Indian higher education is reforming and expanding access. Indian institutions are facing a crisis of confidence where many students are aspiring for the same set of select few quality institutions.

A systematic approach to internationalisation May help in bringing global good practices and more institutions with higher quality. For example, within a decade ISB, Hyderabad has emerged as an inspiration (sometimes envy) for many other Indian institutions. It is a hallmark of adopting global practices ranging from admissions to teaching, research and governance. In a country where absolute scores are still considered the only benchmark for admissions, ISB adopted a holistic admissions process along the lines of best B-schools by integrating personal interviews and essays. This expanded choice for many talented students who would have gone abroad for studying MBA programs and not coming back. The unfortunate part is that existing regulatory structure had tried to restrict the ISB model and growth.

Dr Rahul Choudaha is Director of Development and Innovation at World Education Services, New York

He is responsible for strategic development, product innovation, research and thought leadership. Dr Choudaha is a higher education specialist with focus on institution building and strategic development, international collaborations and market development. He earlier worked in international recruitment and marketing at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Dr Choudaha earned Ph.D in Higher Education from the University of Denver, MBA (Marketing) from NITIE, Mumbai and BE (Electronics & Telecom) from Jabalpur Engineering College.

A national policy on internationalisation should encourage diversity of location,programmes and institutional types

Encouraging Diversity

Indian post-secondary education is facing acute quantitative and qualitative challenges at two extremes. On the one extreme is skill-based vocational education and on the other is research-based doctoral education. Of course, lack of funding and policy focus remains a concern, but another major reason is the lack of quality in these programs, which restricts labor market rewards. This in turn leads to a socio-cultural environment of only respecting and encouraging professional fields like engineering and management. Thus, internationalisation had been concentrated to a handful of institutions in bigger cities having business or engineering programs.

A national policy on internationalisation should encourage diversity of location, programs and institutional types. Policy directions should create incentives for institutions interested in engaging with fields like agriculture, energy or urban planning or types of institutions like vocational institutions or location of institution in non-metro cities. For example, Montgomery College is leading an initiative of advancing community college model in India with the help of a grant funded by US-India Education Foundation (USIEF). Thus, internationalisation policy should facilitate opportunities beyond traditional models, level of programs, types of institutions and fields of studies.

Capacity Building

There are several approaches to internationalisation depending on mission and resources of an institution and one of the approach internationalisation policy May pursue is capacity building. Here capacity building refers to the creation of an enabling environment of resources (financial, technical and human) and regulatory framework which is line with the national needs.

Consider the case of some of the country-level partnerships have been focusing on enhancing educational and research engagement with India. For example, a delegation of university presidents from Canadian universities committed $4million for India specific engagements and the UK has renewed The UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI). These engagements will bring together critical resources for Indian institutions to learn and develop their practices. Similarly, technology has transformed the communication and content delivery mechanism and it could be a major source of engaging open courseware through www.ocwconsortium.org with limited resources.

The Way Forward

Indian higher education needs a comprehensive internationalisation strategy both at the national level and at institutional level. Like any new initiative, there will be some risks of misuses. For example, there May be institutions, which misrepresent, over-commercialise and perhaps make higher education unaffordable in the name of internationalisation. However, the test of a good policy framework is to have an ability to distinguish wheat from the chaff. In other words, internationalisation of higher education is relevant to the needs of the country and a mature policy environment, which encourages innovation and experimentation but restricts misrepresentation is much needed. It is high time for Indian higher education at policy and institutional level to reflect on how best to leverage the concept of internationalisation and engage it to achieve the goals of excellence, diversity and capacity building.

Honouring Life,Light and Learning

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July 1, 2011

Loynpo Thakur S Powdyel
Minister of Education, Bhutan

I had often thought – this was it! The light was retreating. Learning was rapidly becoming an irksome afterthought. I have often wondered why everything else takes the centre-stage but the very source of light should be consigned to the back-stage! It still worries me that almost everything else makes news but the noble sector only becomes relevant when something goes wrong in the society. I have often wondered what might have been the state of our world if Education had received its due.

As a soft pillow beneath my aching head comes the first ever Global Education Summit. It should have happened a thousand years ago! But 'the flag flies still and the city has not fallen'! Here, I have found a ray of hope. We can still redeem the sector noble and launch a new civilization.

