EDUCATION IN INDIA SINCE INDPENDENCE
The education system that is followed and known as Macaulay system was started by the British to mass produce the clerks for their administration. The system did not produce free thinkers and the teaching methods did not and continue to not allow free thinking. In this background if the country had produced some extraordinary persons in different fields who made a name for themselves in their chosen fields, it is their personal efforts and not the contribution of the educational system. There are lots of questions raised as to why India,when compared to some of the western countries, does not have any great invention to its name despite having the largest number of technically and scientifically qualified persons.
The Indian education system post independence remained the same with more emphasis on continuing the legacy of mass producing clerks than inventors with free thinking. The system was further corroded with more emphasis on the victor's tale of what the invaders did in the country than about the valour of the local kings and chieftains. The matter became worse during the times 1971-74 when the then minister in charge of education made certain that the history taught in the schools from the primary level to graduation or post graduation levels did not mention the contribution made by the different dynasties that were ruling the country before the times of the invaders. Moreover, the pro left stance of the successive governments resulted in the education becoming a tool to propagate the left ideals than being neutral leaving the students to choose his path. This despite the so called hands-off position of the party in power in the education sector.
After almost 30 years a committee was set up by the previous government in 2015 under the chairmanship of Dr. K Kasturirangan with the following renowned academicians and administrators as members: Prof. Vasudha Kamat, former vice-chancellor of SNDT University, Mumbai, K J Alphonse, IAS who later became a minister in the government, Prof Manjul Bhargava, renowned professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, USA, Prof Ram Shankar Kureel, former vice-chancellor of Baba Saheb university of Social Sciences, MP, Prof T V Kattimani, Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Tribal university, Shri. Krishna Mohan Tripathy, former Director of Secondary Education, UP, Shri. Mazhar Asif, Professor of JNU, Shri M K Shridhar former member secretary Karnataka Knowledge Commission, Shri. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Former Adviser to Ministry of Health and Family welfare, and Dr. Shakila T Shamsu as Member Secretary. The committee had submitted its recommendation in the form of a draft educational policy in the fag end of 2018 as New Educational Policy - 2019. There are many recommendations relating to education from primary to higher education and research and research bodies. In one of the recommendations it has been proposed to set up a high power committee to oversee the education sector and all the other agencies will be under this umbrella organization which will be chaired by the prime minister himself. The media has already gone to town against this draft policy that it is the scheme of the party in power to influence the education to suit the party's philosophy and ideals. The same media was a silent spectator when the party in power in 1971-74 tinkered with the education sector and made a mishmash of the whole thing. The media was a silent spectator when the 'samacheer kalvi' was introduced in Tamilnadu in primary and secondary levels thereby indoctrinate the young minds with Dravidian political thinking than history as it is. The result of such reckless tinkering with education at state and central levels had lead to mass producing youth with college degrees in various disciplines with absolutely no ability to tackle the demands of an employment especially where technical skills are called for.
The recommendations from the committee had touched upon every aspect of education from primary to post doctoral research and setting up national centers of excellence in various fields. The political leadership in the state of Tamilnadu will do well to take the draft policy a little more seriously and start looking into the various recommendations of the committee. They may even send the same to select colleges in the state sector and private universities to get the feedback from the academics to put forward to the center to include or amend the required portions in the final policy to be adopted. Instead, the political leadership is resorting to cheap gimmick of rabble-rousing the public against the same by being a silent spectator to many so called celebrities in the cine field and other areas but not in the field of education talking against the draft policy. The administrators also did not bother to bring out the essence of the draft policy to the attention of the educators and academics for a fair and unbiased discussion. The people in general, do get carried away by the far and against comments and discussions in the social media and main stream media by the people not directly connected with education.
The main stream media on its part take only the setting up of the higher committee with Prime minister as Chair to oversee the policy making as per the draft NEP, had condemned the same saying that it is an attempt to saffronise the education. In any government funded program, there is a committee or a group of ministers to oversee the work that is being carried out with the funds allocated to that work. Why make education an exception? The successive governments had been taking a hands-off position when it came to education whereas, they were covertly and overtly monitoring everything to do with religion despite the governments at center and states being secular. That is the irony of the Indian Democracy.
After almost 30 years a committee was set up by the previous government in 2015 under the chairmanship of Dr. K Kasturirangan with the following renowned academicians and administrators as members: Prof. Vasudha Kamat, former vice-chancellor of SNDT University, Mumbai, K J Alphonse, IAS who later became a minister in the government, Prof Manjul Bhargava, renowned professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, USA, Prof Ram Shankar Kureel, former vice-chancellor of Baba Saheb university of Social Sciences, MP, Prof T V Kattimani, Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Tribal university, Shri. Krishna Mohan Tripathy, former Director of Secondary Education, UP, Shri. Mazhar Asif, Professor of JNU, Shri M K Shridhar former member secretary Karnataka Knowledge Commission, Shri. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Former Adviser to Ministry of Health and Family welfare, and Dr. Shakila T Shamsu as Member Secretary. The committee had submitted its recommendation in the form of a draft educational policy in the fag end of 2018 as New Educational Policy - 2019. There are many recommendations relating to education from primary to higher education and research and research bodies. In one of the recommendations it has been proposed to set up a high power committee to oversee the education sector and all the other agencies will be under this umbrella organization which will be chaired by the prime minister himself. The media has already gone to town against this draft policy that it is the scheme of the party in power to influence the education to suit the party's philosophy and ideals. The same media was a silent spectator when the party in power in 1971-74 tinkered with the education sector and made a mishmash of the whole thing. The media was a silent spectator when the 'samacheer kalvi' was introduced in Tamilnadu in primary and secondary levels thereby indoctrinate the young minds with Dravidian political thinking than history as it is. The result of such reckless tinkering with education at state and central levels had lead to mass producing youth with college degrees in various disciplines with absolutely no ability to tackle the demands of an employment especially where technical skills are called for.
The recommendations from the committee had touched upon every aspect of education from primary to post doctoral research and setting up national centers of excellence in various fields. The political leadership in the state of Tamilnadu will do well to take the draft policy a little more seriously and start looking into the various recommendations of the committee. They may even send the same to select colleges in the state sector and private universities to get the feedback from the academics to put forward to the center to include or amend the required portions in the final policy to be adopted. Instead, the political leadership is resorting to cheap gimmick of rabble-rousing the public against the same by being a silent spectator to many so called celebrities in the cine field and other areas but not in the field of education talking against the draft policy. The administrators also did not bother to bring out the essence of the draft policy to the attention of the educators and academics for a fair and unbiased discussion. The people in general, do get carried away by the far and against comments and discussions in the social media and main stream media by the people not directly connected with education.
The main stream media on its part take only the setting up of the higher committee with Prime minister as Chair to oversee the policy making as per the draft NEP, had condemned the same saying that it is an attempt to saffronise the education. In any government funded program, there is a committee or a group of ministers to oversee the work that is being carried out with the funds allocated to that work. Why make education an exception? The successive governments had been taking a hands-off position when it came to education whereas, they were covertly and overtly monitoring everything to do with religion despite the governments at center and states being secular. That is the irony of the Indian Democracy.
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