NATIONAL SEMINAR ON NEW EDUCATION POLICY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT ASPECTS 23-25 NOVEMBER, 1985

 RECOMMENDATIONS OF
OTHER SEMINARS

STRUCTURE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

1. The Centre-State relation must be given due consideration. Good management on this) account has become particularly important in View of the 42nd amendment of the Constitution.

2. The University Grants Commission may exercise the authority used by the Medical Council of India to review the functioning of the Universities and de-recognising degrees where default and deficiency persist.

3. The UGC Act requires to be amended as to give it powers to derecognize certain degrees as and when necessary subject of course to suitable safe-guards. Furthermore the UFC should develop effective monitoring mechanisms of a kind which would help the universities to remain ever vigilant as far as high maintenance of performance is concerned.

4. In the establishment of new Institutions of National or Statewide importance, a deliberate effort should be made to set them up in cities and towns other than the major metropolitan. centres where such centres are now concentrated.

5. Linkages between various agencies like UGC, NCERT, NIEPA, CSIR, Planning Commission, Industry, Services etc. must be effective. To this end, a model coordinating agency may be set up covering the entire higher education field.

6. There is a need for the Boards role to clearly emphasize the total dimension of promoting both quality of education and developmental education of the total personality of the child. This, exercise would need to be given practical shape in terms of formulation of modified curriculum, re- orientation of teachers and head of institutions, preparation of both textual and support materials, and adoption of improved methods of evaluation.

7. The Board, as presently constituted, face many difficulties in fulfilling even the minimum role assigned to them. Hence it is urgent to revise existing constitution and powers and functions of the Boards to make them more effective instrument to carry out its aims and objects. To begin with, it was felt that the Boards should enjoy real functional autonomy. While they should be

linked with the State or Centre and be accountable through them to the State Assembly/Parliament specific revisions must be made in the boards constitutions to safeguard and promote their authonomy, particularly in matters of internal administration, curriculum formulation, determination of courses and syllabi, preparation and development of textual materials, affiliation and recognition of schools, in the conduct of examinations. in laying down conditions for teachers qualifications and. teachers certification.(11)

8. The women's cells in the ICSSR and NCERT ought to be revised. New ones should be set up in the U.G.C. and in the Ministries and Departments of Education at the Centres and in the States. These will help clear administrative bottlenecks and give a boost to women's education. however, it should be ensured that the higher position in these cells/units are held by women.(6)

9. A Central nodal agency designated as the National Council of TechnicaL Education may be created to ensure coordination in matters of policy, planning, financing, and monitoring OF Engineering education. This council may be composed of representatives from state governments, industry (private and public sector), professional society and academia. (15)

10. The council should have a, small Executive Committee for the purpose of issuing necessary directives to the Secretariat of the Council. (15)

11. Necessary Advisory boards concerning UG & PG, Engineering education., technician education and management education will assist the Council in policy formulation and implementation at the national level in their respective spheres. The Boards in turn may form subject panels dealing with individual specialisations. (16)

12. A Technical Education Committee to the Union Cabinet may be set up to promote various technology endeavours in the nation.(19)

13. A National System for Accreditation of Programmes and institutions be established having linkages with regional. and state level agencies and with industry (14)

14. The Technical Education Bureau of the National Level, the Regional Offices, The Technical Teachers Training Institutes, The

State Directorates and Boards be appropriately strengthened in terms of infrastructures and expertise for improving their current functions and performing additional functions related to the development and installation of management information systems maintenance of prescribed norms and standards and national accreditation (14)

15. Planning, coordination, optimisation of resources and coordination of courses and programmes offered by vocational schools, ITIs and Polytechnics be brought within the purview of the Ministry of human Resources Development acting at the Nodal Ministry. The same concept should apply at the state level also. (14)

16. A National council for technician education be set up as a statutory body having responsibilities for policy formulation and review, norms for award of autonomy, National accreditation certification and awards and periodic review of norms and standards. The national council will have a permanent secretariat and linkages with regional and state agencies for effective function. (14)

17. At the National Level there should be an all India Advisory and coordinating body and accrediting body which can be called as NCVE. At the state level there should be Managerial and Executive body (in some of the States the existing Director of Vocational Education could play the role) at the District level there shall be monitoring wings.(3)

18. Rational Testing Service

The present system of State boards working in isolation and independent of each other has led to the present situation of a large number of Boards examining the students in their respective areas with no way of comparing the result of one with the other. This has also led to loss of national character in evaluation and proliferation of testing examinations by many major employers or higher academic bodies. The result is a lot of avoidable expenditure and effort in the nation and means an unfair burden on the student. The Seminar is therefore of the firm view that the examination system should be urgently rational and a predominantly local evaluation supplemented by a national testing service should be brought about. The Seminar realises that a variety in medium of instruction and difference in standards

prevailing in different boards, would pose many problems for evolving an equitable national testing service, but the dysfunctionality of the present system is so patent and benefits accruing from the proposed restructuring are so obviously substantial that this reform should no longer be postponed.(11)

STRUCTURE AT TEE STATE AND DISTRICT LEVELS

1.Multi-Level System of Educational Planning and Administration

There is at present a great degree of disparity in the system of planning and management among different States in respect of different levels/spheres of the educational systems. For efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy of system of educational planning and administration, it is essential that there should be functional linkages between spatial levels as identified for general planning and administration with levels of planning and administration of various sectors of education. Therefore, levels of educational planning and administration below the state level should be co-terminus with the units of developmental planning and revenue administration. For elementary education, the block should be the primary unit of planning and administration, district for secondary and higher secondary education and state for higher and professional education. It would help to develop a multi-level system of educational planning and administration and to develop structural linkages with other sectors of development.(1)

2. Strengthening of Professional Support

The various organisations/agencies providing professional support like SCERT, etc. should also follow integrated approach to avoid duplication of efforts in research and training functions. The SCERT must be an apex resource centre at the state level with its counterparts at district level for strengthening academic and training aspects of education. However, conduct of public examinations and printing and distribution of text books should be locked after by separate autonomous bodies.(1)

3. Advisory committees consisting of experts in the field of Secondary Education should be formed at the district level, so that, they would advise the department of education in terms of inservice training of teachers, preparation of learning aids and other educational activities at the district level.(30

4. Since disaggregation of the levels of planning and management of education in respect of different stages has been considered essential, it is that the existing pattern of strong head-quarter

and weak grass-root level planning and administration structures and processes should be reversed.