I would like to offer my deepest tributes to the enlightened minds that saw the reason for this event whose time has truly come. I commend the initiative taken by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, the Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, and Elets Techno-media Pvt. Ltd. to host this historic Summit. It is a blessing to the world. Its value and its symbolism speak for themselves.

Education May not be as news-worthy as the stock market or sports or tsunami. It May be less dramatic than HIV/AIDS or bush-fire or earthquake. But given its due and pursued with honour, the light of learning can redeem the world. I am deeply heartened that the Summit creates a precious space for the meeting of minds and sharing of dreams dedicated to making our world a better place for our children and our children's children and beyond.

Education is at the crossroads of a complex kind today. The attitude to learning and the outlook of the learner often call into question the viability of the whole educational mission. With the rapid 'mercantilization of knowledge' and commercialization of learning, the core function of the noble sector is coming to be governed by the laws of corporations and the employment market. Change of vocabulary says it all: Are your graduates marketable? Are they employable? Are they saleable? How much further away could we be from the call to build faith and character, to learn the skills of usefulness and to cultivate the virtue of gracefulness that should define an educated person? Scholars have become commodities!

The essentially normative architecture of education is being rapidly dislodged by the linear logic of economic efficiency with the result that if a life-affirming discipline is at the same time economically not viable, there are not only fewer takers, but its support and succor May be compromised. However, mundane and mercenary a course May be, if it has a material carrot dangling at the end, it does magic! One May wonder, therefore, what, after all, is the purpose of education? Why do we occupy young people for nine months out of twelve in schools, colleges, and universities if the goal is nothing more than simply getting a job, as important as it is?

If a nation has a dream, it falls primarily upon its education system to uphold it and to advance it

The Global Education Summit May do well to look back and to look ahead for a more entire view of the human person and of the society of human beings

Towards Building a Global Knowledge Society

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July 1, 2011

Education is one of the most powerful celebrated drivers for reducing poverty, economic disparity, inequality and for laying the basis for unrelenting sustained economic growth. It is fundamental towards building vibrant democratic societies and globally competitive economies. For individuals and for nations, education is the key to create, disseminate and share knowledge. Despite grim challenges of means and resources, our nation has created a very large education system and has built up a vast pool of global citizens equipped with a high order of scientific and technological capabilities, robust humanist and philosophical creativity.

While the XIIth five year plan promises to ensure 'inclusive growth', and resolves to provide quality education to all, in an effort to fulfill the educational needs of the country specifically for the diverse societies and cultures of the country, the government has chalked out different educational categories like school, higher, tertiary, vocational, skills, technical etc. Amartya Sen recently emphasised education as a crucial parameter for any inclusive growth in an economy. In terms of both education policy reform and incremental domestic and international financing, we should have our focus more on inclusive rather than divisive growth strategies. Access to quality basic education is imperative not only to reduce social and regional disparities, but also to achieve balanced growth and development.

The country has the extreme situation of having the largest number of illiterates and out of school children in the world. In answer to this, there have been initiatives towards ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met to fair and judicious access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes. Community participation has also emerged as a force behind the existing educational opportunities. In order to have measurable learning outcomes achieved, especially in literacy, numeracy and in essential life skills, there is a need to have a comprehensive approach towards ensuring quality and excellence in education. In the present day context, we do have a transparent system that provides for a conducive learning environment supported with higher level of community participation. Teachers are effectively graduating to be facilitators of learning.

It is critical to have at least a growth rate of 9 to10 per cent per year in the economic sphere, necessitating the requirement for human skills, especially the research skills. We are happy to be part of a magical decade where there will be no compromise with respect to enrolment and retention of students. For this there must be 100 per cent literacy and 100 per cent enrolment at all levels of education. For this the rural sector is being mobilised and encouraged in the cause of education.

