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ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON THE EVE OF 58TH INDEPENDENCE DAY - 2004
Education
for Dignity of Human life
My Dear Citizens of India,
On the eve of the 58th Independence Day, I extend to you my best wishes
for your happiness and prosperity. My greetings to all of you at home and
abroad. Let us, on this occasion, remember with gratitude, the selfless
and devoted services of our Armed Forces and those of the Paramilitary
Forces, who are guarding our frontiers on the land, the sea, and in the
air. I take this opportunity on this Independence Day to convey the best
wishes of the people of India, to our men and women participating in the
Olympic Games in Athens.
I met 200 freedom fighters from different parts of the country on 9th
August 2004. I saw in their ripe age, their enthusiasm to bring back the
nationalism as a living movement. I salute all our freedom fighters on
this occasion. Let me dedicate this Independence Day broadcast to those
great souls who pioneered our Independence movement. We remember them with
reverence and gratitude for liberating us from centuries of foreign rule.
Their saga of sacrifice has realized the singular and the noble vision of
heralding an independent nation.
Dear citizens, we must realize, the significance and the value of our
freedom movement. Fortunately after our independence in 1947, we have come
a long way in the field of education and moved towards a knowledge
society, as a result of the vision of our educationalists and the policies
and actions of successive governments. Many of our educational
institutions have excelled in the world. In order to revitalize our
self-esteem and culture, it is vital to emphasize the role of education
system for creating an enlightened, dynamic and prosperous society
utilizing the advancement of science and technology. I therefore propose
to discuss the education system in some detail in the later part of my
address.
General Elections
The nation is happy that the conduct of
the recent general elections and transition to a new government has taken
place in a peaceful and orderly manner. In an increasingly complex world
environment, this significant achievement emerging from India is yet
another valuable contribution to world peace and stability. Now that the
government is in place, we all have to get on with the work of building
the nation.
External Relations
We are steadily strengthening our presence
in Regional and International institutions including the United Nations.
We also realize it is essential to strengthen and restructure the United
Nations to make it more purposeful. We cherish and advocate multi-polarity
in the world order that respects the principles of sovereignty,
non-intervention, freedom and democracy. While not forgetting the painful
lessons of history, our foreign policy is aimed at a vision that seeks to
establish India, the largest democracy in the world as a developed country
with its rightful place in the international fora.
Defence & Security
With the rapidly changing global security
environment, our nation’s domains of security concerns have greatly
expanded from what it was after Independence. Another measure of our
nation’s strength is the effective, firm and fair handling of a series of
internal low intensity conflicts and the proxy war. I note with
satisfaction of our continuing efforts towards good neighbourly relations,
particularly the sustained progress of the peace process between India and
Pakistan.
Economy
Our economy has yielded a growth rate of
Gross Domestic Product by over 8%, driven by broad based accelerated
growth in agriculture, infrastructure, manufacture and service. Sustaining
our growth, containing annual inflation rate, containing revenue deficit
through prudent revenue enhancement and expenditure management are the
other challenges for Centre and the States. The root cause of poverty lies
in illiteracy, unemployment and lack of basic healthcare and there is a
need to sharply increase public spending in these areas.
Water management
Certain regions in the country like Bihar
and Assam are constantly affected by floods every year, and we are
witnessing that even now. There is a need to find a long-term solution to
control flood and store and utilize the surplus water for usage during dry
season and also the linking of regional river basins. In the Gangetic
plain and in the Northeastern region, I would recommend construction of
layered wells in the entry points of Kosi river flowing from Nepal and
Brahmaputra flowing from Tibet. These layered wells will store the
floodwater at different levels and will control the intensity of damage in
low-lying areas by reducing velocity of flow. In addition we may consider
the possibility of underground water storage systems at river basin sites
and also other places. The water thus stored will be useful at the time of
need. Water mission has been rightly identified as a priority area by my
government.
Employment Generation
Our employment generation system has not
kept the pace with the inflow of educated youth. A three-pronged strategy
is needed to make education more attractive and simultaneously create
employment potential – how do we do that? Firstly, the educational system
should highlight the importance of entrepreneurship and prepare the
students right from the college education to get oriented towards setting
up of the enterprises. Diversity of skills and perseverance in work makes
an entrepreneur. In addition, college syllabi even for arts, science, and
commerce courses should include topics and practicals where such
entrepreneurship is possible. Secondly, the banking system should provide
venture capital right from every village level to the prospective
entrepreneurs for undertaking new enterprises. Banks have to be proactive
to support the innovative products for enabling wealth generation by young
entrepreneurs by setting aside the “conventional tangible asset syndrome”.
Thirdly, there has to be an economic pull for generation of marketable
products and enhancement of purchasing power among the people. This can
come through by implementation of mega programmes such as rural
connectivity, regional linking of rivers, infrastructural missions, power
missions and tourism.
We need education system to focus on high value and productive employment
opportunities. The recent study indicates that the unemployment level in
the country is 9% of 400 million employable people. That is around 36
million. We can definitely find productive employment for all the 36
million people by launching certain missions like bio-diesel generation
through plants such as Jatropha, dry land and herbal farming in the
available 33 million hectares of waste land earmarked for cultivation.
