THE PRESS ON NEW EDUCATION POLICY (AN ANALYSIS OF PRESS CUTTINGS)
1.01 Introduction The Document "Challenge of Education" production by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Education) has generated a great deal of enthusiasm among the people interested in reforming the present educational system. Comments and criticisms have been flowing perennially in the form of letters and memoranda addressed to the Prime Minister, Education Minister and/or Secretaries to Government. To take advantage of the feedback obtained through this people's reflection, series of seminars and conferences are organised at various levels by the Centre and State Governments. Apart from these official attempts quite a lot of non-official agencies like teachers' organisations, parents' associations, etc. in addition to organisations which are not necessarily educational have indulged in lively discussions based on the document.
The press which is also known as the `Fourth Estate' is a very important medium for expressing people's opinion on matters of public interest. Almost all newspapers and leading journals in the country have published articles, letters and also editorials which include suggestions for consideration at the time of formulation of the new Education Policy. These naturally provide a very valuable source of feedback on the "Challenge of Education". The Ministry has received cuttings of such published material from various sources especially from the Press Information Bureau of the Center and the states.
The analysis of the press cuttings is expected to provide an opportunity for knowing different views freely expressed by various functionaries. The sources of opinions are varied as they include administrators, politicians, businessmen, labourers, teachers, parents, students, men of letters, etc. The seminar are discussion organised for the purpose of collecting information and views of the participants have limited scope in so far as the objectives and participation rates are predetermined. It is not the case with the columns of newspapers. They provide a continuous flow of material for the consumption of planners and administrators. The articles or letters that appear in the newspapers or journals not only bring to light certain suggestions or point of view but also generate further thinking among readers which in turn instigate further communications to the newspaper. Therefore, the analysis of newspaper clippings
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provides a golden opportunity for feeling the actual pulse of the people.
240 press cuttings have been sent to NIEPA for preparing the content analysis. This paper is an attempt to put in one place the multifarious suggestions and comments lying scattered in the press cuttings.
At least in some quarters there appears to be a misunderstanding that the document `Challenge of Education' in itself is the new draft policy on education and many have discussed its merits or demerits on that basis. But the objective of producing the document, namely generation of a nation-wide discussion on various aspects of policy formulation, has also been appreciated by and large.
The paper cuttings received can be classified into four main types. They are : i) newspaper articles, ii) editorials, iii) letters to editor, and iv) others. The last mentioned type includes reports or speeches made by dignitaries on the occasion of inauguration of conferences/seminars or statements made by Education Ministers, politicians or other important personalities. This category also includes reports of interviews conducted by some journalists with the specific purpose of eliciting public opinion on educational policy matters.
1.03 Table I gives distribution of the cuttings analysed in the course of the study in respect of the above classification.
Table I
Distribution of Newspaper Cuttings According to the Format
Sl. No. Type Number of cuttings Percentage to total
1. Editorials 44 18.4
2. Articles 48 20.0
3. Letters to Editor 14 5.8
4. Others 134 55.8
Total 240 100.0
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1.04 The paper cuttings supplied by the Ministry represented publications from different parts of the country and different languages. A language-wise distribution of the cuttings is given at Table II.
Table II
Distribution of Newspaper Cuttings According to Languages
Sl.No. Language Number Percentage to total
1. Bengali 11 4.58
2. English 97 40.42
3. Hindi 109 45.42
4. Marathi 2 .83
5. Oriya 6 1.50
6. Tamil 2 .83
7. Urdu 13 5.42
Total 240 100.00
1.05 News paper editorials in themselves constitute a very valuable source for the evolution and dissemination of public opinion. Almost all newspapers have thought it necessary to write editorial articles on the theme of the proposed new education policy. Table III gives a list of newspapers which have published their comments in editorial columns.