The optimistic scenario entails that India will have a well established education system at the elementary, secondary and tertiary levels to be able to develop manpower for different levels of the economy worldwide. Having added 203 million to the population of the literates during the decade 1991-2001, India has definite capability to reach near 100 per cent literacy level by 2025. This ambitious target would call for learning from global experiences of more open, flexible and supplementary routes having an appropriate mix of skills and academic knowledge. In the US, according to the latest statistics 46 percentage of the students go to the Universities through the two-year community colleges which have grown bigger than some of the premier universities over there. The Open University of China for example offers full-time, part time and spare time two-year and three year degree programmes in addition to various modular, certificate and diploma programmes. More than 50 percent of the students enter into higher learning in the Universities through these two-year degree colleges in China.

I feel privileged to share with you all that the special issue of digitalLEARNING magazine will be presented at the World Education Summit 2011. While we, as a nation, are going through an interesting phase of transition with various reforms in education, we strive to share and exchange our knowledge and best practices with the countries across globe specially the emerging ones in Africa, East Asia, South America and the Gulf. As the Guset editor, I urge all of you to come and share your vision towards building a truly global knowledge society.

With best wishes,

V N Rajasekharan Pillai

Convergence of Thought Leadership across the Globe

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July 1, 2011

The Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Completion by 2015 is by no means the only challenge in front of education systems across the world. It is only the first step toward the definitive goal of lifelong learning for all citizens, which is as relevant for the poorest countries of the developing world as it is for the countries of the developed world. With an endeavor of so much promise and reform, this special issue of digitalLEARNING is being presented at the World Education Summit, which is a confluence of global thought leaders to mull over the issues pertaining to the global education scenario.

All countries, no matter how far they are today from universal primary completion, must simultaneously invest in and promote the balanced development of all levels of their education systems. In a globally integrated and highly competitive world economy, multi stakeholder partnership initiatives can be effective in supporting and even expediting the ongoing education reforms for a more sustainable education system. Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO has emphasised that the partnerships of education programme have several assets. It is an effective advocacy channel and provides the tool to strengthen the understanding and coordination between stakeholders.

With a vibrant global education community working towards realising education opportunities for all, there is a need to raise awareness and support the implementation of relevant, sustainable and scalable national education sector plans on a global level through the increased commitment of the private and public sectors.
India is undergoing a wonderful transition period in education with guided by a visionary leadership. With the passage of the Foreign Education Provider Bill, establishment of the campuses of Indian institutions outside the country, coming over of global schools with foreign alliances, Indian education has certainly become globalised both inwards and outwards. The world in which we live today, demands global education for our students. Our geopolitical environment and economic fates are getting increasingly inter-connected. This situation clearly indicates that one needs to develop a new set of competitive skills to become a global workforce. The influence and prominence of the Indian students has already long been established on the global forefront.

It is about time for us to share our lessons, practices and ideas with each other globally and to convert these efforts into a sustainable way to not only promote global harmony but also to bring the global community on a united platform. It is indeed a historical and proud moment for the digitalLEARNING magazine, having covered a journey of more than six years, as it sets to present the World Education Summit 2011 in India along with IGNOU. We welcome all of you to join, share and contribute to the larger spectrum of education that has already gained momentum.

faculty Deficit in higher education

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July 1, 2011

There is an urgent need to focus on shortage of teaching faculty in higher learning, which can be done by attracting top rank holders in universities and institutions of higher education

We are on the threshold of a new era in the history of human civilisation. An era dominated and often driven by knowledge. Access to knowledge and an ability to use it for one’s own advantage have become more important than access to natural resources and capital. The emerging knowledge economy depends critically on the ready availability of adequate human resource with the right knowledge and intellectual skills.

India with a billion plus population and a varied demography has an excellent window of opportunity in this new economy. However, our educational system needs to be substantially upgraded to impart globally competitive training if we have to make use of this opportunity. India has seen major investments and promises of new investments in higher education in the recent times both by the government and by the private sector. The biggest challenge for India is however, the non-availability of competent faculty to teach in these institutions. This challenge defies simple and quick-fix solutions since, it takes several years of hard training to groom a competent teacher in any branch of higher learning. It is a well known fact that a career in teaching begins late with the average age of person being close to 30.