Mission of Education
Education is the most important element
for growth and prosperity of a nation. India is in the process of
transforming itself into a developed nation by 2020. Yet we have 350
million people who need literacy and many more who have to acquire
employable skills to suit the emerging modern India and the globe.
Children who belong to weaker sections of our society are undernourished,
and only a small percentage of them manage to complete 8 years of
satisfactory education. We need to think specifically for them. Education
is indeed a fundamental right of every Indian child. Can we allow the
situation to continue in which millions of these children are forced into
life long poverty? The requirement is that the parents should be able to
go to any school nearby and admit their children and happily come back
home with the confidence that their children will get a good and value
based quality education in that school. The conditions of differently-abled
children require equally important attention. In view of such critical
issues and their importance, and also to break out of our historical
mindset, an effective and self renewing education system is therefore
fundamental to the survival and growth of civilizations, therefore I now
propose to address the issues pertaining to education in some detail and
suggest some solutions, which can be considered for implementation.
Inequality of Access to Educational Resources:
Let me share with you one important concern: unequal access to educational
resources still exists due to a variety of reasons. For example, I have
seen in our villages three types of families. The fortunate ones who
realize the importance of educating the young ones at any cost, guide them
at all critical stages due to their economical well-being. There are those
families, who might realize the importance of education, but are not aware
of the opportunities in time, nor the procedures and ways to realize these
opportunities for their children. There is a third category of families
who are economically weak and do not realize the value of education and
hence for generations together their children are neglected and continue
to live in poverty.
It is essential that we enlighten and create widespread awareness of
education among all sections of society particularly in rural areas and
among urban poor. We should use technology for this important social
purpose. It is possible for NGOs, other social and philanthropic
institutions and media to focus on this area of creating awareness. We
should also mobilize necessary resources for providing education to the
underprivileged people. Let us elaborate the way ahead.
Mobilizing Resources for the Mission of Education:
Over the last 50 years, successive Governments have been committed to
achieving the national goal of universal education and has steadily
increased the budgetary allocation for education. However, 35% of our
adult populations are yet to achieve literacy. The expenditure on
education as a percentage of our gross domestic product has a direct
impact on our literacy. Today our expenditure on education in India is
little more than 4% of our GDP. If we have to achieve nearly 100%
literacy, it is necessary to increase its expenditure on education to
about 6 to 7% of the GDP. This 2 to 3% increase has to be sustained only
for a few years. Thereafter, a lower percentage of GDP allocation to
education will be adequate to sustain the high degree of literacy in this
country for all time to come.
Clearly public expenditure alone from Governments in the Centre and States
might not able to meet the challenge of mobilizing an additional 2 to 3%
of GDP for the mission of education. It is here that we have to generate
additional resources for this noble mission. Expenditure on education,
whether in the Centre or in the States can no longer be provided only by
the respective Ministries or Departments for human resource development.
Indeed, every department of Government must play a significant role as a
partner of the human resource development organization, and contribute
resources in terms of budget and infrastructure for implementing the
mission of providing quality education to the whole nation.
To augment the Government resources, I appeal to the entire corporate
sector to emulate the example set by some corporate leaders who have
focused on education to make a national difference. Different regions of
the country may be adopted by the corporate sectors within an overall
national mission for education. The mechanism should enable the persons to
have freedom to innovate and deliver directly.
Standardization of Teaching:
The preferred school concept is arising because of differential quality
and standards of teaching. There is a need to make the quality of teaching
high in all schools. Also there is a need for preparatory education even
in rural areas to make the child competitive when he or she joins the
regular school. For running such schools in rural areas NGOs and corporate
sectors can play a vital role. Also rich parents who can afford can adopt
certain number of rural children for educating in preparatory schools.
Planning for good education for the children in villages:
I would like to recall a question asked by Master Kuldeep Yadav, Class X,
of Etawah during my visit to Saifai, he asked me:
Mr. President,
Villages are also full of talents but facilities are available in the
towns/cities only. Have you planned something for these Children so that
they can get good education in the villages?
I was glad to see a child’s concern for his rural counterparts. We need to
address this problem, which has multiple dimensions. It tells about the
non-availability of infrastructural facilities in schools, the problem of
syllabi followed in the school and the non-availability of quality
teachers.
Job opportunities being national, the syllabus should be structured in
such a manner that it should meet the changing societal needs, fulfill the
needs of the occupation and inculcate high moral values among the students
in addition to learning skills. The delivery of quality education is
possible only through quality teachers. The teacher has to be a committed
teacher who loves teaching and children. And also the teacher has to be
equipped with all the knowledge required for effective teaching. The
self-esteem of the teacher must be high and the teacher must have the
quality to become a role model for the children. Some element of
competitive rewarding is to be done based on performance. This competency
has to be built up throughout the country through a massive teachers
education programme delivered through a tele-education system and
continuously updated. This can be funded and implemented by a consortium
of Government, educational institutions with the corporate sectors
providing value added services. There is an urgent need that every school
should have basic amenities such as good building equipped with
ventilated, lighted, airy and spacious class rooms besides library,
laboratories including the latest IT tools and infrastructure, safe
drinking water, clean toilets, play ground. This is possible by earmarking
the additional 2 to 3% of GDP.
