Right to Education Act that enjoins all states in the country to provide free and compulsory education to every child between age 6 and 14 came into effect in 2010. Unfortunately RTE has resulted in education standards to fall reveal surveys and studies done recently. Teachers' salaries have increased quite a bit and the infrastructure has marginally improved due to the emphasis placed in RTE.
Today's TOI editorial on Falling Education Standards - and another article in TOI of 13th March 2013 (Ref: Study done by Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation International professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab) talk about the quality issue and what is wrong with the policy and implementation. [For e.g. to honour the policy, we have implemented the rule - Children are not required to pass annual exams, everyone gets promoted until Standard VIII).
Without repeating the problems afflicting the education system, here are few prescriptions.
Small things with big impact:
1) Bring automation and transparency in processes of hiring teachers
2) Employment terms of teachers to change - salary, promotion, transfers and leaves linked to performance and attendance record which must both be monitored through ICT enabled systems
3) Teachers eligibility and performance assessments tests to be created and updated regularly by a central body of experts - of very high repute
4) Minimum infrastructure in schools to include - clean toilets, safe drinking water, ventilated class rooms, black boards, electricity, broadband internet and computers / tablets
5) Teachers' and students' online database - profile, expectations, assessment notes (this should be a central system capable of storing hundreds of millions profiles - this system should be hosted by GOI and not any state - this system should have the capability of administering online surveys - with both open ended and close ended answers) [I can create such a system for less that Rs.100 crores]
Big things with big impact:
1) Remove education from the "Concurrent List or List III" (item no.25. "Education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of Entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I; vocational and technical training of labour.") and shift it to "Union List or List I - this means the education standards - PRIMARY as well as higher education, syllabus, courseware; budgetary support to educational and training schools, colleges and institutes will become Central Govt responsibility
2) Develop and update regularly the syllabus, courseware, teaching notes and aids through a central organisation that would employ experts of very high repute - these people would be world class experts and they would have the right to form special task groups comprising experts from anywhere in the world [the work of this body of experts will have the greatest influence on the quality of education in the country, therefore, no costs should be spared to get the best talent to contribute]
3) Schools and colleges should be made to buy the courseware and teaching aids from the central organisation - there can be different "levels" for the same class or qualification, depending upon the capacity of the school or college to procure - there can be additional support at a cost for adaptation and modifications by the central experts; Govt. can decide to reimburse schools and institutes for such expenses depending upon affirmative action priorities (for e.g. schools admitting poor students would get proportionately higher reimbursements from the Central Govt.)
4) Highly automated system for teacher's recruitment and appraisal could be designed and offered by the Central Organisation to all schools and colleges & institutes in the country - "National Teachers & Faculty Exchange" could support all requisitions for teachers and faculty from anywhere in the country
5) All students' profiles, expectations could be managed in a central database through a "National Students Exchange"
6) Any work provider could submit work opportunity details to the "National Students Exchange" and find the best candidates for interviewing and further assessments
Today's TOI editorial on Falling Education Standards - and another article in TOI of 13th March 2013 (Ref: Study done by Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation International professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab) talk about the quality issue and what is wrong with the policy and implementation. [For e.g. to honour the policy, we have implemented the rule - Children are not required to pass annual exams, everyone gets promoted until Standard VIII).
Without repeating the problems afflicting the education system, here are few prescriptions.
Small things with big impact:
1) Bring automation and transparency in processes of hiring teachers
2) Employment terms of teachers to change - salary, promotion, transfers and leaves linked to performance and attendance record which must both be monitored through ICT enabled systems
3) Teachers eligibility and performance assessments tests to be created and updated regularly by a central body of experts - of very high repute
4) Minimum infrastructure in schools to include - clean toilets, safe drinking water, ventilated class rooms, black boards, electricity, broadband internet and computers / tablets
5) Teachers' and students' online database - profile, expectations, assessment notes (this should be a central system capable of storing hundreds of millions profiles - this system should be hosted by GOI and not any state - this system should have the capability of administering online surveys - with both open ended and close ended answers) [I can create such a system for less that Rs.100 crores]
Big things with big impact:
1) Remove education from the "Concurrent List or List III" (item no.25. "Education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of Entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I; vocational and technical training of labour.") and shift it to "Union List or List I - this means the education standards - PRIMARY as well as higher education, syllabus, courseware; budgetary support to educational and training schools, colleges and institutes will become Central Govt responsibility
2) Develop and update regularly the syllabus, courseware, teaching notes and aids through a central organisation that would employ experts of very high repute - these people would be world class experts and they would have the right to form special task groups comprising experts from anywhere in the world [the work of this body of experts will have the greatest influence on the quality of education in the country, therefore, no costs should be spared to get the best talent to contribute]
3) Schools and colleges should be made to buy the courseware and teaching aids from the central organisation - there can be different "levels" for the same class or qualification, depending upon the capacity of the school or college to procure - there can be additional support at a cost for adaptation and modifications by the central experts; Govt. can decide to reimburse schools and institutes for such expenses depending upon affirmative action priorities (for e.g. schools admitting poor students would get proportionately higher reimbursements from the Central Govt.)
4) Highly automated system for teacher's recruitment and appraisal could be designed and offered by the Central Organisation to all schools and colleges & institutes in the country - "National Teachers & Faculty Exchange" could support all requisitions for teachers and faculty from anywhere in the country
5) All students' profiles, expectations could be managed in a central database through a "National Students Exchange"
6) Any work provider could submit work opportunity details to the "National Students Exchange" and find the best candidates for interviewing and further assessments
