NKC: Three-year progress report

Recognising knowledge as key capital in the 21st century, prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh constituted the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) in 2005, with the brief to suggest ways and means to transform India into a knowledge powerhouse.To successfully address the challenges posed by Indias massive human capital or demographic dividend (550 million Indians are below 24 years of age), we evolved a strategy to improve access to knowledge; reinvigorate institutions where knowledge concepts are imparted; develop world class academic environments for creation of knowledge; promote applications of knowledge for sustained and inclusive growth; and encourage knowledge applications in efficient delivery of public services. The commission felt that adoption and implementation of this human capital development strategy will place India firmly on the path to sustainable development. Since 1991, while the Indian economy has recorded high rates of annual growth, the education sector has been afflicted by inertia. It has not been able to keep pace with the aspirations of the 550 million youth in the country and provide them with the appropriate skill sets and learning opportunities. Consequently, we have not been able to harness our greatest asset — human capital. This challenge was the starting point of the work of NKC. To create a knowledge-driven gener-ation for the future which will sustain the growth momentum of the economy, NKC has been attempting to bring education to the forefront of policy deliberations and public debates across the country. To this end, the commission has consulted numerous experts and stakeholders within the government and outside it, to formulate over 200 recommendations on 26 diverse facets of the emerging knowledge economy. Throughout our deliberations, we have consciously focused on addressing the problems of the entire knowledge spectrum, instead of taking a narrow view of education. From our perspective, wide-ranging reforms in the wider knowledge society, and dynamic re-shaping of knowledge systems in the country are critical to create impact and generate change. At the bottom of the knowledge pyramid, to enhance access to quality elementary education, we have proposed recommendations on enacting the Right to Education Bill and generational changes in the school system with emphasis on greater management decentralisation, flexibility in disbursal of funds and community participation in decision making, among other things. At the other end of the spectrum, in higher education we have stressed the need for expansion of the system to facilitate greater access, improvement of the quality of education and advocated inclusion in the interests of equity. Moreover, the objective of our proposal to establish an Independent Regulatory Authority of Higher Education is to reform regulatory structures in tertiary education, and to create a new paradigm of governance which will encourage openness, transparency and remove cumbersome barriers blocking the entry of new institutions of higher education. During the three years past since the NKC was established, we have also suggested reforms to improve the quality of research in universities and beyond, which is crucial if India is to be at the forefront of cutting edge innovations in…