The Role of Parents:
Parents have an important role in the education of the children and making
them enlightened citizens. They must be aware of the need for good
education of the child, male or female. Like teachers, parents also should
set an example for the child in their overall behaviour and conduct. This
will enable the child to develop love and respect for their parents and
see them as role models.
Reducing Dropouts:
It is reported that 39% of children drop out from school after studying
5th class and 55% drop out after studying up to 8th class. This situation
need remedial action, especially since assent has been accorded for the
86th Constitution Amendment Act – Right to Education Bill for children
between the age group of 5 and 14 years. But an Act alone cannot achieve
the goal unless the education is delivered in a manner, which will take
into account the socio-ecnomic reality, and perception of people to whom
it is addressed. Apart from attracting children to schools, the education
system should be able to provide nourishment and inject creativity among
the children. Also the aim of the education system should be to build
character, human values, enhance the learning capacity through technology
and build the confidence among children to face the future.
I have seen an education model implemented in Karnataka, which provides an
accelerated learning using the computer aids so that children can have a
creative learning with the tools of creative animation through computers.
Dropouts are identified and brought to the school. This holistic
phenomenon of learning once ingrained in the primary stage where there is
a happy learning process and a non-threatening evaluation, has led to
voluntary learning by the participants.
System of Entrance Examination:
Recently, I have received many e-mails from children and parents regarding
too many entrance examinations which the children have to appear from
nursery up to plus two level for entry into schools, colleges,
universities and professional courses. This I consider as a heavy burden
on the children. Also, it has led to proliferation of tuitions and
coaching institutes for preparing the students for entrance examinations.
For entry into universities and professional colleges, we have to devise a
common all India examination to be conducted by a nominated institution of
Government. Also, the examination must be so designed that attending a
coaching course does not provide undue advantage to privileged students.
Entrance test should be more in the nature of aptitude assessment rather
than creating a seniority list.
Examination Reforms:
I find there is a demand for more transparent and reliable system of
examination, evaluation and reporting. It is also noticed that the
examination primarily tests the memory of the students. I remember during
my study in MIT, Chennai in mid 1950s, they used to conduct open book
examination. This used to be one of the tough examinations for the
students. I would recommend that the examining bodies may consider
introduction of open book system of examination. This will promote
creativity among the teachers in setting questions and the evaluation of
the creative ability of the students. A secure examination system is the
need of the hour.
Renewal of Evaluation system:
The examining bodies should have a reliable evaluation system and timely
declaration of results. After the initial evaluation of the answer paper a
centralized core group can draw random sample from each batch and carry
out independent evaluation. If there is no discrepancy between the initial
evaluation and the core group evaluation, and it is consistent with the
performance of the students, it will be presumed that the batch marking is
satisfactory. In case of a discrepancy further samples should be drawn for
verification. Special training must be carried out by examining bodies for
certifying the examiners in the evaluation process. In short the examining
bodies must evolve very good procedures and then get ISO Certification for
their evaluation system.
Need for Adoption of Safety Measures:
The recent tragedy involving school children at Kumbakonam must have rung
some bells in all the educational institutions in the country. It is the
responsibility of sponsoring organization to see that their schools
maintain basic minimum norms both in the academic field as well as in the
physical facilities which they provide on their campuses. Certain safety
features must be built-in our school buildings without which it should not
be possible to get affiliation by these schools. And there should not be
any discretion available with anyone, to waive off these conditions.
Honesty in implementation is vital at all levels.
Technology Enhanced Education
Constraints of time and space together with the rapid
obsolescence of knowledge in some areas of science and technology, have
created a huge demand for different courses from different institutions in
the distance mode. There is a need for a working digital library system
that alone can, in the long run, provide the kind of access required for a
Knowledge Society. Technology Enhanced Learning is a solution. It attempts
to exploit the rapid developments in Information and Communication
Technology. As the communications band-width continues to increase and the
cost of computer power continues to drop, Technology Enhanced Learning
will become an economically viable solution. Virtual classrooms of the
future will have students from many locations taught by a team of
geographically distributed Instructors through tele-education delivery
system.
Conclusion
Ultimately, education in its real sense is the pursuit of
truth. It is an endless journey through knowledge and enlightenment. Such
a journey opens up new vistas of development of humanism where there is no
scope nor room for pettiness, disharmony, jealousy, hatred or enmity. It
transforms a human being into a wholesome whole, a noble soul and an asset
to the universe. Universal brotherhood in its true sense becomes the sheet
anchor for such education. Real education enhances the dignity of a human
being and increases his or her self-respect. If only the real sense of
education could be realized by each individual, and carried forward in
every field of human activity the world will be so much a better place to
live in.
Mission of education by Government at Centre or States or the combination
is the foundation to ensure the creation of enlightened citizens who will
make a prosperous, happy and strong nation.
May God bless you.
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