(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012: Yojana Magazine - Education in Indian Economy

Education in Indian Economy

Q. Write a short notes on RTE Bill 2010.?

Answer: Primary Education: India joined the club of developed/developing countries with compulsory education on 1st April, 2010 when Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) became effective though Article 21A was inserted in Indian constitution through 86th amendment in 2002. Thus all children of 6-14 years are to get free education up to 8th standard (elementary education) and at the same time through Article 51A (K) it is the fundamental duty of all parents and guardians to send their children to schools. It also provides for better teacher-pupil ratio, opening of more schools, more buildings, more classrooms, toilets,  trained teachers, improvement in curriculum and library / lab and, on the other hand, it prohibits

1. physical punishment and mental harassment,

2. screening procedures for admission,

3. capitation fees,

4. private tuition by teachers, and

5. running of schools without recognition.

Q. What are the draw back which are notable in higher and technical education in India?

Answer: Due to vast expansion of higher and technical education over the years, India has the third largest technical manpower in the world after US and China. But following drawbacks are notable in higher and technical education in India :-

1. UGC has over- regulated and restricted the autonomy of universities in India; further it has ignored and not provided adequate funds to state universities which are in large number but due to paucity of fund are not flourishing, about one lakh students go to foreign countries for quality higher education every year and this leads to drain of huge amount because often per head expenditure on one student is 25 lakh rupees in a year. Thus at least Rs. 500 crore is drained from India every year in this regard. Further about 80 percent of such students prefer to work in western countries. Surprisingly many Indian students also go to China for technical education (especially engineering and medicine). In 2006, lakhs of students from various developing countries (especially China and India) contributed $ 18000 million to US economy and $ 8000 million to Australian economy.

2. Not a single Indian university (including IIT and IIM) gets rank in top 100 universities in the world (as per Times Higher Education ranking) whereas some universities from Japan, China, Singapore, Korea etc. find their ranks there.

3. After liberalisation, in 1991, there have been mushrooming growth of private universities and colleges in India without maintaining higher academic standard and transparency in administration. They are charging very high capitation fee/ donation as well as other charges illegally and unethically. And even then enrolment in public and private sector higher education is only 13 percent whereas it is 50 percent in developed countries and in some developed countries like US above 80 percent; China has 23 percent enrolment rate.

4. Many engineers and management postgraduates are not capable of handling the expected tasks. Hence they are not employable or to be adjusted to lower jobs. As per Mckinsey report 75 percent of graduate engineers in India are too poorly educated to function effectively in the economy without additional on-the–job training. Thus their productivity is low. Further though Indian economy is growing faster at 8-9 percent annually than earlier at 3-4 percent, yet sufficient jobs have not been created resulting into `jobless growth’ whereas China is growing much faster as well as creating sufficient jobs.

National Knowledge Commission has diagnosed ten ailments of higher education:

• outdated curricula have not kept pace with the times;

• learning places premium on memory rather than understanding;

• the milieu is not conducive to anything beyond class;

• academic calendar is no longer sacrosanct for classes or examinations;

• the infrastructure is on the verge of collapse;

• the boundaries between disciplines have become `dividing walls’;

• the importance of research has eroded;

• decline in volume of research (frequency of publication) and quality of research;

• little accountability – no rewards for performance and no penalties for non – performance;

• governance structure not responsive to changing times and circumstances that the system is readily subverted by vested interests.

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