The increasing number of career options, attractive salaries in some other streams of employment that are high in demand, globalisation of the market place for trained people, all dissuade potential students to take up teaching careers. The salary scales and the career options in a teaching position offer little to offset the disadvantages of late entry. Consequently, the best of students today have little motivation to take up higher education and research leading to teaching as a career. This will only lead to further shortages of good quality teachers in the coming years. Any corrective measure will require several years to show results. Clearly, there is an urgent need to attract the best students to teaching careers with reasonable opportunities and a nurturing career option. While it would be difficult to match corporate compensation packages, the teaching profession at the highest level has always had an aura to attract committed students and it is this attraction that one should make use of while removing some of the well known disincentives.

A good measure could be targeting the top rank holders in universities and other institutions of higher learning such as the IIT’s, IISER’s, IIM’s etc. having a first class masters degree in basic sciences, social sciences and humanities, first class bachelors degree in engineering, medical sciences and other equivalent degrees. Within one month after declaration of results, by a process of interviews or personal discussions, admit about 200 candidates (crème dela crème) as Junior Faculty Interns for a period of two years and depute them to pursue M.Phil. or M.Tech. in selected Institutions of Higher learning. During this period, they are attached to a guide/mentor and 20 percent of their time is to be devoted to teaching assignments (tutorials, lectures, assignments, student guidance, etc.). The Junior Faculty Interns are to be paid a stipend equivalent to the total emoluments of a lecturer in a central university. On successful completion of Stage I as a Junior Faculty Intern for two years, and after an evaluation of the candidates for a teaching career, they should be admitted for Ph.D. in selected Institutions as a Senior Faculty Intern. Again, working under a guide or mentor, they will devote nearly 20 percent of their time in teaching-related activities. A Senior Faculty Intern would be entitled to a stipend equivalent to the total emoluments of a senior lecturer in a central university. On successful completion of Stage II as a Senior Faculty Intern and after an Evaluation of the candidates for a teaching career, they should be deputed to leading Institutions in India and abroad for two years for Post-Doctoral studies. On successful completion of Stage III and after an evaluation of the candidates for a teaching career, they should be offered Assistant Professor positions in any of our Institutions of higher learning. In addition, the candidates should also be provided a start-up research grant. A limited horizontal induction at Stages II – IV may be resorted to in the beginning. The scheme will thus build a pipeline to supply quality faculty to our Institutions of higher learning in all branches of knowledge at a very affordable cost without any major new investments in infrastructure. The present strategy of poaching teachers from elsewhere is unlikely to take us far.\\

“Management Education Can’t Rely Upon Outdated Nostrums”

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July 1, 2011

Professor Philip Taylor, Academic Director of Programmes, Strathcylde SKIL Business School shared his thoughts and views on the Indian education scenario and their roadmap for the Indian market with Pragya Gupta. Excerpts:

How do you see India as a market for higher education?

All informed commentators, including the Government of India, acknowledge that the demand for higher education is set to grow significantly in the short to medium term. For the next few decades, India’s population will remain young, and higher education will be needed to equip them to play their rightful roles in the knowledge economy. Due to the economic growth in the Indian economy, and as more and more families join the relatively better off sections of society, the demand for higher education is likely to grow at an accelerated pace. Expansion will grow apace particularly in the area of business and management studies at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

What pedagogical innovations are you planning to bring in India?

Strathclyde SKIL Business School (SBSS) is adopting a unique and coherent approach to delivering education in India through our state-of-the-art campus in Greater Noida. This is not an off-shored facility but a fully integrated campus within the University of Strathclyde that has a unique partnership with SKIL.

A key element in our pedagogy is the importance of delivering high quality education that applies theoretical knowledge emanating from cutting edge research to concrete practical setting. Strathclyde’s philosophy is best encapsulated in the fulfilment of its mission as ‘The Place of Useful Learning’. This underlying principle will inform the first programme to be delivered by SBSS, the Master in Management which commences in September 2011, and the Bachelor in Business Studies which follows in September 2012 and then the MBA in September 2013.

What are the challenges enduring in the Indian market? What are the key issues that need to be addressed to produce more skilled and quality workforce?

The main challenge in the Indian market is to ensure that the demand for business and management undergraduate and postgraduate education can be fulfilled by premium provision which ensures that students are able to access the highest quality learning experience.

Managers in the contemporary Indian context face the enormous challenge of leading their organisations in conditions of rapid change. Indeed it could be argued that the only constant is change. It follows that the emerging generation of business and management graduates and postgraduates are equipped with ability to apply their knowledge in complex and contradictory situations.