Table III
LIST OF NEWSPAPERS HAVE WRITTEN EDITORIAL ESSAYS
ON EDUCATION POLICY
S.No. Name of the Paper language Place of
Publication
1. Sambad Oriya Orissa
2. Indian Express English New Delhi
3. The Statesman -do- -do-
4. Times of India -do- -do-
5. The Hindu -do- Madras
6. The Economic Times -do- New Delhi
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7. The Tribune -do- Chandigargh
8. Patrika -do- Lucknow
9. Financial Express -do- New Delhi
10. National herald -do- -do-
11. Decca Chronicle -do- Bangalore
12. The Times of India -do- Bombay
13. Newstime -do- Hyderabad
14. M.P. Chronicle -do- Raipur
15. Newstime -do- -do-
16. The Telegraph -do- -do-
17. Hindustan Hindi New Delhi
18. Aaj -do- Varanasi
19. Pinks Weekly -do- Jaipur
20. Rajasthan Patrika -do- -do-
21. Giriraj -do- Simla
22. Nav Bharat Times -do- New Delhi
23. Gandiv -do- Varanasi.
24. Hindi Dainik -do- Gorakhpur
25. Nai Duniya -do- Indore
26. Vir Pratap -do- Jullunder
27. Amrit Sandesh -do- Raipur
28. Dainik Agradoot -do- Raipur
29. Lokeshwar -do- Bilaspur
30. Bilaspur Times -do- -do-
31. Tarun -do- Raipur
32. Nav Bharat -do- -do-
33. Ranchi Express -do- Ranchi
34. Prabhat Khabar -do- -do-
35. Jansatta -do- New Delhi
36. Aaryavarta -do- Patna
37. Dainik Hindustan -do- Raigarh
1.06 Individuals who are interested in educational matters have also given expression to their ideas through articles published in newspaper columns. The bunch of newspaper articles naturally provide a rich collection of material that can be used while formulating the new Education Policy. Table IV gives a list of authors who have contributed articles in this respect.
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Table IV
LIST OF AUTHORS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED
ARTICLES FOR NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS ETC.
S.No. Author's Name Title of Article Name of Publication
1. K. Rukmini Menon Never in Two minds The Times
2. Anser Kidwai Education and Time National Herald
Spent
3 Sailendranath Ghosh Education Policy The Hindustan Times
Perspective
4. B.N. Mishra Engineering Education The Hindustan Times
5. Sukenda Chaudhary Integrating work and The Telegraph
Welfare
6. A. D. Chawla Prepare youth for the H.P. Chronicle
next century
7. S. C. Gangal Problems of Higher H. P. Chronicle
Education in India
8. Modhumita Majumdar A Policy still in News Time
the making
9. K. Sai Srinivas Dr. Reddy sets out News Time
aims of Open
University
10. Sukanta Chaudhary Welcome Concern in The Telegraph
School Education
11. Ravi K. Zutsi Between Equity and Hindustan Times
Elitism
12. Ravi K. Zutsi All at a price Hindustan Times
13. M.K. Tikku And Lastly Hindustan Times
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14. Niti Paul Mehta New Education The Evening News
Policy - A Proper
15. H. I. Dutta Thought on Education The Times
16. Navin Chandra Joshi Teaching Profession The Indian Express
17. Abid Shah How low we have The Times of India
reached
19. Sunada Sanyal In the school of life Sunday Statesman
20. Shakuntala Chaudhary Education in India : The Telegraph
Challenges & Responses
21. Lt. Col. B.S. Tyagi Children of India Indian Express
and of Bharat
22. Balaji Pandey Eradicating Illi- The Statesman
teracy among women
23. T.K.D. Learning Facilities The Hindu
for all - Some Snags
24. Gopal G. Singh Use of TV in Primary Kalur Archam
Schools
25. Balraj Gaur Suggestion for NEP Sandhya Times
26. K.C. Sharma What should be the Sandhya Times
foundation of NEP
27. Shardenu Challenge of Educa- Hindustan
tion policy Perspective
28. Madhury Shah Development path to Hindustan
Educational System
"Open University"
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29. Bhanupratap Shukla Truth of NEP Panchjanya
30. Sunder lal Kukreja Open University - Hindustan
a new experiment
31. R.R. Divakar Article Janvarta
32. K.K. Singh Yadha Why double educa- Jagran
tional policy
33. K.H.V.V. Publicity of spread- Sanmarg
ing Sanskrit as
essential for National
Integration
34. Janardhan Das Teacher-pupil rela- Amrit Prabhat
tions in Charging age
35. Dev Dutt How present educa- Nai Duniya,
tional, system will
improve with present
economic order
36. S. Shankar Solutions for Educa- Pratap
tional problems
Open University
37. R. C. Srivastava Reed for Change in Nav Bharat
NEP
38. Y. Sharma Freedom to Educa- Amrit Sandesh
tional institutions
to be given
39. S. Jain Changing Relations Nav Bharat
of degrees and jobs
40. R.P. Srivastava A view on the NEP Prabhat Akhbar
41. B. Vijay Kergiciya Teachers faciliti- Nai Duniya
es - Strength and
