---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: mishak south <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: May 3, 2005 1:18 PM
Subject: [kerala-thoughts] EDUCATION REFORMS
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Deregulation & Decontrol of
Higher & Technical Education
Government to concentrate on Primary & Secondary Education
Present population of India is about 1100 million
72% or nearly 775 million are below the age of 35 years
It is estimated that there are nearly 300 million people in the age
group from 18 years to 50 years who seek employment, either self
employment or otherwise
India has a large number of young people but they are not educated and
trained to world class standards, therefore most are not employable.
Nearly 46 million people are registered with various Employment
Exchanges, with little or no hope of getting some sort of employment
Excepting in Information Technology and Software where there may be
50,000 or more private I.T. training institutes and centers, which is
the reason for the IT success,
There are very few facilities for training the other 2500 courses
offered in 15,000 modules, in different branches of Vocational
Education and Training, VET
In developed and developing countries nearly 10% of the population
between the ages 15 to 55 would be doing some sort of Vocational
Education & Training, VET, this would amount to about 60 to 70 million
people being trained in India at any given time!
In India the number of people getting some sort of VET is hardly 1.5
to 2 million students per year, totally inadequate for a country of
the size of India.
India spends about Rs. 78,000 cr. per year on education, 90% by the
State Governments and 10% by the Central Government. The new Education
Cess may bring in another Rs. 6000 cr. per year. This is about 4% of
GDP. At this stage of India's development about 8% to 10% of GDP is
required for education and training. It is estimated that additional
Rs. 1,00,000 cr. To Rs. 1,25,000 cr. funds are required per year.
The present Literacy levels are only 67.5%, a balance of nearly 400
million people need to be made literate.
The present Indian definition of Literacy also needs up-gradation
Various studies have proved, without any doubt, that the GDP growth
rate moves up by 1% to 2% per year, only as a result of an educated
and literate population
Nearly 28 million people are added to the youth population every year,
putting additional burden on the existing Primary and Secondary
Education infrastructure of India.
In the 7 IIT's and the 5 IIM's the total number of seats allows only
the top 1.1% to1.3% of the applicants to be selected. The top 15% of
these students find admission any where in the world educational
institutions, provided they can pay for their fees.
The IIT's and IIM's charge highly subsidized fees, as a result, even
after 57 years of independence they have no surplus to set up new
campuses
It is estimated that nearly Rs 50,000 cr of funds flow out of India
every year, directly and indirectly, for the Indian students studying
abroad, enough to build 30 IIT's or 50 IIM's per year!
The IIT's, IIM's and colleges of Higher & Technical Education will
find it very difficult to get teaching staff and trainers on fixed
government levels of salary and wage structure. It is regrettable that
though the students from these institutions get much higher starting
salaries than their professors, this aspect has been ignored by the
civil society as well as the government!
The State and Central governments have very little additional funds
for education and Training. Therefore it is necessary to consider
funding from private sources
Most politicians are interested in running educational institutions,
but not much for arranging additional funds for the masses for
education
Capitation fees and corruption in education will only be diminished by
deregulation and by allowing the market forces of supply and demand
take care of quality and quantity of education
Very few schools provide development of other aspects of character
building and of important values and extra curricular activities such
as sports, music, drama, hobbies and prevocational courses in the 2500
Vocational Courses
If India has to compete in world markets it needs world class trained
manpower to make Indian enterprises high quality and low cost
Recommendations
In the first phase, Government should concentrate from Kinder Garten
to the 10th Class for the next 20 to 25 years, or till literacy levels
of above 98% have been achieved, whichever is sooner
Enterprise Skills and Education or ESD needs to be started from Class
1st to Class 10th. This will impart to the youth a view of how the
real world works and help them to choose the profession of their
choice and aptitude, by the time they are 14 to 16 years of age.
Pre-vocational courses should be started from Class 7th to 10th.
Councilors and student advisors need to be available to all students
in the secondary schools. This network needs urgent implementation.
All funding for higher and Technical Education should be diverted
towards Primary and Secondary education.
License Raj in Higher & Technical Education, including Vocational
Education & Training should go. Reservation for up to 25% of seats for
merit and merit-cum-poverty to be reserved in such institutions at
very nominal fees of say 25% of normal fees
Private capital from Citizens and NRI's should be encouraged to set up
world class facilities for all forms of educational institutions, to
make India an International Hub for education. World wide education is
500% bigger than I.T. and software.
Like in private tuition and in the education of I.T. and software
where there should be no interference from the government in terms
of…..
Selection of Syllabus
Salary levels of teachers
Appointment of the head of the Institution
Appointment of staff and teachers
Fee structure of different courses
Introduction of new courses and scrapping of old courses
9. IIT's and IIM's should be allowed to start multiple campuses
any where in India with or without private partners who bring in
finance and other expertise
10. Indian Universities and colleges should be allowed to upgrade
their infrastructure by bringing in Indian or other partners, provided
that they always have full management control of their institutions
11. A dynamic relationship between
Teaching-Research-Industry-Enterprise-Government is required
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