How can management education in India be reinvented in a way that can project it to the forefront of leadership and management training worldwide?

Management education in India cannot consist of rote learning or rely upon outdated nostrums. Successful managers must be able to draw upon the knowledge derived from the very cutting edge of critical management research and be steeped in an approach which understands the vital need for creative application of problem solving based upon that knowledge. In this sense advanced theoretical understanding based upon contemporary research is of great necessity for informed managerial and business practice.

What are your expectations from the Indian government?

We believe that the Indian Government is very focussed on the importance of making education available to the Indian population across all geographies and at all levels. In order to do this, we are seeing the Government moving away from what was largely a prescriptive regime towards a more participative environment where the learners and educators are able to interactively decide what the content of education needs to be, and how this should be designed and delivered so that it can be harnessed for the betterment of both society and the individual. We expect this trend to continue and indeed accelerate both in scope and pace.

Please share you plans and roadmap for the Indian market?

India is a focus area for us, and we see the Indian market to be one of the core areas for us. We have started with management education in Greater Noida, and over the span of the next three years, we will be rapidly expanding the scope to cover undergraduate students and persons with experience with the BBS and the MBA programmes. Our plans are to set up other centres across India in the years ahead, and also to expand the disciplines to cover Science and Engineering, other subjects in which the University of Strathclyde is a recognised leader.

Kindly shed light on the reason for the collaboration between SKIL and Strathclyde?

SKIL Infrastructure is one of the leading infrastructure developers in India. In our early discussions, it became evident that SKIL was bringing the practical perspective from India to the equation. This is critical in any such venture

"Higher Education Drives and is Driven by Globalisation" : Prof K S Rangappa, Vice Chancellor – Karnataka State Open University

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July 1, 2011

Prof K S Rangappa, the Vice Chancellor of Karnataka State Open University has three decades of research and teaching experience as Junior and Senior Research Fellow, Lecturer, Reader, Professor and Director at Post Graduate Department of Chemistry, University of Mysore. Prof. K S Rangappa highlights evolving higher education in India and role of ICT in an interview with Pragya Gupta, digitalLEARNING bureau

How do you see higher education evolving in India with respect to global scenario?

Globalisation is changing the structure of higher education radically by moving the services across boundaries, instead of the movement of people across the borders as witnessed earlier. Such migration of education from its location to new locations in search of clients is necessitating institutions of higher education in India to reorganise themselves to withstand the competition from the developed countries. Globalisation helps realise the benefits of free trade, and thus comparative advantage and the division of labour. It is also supposed to enhance efficiency and productivity. In this context there is a need for a common table to discuss the issues and challenges faced in higher education, the World Education Summit 2011 event is an answer to this.

One response to the danger of losing one’s job due to the erosion of professional qualifications or to the loss of markets, causing the breakdown of enterprises, is to increase the average level of active population qualifications. This could be accomplished through both enhanced initial education and training and through expansion of continuing education. The latter will involve upgrading, extending or reconverting professional knowledge and skills, in order to keep abreast of market needs, either as an employee or a self-employed person. Higher education should be able to produce, in the long run, enough graduates to assure that they reach roughly one-half of the active population. Continuing education and training should take the shape of genuinely learning, touching not only the whole occupationally active population but also all remaining members of the civil society.

Prof. Rangappa received his PhD from the University of Mysore (1982) and has been awarded the DSc degree by the University of Mysore for his independent research contribution (1998). He is the Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC; UK) and Fellow of National Academy of Sciences (FNASc) India.

Apart from the research activities of his own group, he has developed several National and International (Indo

Building Excellence in Education : Smt D Purandeswari, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, India

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July 1, 2011

Smt D Purandeswari,
Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

Smt D Purandeswari, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India shares plans, outreach and challenges in education while talking to Dr Rajeshree Dutta Kumar and Pragya Gupta

Please share your views on ideal scenario of education system in India.

First, we must remember that education is the fastest driver of socio-economic change. It is very important that we have a very strong education system that will support our needs and requirements and also support country’s growth and development. In order to respond to the challenges and issues within our own country, we need to bring in reforms in our education system. Education system introduced by colonial rulers had outgrown its relevance and there was grave necessity to put an education system in place that addresses our requirements.

