Delhi: Inconvenient report

The report of the five-member committee chaired by former Union cabinet secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, constituted last October by the Union ministry of human resource development (HRD) to draft a National Policy on Education (NPE) 2016, which was presented to Union HRD minister Smriti Irani on May 28, has quickly run into a storm. This is hardly surprising since Subramanian, an alum of the Imperial College, London and Harvard University who served as cabinet secretary during the tumultuous  noughties (1996-98), has a mind of his own unlike most bureaucrats, and isn’t afraid to speak it. Moreover, he is reputed not to have buried any bodies or incriminating evidence during his long career (1961-1998) which could be leveraged to toe any particular line. Therefore, one of his first demands was to make the report available to the public for debate and discussion, a suggestion refused by Irani on the ground that the report is “the property of 110,000 villages, over 5,000 blocks, over 500 districts, and 20 states, which have entrusted it to us with the confidence that any recommendation that comes to the Centre will be shared with them before it is made into a draft policy”. Unfazed and stating that “an informed public discussion which can provide valuable inputs for the final exercise to be undertaken in the (HRD) ministry,” Subramanian called a press conference in Delhi on June 23 and suo motu released the 230-page report of the committee which has made 90 recommendations for incorporation into the National Policy on Education, 2016. “It will not be an exaggeration to say that our education system is in disarray… it is imperative for India to change the methods of imparting education, to nurture and develop the qualities that can lead to a meaningful future — both for the individual and society,” says the introduction of the impressively detailed report. Most of the major recommendations of the Subramanian Committee have been repeatedly advocated by EducationWorld (estb.1999) and to that extent, are reflective of the positive impact of this pioneer publication on public education policies. Among them: repealing the no-detention until class VIII provision of the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and introducing examinations after class V; provision of early childhood education for children in the four-six age group; introduction of vocational education from class VIII onwards; raising the annual outlay for education (Centre plus states) to 6 percent of GDP “without further loss of time”; granting greater financial and academic autonomy to higher educational institutions, and allowing top-ranked foreign universities to establish campuses in India. Some of the novel suggestions made by the committee include establishing an all-India education service on the model of the Indian Administrative Service; compulsory testing of teachers and renewal of their teaching licences every ten years; compulsory accreditation of all higher education institutions every three years; and restricting role of the University Grants Commission to disbursal of scholarships and fellowships to deserving and needy students. Union HRD minister Smriti Irani’s…