The group feels that in view the new dimensions of education envisaged. It has become imperative to debureaucratise the system and involve the community in planning and management processes of the education system at various levels, i.e. at the village, block and the district levels. The establishment of district education boards with elected representatives from Panchayats, officials and professionals is indicated under the circumstances. Appropriate delegation of administrative and financial powers will make the boards effective in their operation. This board, for its proper functioning, will need the support of professional advice and for that purpose, the establishment of District Resource Centre is recommended. This centre, in addition to the jobs specified above, will also perform the functions of the SCERT at the District level, like collection and analysis of data, monitoring and evaluation of ongoing programmes, project experimentation, etc.

5. The District Resource Centre should have a representative from Technical Teacher Training Institutes, and there should be a close collaboration between the two as far as vocational education is concerned.

6. A possible alternative could be to decentralise the examination system and place requisite trust on teachers for evaluation of their pupils. The practice of ungraded system as adopted for classes I and II can be extended to Classes III to IX and there can be a continuous internal assessment where teacher may play a key role. Even if the concept of terminal examination at grade V, VIII and X are envisaged some affective decentralised system of evaluation for a cluster of 10 to 15 schools may be established. This while also enhance the Teachers' participation, give them a sense of belongingness and competitiveness. The State level examination at the school stage have little significance, particularly, when the emphasis is being laid on decentralised, need-based, local specific curriculum geared to vocational development. In view of this even the public examination at grade XII could be held at the district level only. The State level examination system is not likely to meet this challenge. This may eventually facilitate delinking of degrees with jobs.(12)

7. At the Secondary Level

Development of curriculum, teaching aids, evaluation procedures should be decentralised at the district level.(3)

How can State Resource Centres be made more effective and decentralised? 1. Resource support may be decentralised 2. District Resource Units may be set up Details of the scheme to be worked out and agency to be made responsible for this work will need to be identified.(3)

8. The terminal examinations at the end of the 10th Standard, which are by and large, conducted at the State level, should be so decentralised that they should be done at the district level keeping in view the enormous expansion of secondary education. More autonomy should be given for the internalisation of the examinations and continuous assessment of the students.(3)

9. In order to enable that Boards to perform all its functions, the Boards should be sufficiently strengthened and where necessary expanded through recruitment of competent and experienced academicians, which will form a core academic team within the Board. However, they should fully use real resources available in many institution both national and regional.(11)

10. The Council of Boards of Secondary Education in India(CBSE)has a critical, catalytic and coordinating role to play. Apart from critical studies of the functioning Boards, so as to help them their strengths and weaknesses and take suitable remedial measures.

11. For promoting quality of education and enabling institutions to perform at higher levels, we recommend that selected institutions should be granted necessary freedom and autonomy for experimentation and innovation. They should be selected from all categories of schools, namely government, government aided as well as unaided, so as to affect educational renewal. Since this is not envisaged as a means to provide further privilege to the already privileged, while granting experimental status of institutions, it must be ensured that such institutions have a designated number of other schools of the area working with them closely, so that in all the schools educational renewal takes place.

12. The group felt that the guidelines developed by the Working Group of experts for such experimental schools and contained in the booklet `Freedom To Learn' should provide the boards a practical direction for implementing the programme on a pilot level.(11)

13. A National Commission in the case of Central Universities and State level commissions in the case of State Universities should be instituted as statutory bodies, to set guide lines, select and appoint vice-chancellors all develop performance appraisal systems for the University Administrators to perform the line functions in the Universities.(3)

14. State council for higher education shall be established in each state which will set broad policies for education. The Council will consist entirely of academics of high stature. The council will be reasonable for obtaining and disbursing the requisite funds from the State Government.(7)

15. A State level nodal agency designated as State Council for Technical and Vocational Education may be created with suitable linkages with institutions in the State and the National Council of Technical Education. This State Council shall also provide linkages at the State level between vocational education, technician education and engineering education.(15)

16. The AICTE and the State Boards of Technical Education be made Statutory Bodies.(14)

17. There is no escape from having educational technology for promoting education for development of human resources as the pressure of expanding knowledge, explosion of, numbers and the requirements of special regions were grounding, vary fast. It was necessary to have a system approach to exploit this new potential by setting up State Institute of Educational Technology, Media Resource Centres, at district level, opening training institutions, providing graduate and post-graduate courses in educational technology and decentralising area specific need-based educational technology. A proper system for maintenance of hardware' and development of local specific softwares was necessary.(12.)

18. There should be an integrated system of educational management at the state level, with the, DPI at there appex, coordinating the activities of the Directors of Elementary, Non-Formal, Adult, Secondary and Higher Education. (2)

19. The SCERTs, which work in collaboration with the state authorities and similarly, the District Resource Centres which work, in collaboration with the district authorities, should be vested with the task of monitoring the development plans and projects in education at their respective levels.

1. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

i) Community involvement on a systematic basis not only enhances social relevance of education but also improve delivery mechanism and facilitate realisation of targets.(1)