The University Education Commission was thereby constituted under the leadership of Prof S Radhakrishnan. His recommendations emphasised that the then education system did not have any relevance and did not relate to modernity. He urged that the education system must change itself according to the needs and requirements of the nation. More than 50 years after, time has now arrived to bring in changes in order to suit the needs of our education system.

Globalisation is a reality and is here to stay, entailing that there is a need to prepare children not only to support the growth and development of the country but also that of the globe. This indicates the need to churn out global citizens. In view of that we are now looking to bring changes in the education. I would like to call the current education scenario interseting and challenging. Interesting because of exponential expansion in education sector be it elementary, secondary or higher education and challenging because not only do we need to firm up our education system to ensure that that they grow as global citizens.

Can you share with us the initiatives undertaken by your Ministry?

The ministry has made significant achievements under the leadership of Shri Kapil Sibal as he set a 100 days target so that we can achieve it without any complacency seeping into the system. That is how we have been bringing certain legislations like RTE (Right to Education) bill and were able to do amendments. We are looking at the exponential expansion in higher education sector. We are now looking into different bills to come in. We are looking at Education Tribunal bill. We are looking at Foreign Education Provider bill, which is presently there with the law ministry. Once it will be recognised by them it will be introduced. We are looking at establishing an education tribunal to address the issues, which education institutions faced. Suppose if there is a professor or teacher in a college or school who feels that their terms were not fulfilled or they were misled, they can approach the tribunal. Because we do not want institution to be hanged in a courtroom for long to get their cases resolved. Rather, we want fast track tool in education institution.

We are also looking at Prevention of Education Malpractices Act. The students who have been cheated by the institution or if they find that said conditions have not been fulfilled in terms of faculty, infrastructure, fee, etc., then the students can take them to court with this act. I am sure parliament will support this bill, which will bring great change in the education system.

How can our children cater to the global requirements in the light of shortage of skilled workforce? How can industry support us?

Children must support the requirements of our country first then they can go to become global citizen. There has been an apprehension that there is a great gap between what the universities are offering, the industry and market requirements and what universities are churning out. There has been a long debate. My own experience says that four-five years ago when we opened dialogue with private sector to come to the table and discuss about their needs so that we can put them into operation, we did not see enthusiasm by private sector or the industry then.

But today we see that the private sector is willing to come forward and we also want to stretch out our hands to them and sit together to discuss with them so that our children should get meaningful education. It is happening because today both of us look at it as a win-win situation. We considers it as a win-win situation because we are ensuring children employment. If we work with industry then we will ensure providing children with gainful employment. Industry considers it as a win-win situation because unless we give them quality education, there will not be quality manpower out of university. So the situation is such that both of us have to sit together.

What are the initiatives taken by your Ministry for promoting vocational education?

Vocational stream is also the focus today. Honourable Prime Minister has emphasised that we need to up skill 500 million children by 2020. The Skill Development Council has been constituted and it is under the review and purview of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Skill development is spread across 17 ministries and departments, and in order to avoid overlapping, the PMO has taken the responsibility to coordinate and review the situation.

Under the skill development mission we have Polytechnics. This mission concentrates and focuses on skill development. In this processes, we can now see piecemeal development happening but there is no proper certification available. When it comes to skills that our children have actually acquired, we feel that the certification is important as this certificate will be recognised wherever the child goes across the length and breadth of the country. Probably, we will think of tying up with the international bodies as well. Presently, we are focusing on children’s skills being recognised and they be given due employment.

Secondly there would be no exploitation of any child. Today, if a child does not undergo formal education system, his / her skills are not recognised and there is an exploitation and under payment. National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) has been constituted, which will probably be the national body that will certify the skills acquired by students. We have opened dialogue with various industrial sectors so that we could work together. We want them to give us guidance in the form of curriculum that a sector requires.

We also have to see how do we integrate vocational education to conventional education. A child after sometime may realise that he is interested in going back to college, and it will not be possible unless we establish a connect between the two. Unless this connection happens, we do not think that there will be respect and dignity that will be given to vocational education. It has been looked down as a stream where ‘not so good’ children go. So that apprehension should be dispelled and dignity should be given to vocational education.