positions
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42. Om Shankar Mishra Reshaping of Educa- Veer Arjun
tion
43. Arun Khanna Education should be Daily Pratap
Provided to Everyone
1.07 METHODOLOGY The press cuttings received from the Ministry were distributed among different faculty members with a request to go through them critically and cull out relevant issues which have a direct bearing on the formulation of the New Educational Policy. Cuttings taken from language newspapers were given to persons who knew those languages and they provided English translations of the cuttings. The material collected was divided into 4 categories as already mentioned and a synthesis of the opinions and suggestions contained therein have been prepared.
1.08 LIMITATIONS The collection of newspaper cuttings which formed the basis for the present analysis was received from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Education) and cuttings have not been obtained from any other source. Though it cannot be claimed that the clippings are truly representative of the country as a whole, it can be safely said that representation has been given to various regions because newspapers published from Bhopal, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras and Shillong have been included in the sample. Similarly, the Languages represented are English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Urdu and Tamil. This analysis need not necessarily be considered as a final one especially because there not necessarily be considered as a final one especially because there is a perennial flow of material from this source. In other words it should be possible to undertake further studies as a continuing process and obtain a true representative sample of public opinion in the country.
1.09 THE AREAS The suggestions and opinions expressed in newspaper articles, editorials and letters to editor have been grouped into 10 different areas for the purpose of convenience. The areas are :
1. Goals of Education
2. Structure of Education
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3. The Content and Methods
4. Language
5. Evaluation and Examination
6. Planning and Management
7. Finance and Resources
8. Teachers
9. Social Justice
10. Delinking Degrees from Jobs
It may be mentioned that these areas are not mutually exclusive or individually exhaustive for the, simple reason that the newspaper cuttings cannot be expected to cover all the aspects of education policy making. However, there is likelihood of some overlapping in many cases.
2.01 GOALS OF EDUCATION This area includes opinions and suggestions made in respect of various roles education has to play. Development of desirable, social, ethical, moral and cultural values, cultivation of love and respect for the Constitution, promotion of national integration, preparation of the educand for Meaningful and effective living are some examples. in other words this theme is concerned with the fundamental aspects of education which should form the basis for policy formulation.
The article and letters published in the newspapers have tried to elaborate and pinpoint certain goals and aims of education. The traditionally accepted goals are emphasised in some of the articles as the examples given below will reveal :
- "Basic objective of education is to bring to the forefront the basic Values that human being would require"
- "Education Policy should primarily aim at development of human potential and providing equal educational opportunities to all"
- "The objective of education should. be fuller development of personalities which should lead to social awareness and bring about mental, physical and emotional development"
- "Education should be related to the realities of life and cater to the needs of the society"
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- "The pursuit of truth is one of the most important aims of education"
- "Education should help develop a value system and an intellectual framework which allows the country to help its own mechanism to tackle its problems"
- The New Education Policy should have value orientation to protect the country's cultural values"
Due emphasis has been laid on the national goals and aspirations by many of the writers. One of the articles stressed the need to inculcate respect for the Constitution and uphold the ideals of national identity and unity. The author also said that the system should help the students to realise the nation's basic values of socialism, secularism, democracy and non-voilence.