We interacted openly with sectors like automotive, IT, ITES, Construction and are looking forward to interact with hospitality sector also. These are sectors that generate lot of employment. We are looking at different levels of skills required in each sector. We have constituted a committee to be a part of NVEQF and asked them to give us direction on the curriculum and testing of the skills of the children .

Do you see any direct relationship between conventional higher education system and that of vocational?

We do want them to be in relation with each other. Unless, we give the child vertical or horizontal mobility, in vocational education, which will give options like multi entry and multi exit, the child will not want to come into vocational education. Today we cannot have children who just come out of secondary school education and get into the higher education where there is no employment opportunity for them. We rather have them skilled and then gainfully employed to offer better support to their families and contributing to the growth of the country.

“Prevention of Education Malpractices Act will lend a hand to the children who have been cheated by the institution”

Do you advocate Vocational education for schools?

Yes. It will give the child a feel of what vocational education is. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has already incorporated vocational education into the curriculum at the level of secondary education. A child in class 8th to 10th is already exposed to vocational stream. It helps in exploring the child’s latent talent. Once the child gets the feel of Vocational education then the child can take it up further too.

Can you share with us the impact on GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio)?

Drop out ratio in school education has seen positive changes as it has came down. For GER, we go according to the census and 2001 census has revealed that GER in Higher Education is not more than 12.4 percent. Today, it is expected to be around 14 percent, according to general estimate, since we have not got the figures in hand. Various surveys have emphasised that if our economy has to be sustainable, then GER needs to be 20 percent whereas international average is 23 percent. All developed countries are anywhere between 40-70 percent. So we know there is herculean task ahead of us. Vocational education can help in achieving GER in one aspect. Distance education can help us achieving our target. These are various aspects within the education sector that can help us in achieving GER but we also have to look at the literacy level. Presently, literacy level is around 65 percent and we want to enhance it to 80 percent. In terms of diversity it is a challenge to reach out to diverse sectors. So even 65 percent achievement, keeping in mind the multitudnal diversity of the country, is a wonderful feeling. Of course we can not get complacent. We have to set a target of 80 percent for the literacy level. So the distance education, the vocational education, and the skill development mission will help us to achieving the set literacy rate target.

The mandate of Right to Education enhances the accessibility of Education. Does the act address quality and quantity aspects?

Right to Education addresses both qualitative and quantitative aspect of education. Quantitative in terms of improving accessibility. Through SSA (Sarva Siksha Abhiyan), to a large extent, our focus has been on accessibility because accessibility, equity and quality are the key pillars of our education system.

First is accessibility, unless we have children coming to school, we cannot talk about quality. So all our focus has been on how we make education accessible. We need to create the infrastructure so that the child can actually access the school within the kilometer range for an elementary level. Since, we have reached that quantitative in SSA, we are now looking at secondary education and we have the flagship programme RMSA (Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan) where we are looking at lower primary, lower secondary school at every three kilometers and higher secondary school at every five kilometers. Now that is also a herculean task keeping the geographical largeness of the country and the numbers and demographies in the country.

In this regard, we have also requested the state governments because RTE is not the legislation that is going to be only implemented by Government of India. It is the legislation, which is going to be implemented closely with the state governments. So the state governments need to play their part very effectively and responsibly. We have asked them to have GIS (Geographical Information System) mapping of all the schools for the citizens to know where the schools should be and what we mean by neighborhood schools. Because there are areas in some states where all the schools probably are concentrated in a particular place. It is very important to address the geographical disparity.

After we have addressed the quantity, our focus is on quality. Now if you look at RTE bill very closely, we can not have quality education being given to our children unless we have qualitative teachers in the class. RTE lays down the qualifications for the teachers. It also says that teacher have to pass the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which has been introduced by NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education), a nodal organisation to lay down the qualification for the teachers to be covered under RTE. We are ensuring the qualitative teachers are now going to be put in place.

NIOS (Natinal Institute of Open Schooling) should ensure, as an open schooling system, to impart skill oriented programme that may give age relevant coaching to the child to be brought into the conventional education. As far as quality is concerned, once we have qualitative teachers in place, we have great organisation like (NCERT) National Council for Education, Research and Training, which is going to come up with National Curriculum Framework widely respected by all states and across the country.

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