GENERAL POSTULATES
2.1 While formulating the contours of the now Policy, some general aspects which span the whole gamut of education, with particular reference to the wider frame work of Human Resource Development, need to be highlighted.
THE ESSENCE AND ROLE OF EDUCATION 2.2 Our country has a long tradition of speculative thought, quest for the nature of reality, perennial values and an intellectual urge to understand the phenomena of Nature. Our scholastic tradition has as tounded the whole world and gave our country a place of honour in practically every field of learning. Our distinguished thinkers, philosophers and educationists have made signal contributions to human thought over the millennia. As a result, a variety of approaches and cultural mores have emerged and co-existed in an environment of tolerance and mutual understanding. This diversity has contributed to the development of a composite culture and a unique Indian identity.
2.3 Our national objective is that education should mean education for all. This dimension is fundamental in our all-round development, both material and spiritual. Any National system of education should be informed by the common good, lofty humanism, and social justice.
2.4 Knowledge is fast extending its frontiers into the cosmos, heralding a techno-scientific revolution which has synthesised many revoluntionary discoveries to understand Nature and the universal laws operating in it. Man is on the threshold of the Great Unknown. He has to, assimilate the enormous scientific knowledge of the age, to be able to grow creatively, to reach the highest, imbibe the universal values which transcend all limitations of Time and Space; and yet lie has to operate, within the confines of Time and Space and serve his fellowmen. This is the synthesis which Education should enable him to achieve.
2.5 Education has an acculturing role. It enhances and refines sensitivities and perceptions that contribute to national cohesion scientific temper and independence of mind and spirit-thus furthering the goals of socialism, secularism and democracy enshrined in our Constitution.
2.6 Education has a manpower making role for different levels of the economy from the simplest to the most complex. In this role, educational institutions are a tremendous national resource. Education is also the substrate on which research and development flourish, being the ultimate guarantee of national self-reliance in a highly competitive world.
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2.7 In sun, Education is a unique investment in the present and the future. This cardinal perception is the key to the National Policy on Education. It should help clarify the rightful place and priority of Education in the overall scheme of the Nation's development.
NATIONAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION 2.8 The Constitution embodies the principles on which a broad National System of Education is conceived of. Such a system would
require different measures at different levels.
2.9 The concept of a National System of Education implies that upto a given level, all students, irespective of caste, creed, location or sex would have access to education of a comparable quality. To achieve this, Government will initiate appropriately funded programmes for securing adequate participation of all sections of the population suffering from educational deprivation. Effective measures will be initiated in the direction of the Common School System envisaged in the 1968 Policy.
2.10 The National System of Education envisages a common educational structure. The 10+2+3 structure has no been accepted in all parts of the country. Regarding the further break-up of the 10 years (Class I to X) of Secondary education, efforts will be made, within the next few years, to move towards an elementary system comprising 5 years of primary education and 3 years of middle school, followed by 2 years of High School.
2.11 The National System of education will be based on a national curricular framework which contains a common core along with other components that are flexible. The common core will include history of India's freedom movement, Constitutional obligations and other content essential for nurturing national identity. These elements will cut across subject areas and will be designed to promote values such as our common cultural heritage, egalitarianism, democracy and secularism, equality of sexes and sections among the people, protection of the environment, removal of social barriers, observance of the small family norm and inculcation of the scientific temper.
2.12 In order to promote equality, it will be necessary to provide for equal opportunities not only in access, but also in the conditions for success. Besides, awareness of the inherent equality of all, will be created through the core curriculum. The purpose is to remove, from the minds of the younger generation, prejudices and complexes transmitted from the social environment and the accident of birth.
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2.13 Minimum levels of learning will be laid down with reference to each stage of education. Steps will also be taken to foster among the students, an understanding of the diverse cultural and social systems of the people living in different parts of the country. Besides the promotion of the link language, programmes will also be launched to substantiall step up the translation of books from one language to another and to publish multi-lingual dictionaries and glossaries. Young persons will be encouraged to undertake the re-discovery of India, each in his own image and perception.
2.14 In the case of higher education in general, and technical education in particular, steps would be taken to facilitate inter- regional mobility by providing equal access to every Indian of requisite merit. The universal character of universities and other institutions of higher education will be underscored.
2.15 In the areas of Research and Development and education in Science and Technology, special measures will be taken to establish networking arrangements between different institutions in the country, to develop their infrastructure, pool their resources and to enable them to participate in projects of national importance, particularly in the areas of emerging technologies, conservation of non-renewable resources, development of resource endowments for augmenting production and the protection and improvement of ecology.
2.16 The nation as a whole would assume the responsibility of providing resource support for implementing programme of educational transformation, reducing disparities, universalisation of elementary education, adult literacy, scientific and technological research, etc.
2.17 The world has come to recognise that there are practically no limits to learning; life-long education has become a cherished goal of the new educational order. This presupposes universal literacy, particularly in the younger age-group. Opportunities will be provided to youth, housewives, agricultural and industrial workers and professionals to continue the education of their choice and at the pace suited to them. The capacity of the formal institutional structures being limited in this respect, the future thrust will be in the direction of open and distance learning.
2.18 Other institutions which will be strengthened to play an important role in giving shape to the National System of Education are the University Grants Commission, the All India Council of Technical Education, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Indian Medical Council. Integrated planning will be instituted among all these bodies so as to establish functional linkages and reinforce programmes of research and postgraduate education. These, together with the
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National Council of Educational Research and Training and the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, will be involved in concretising the Education Policy.
AN EXCITING PARTNERSHIP 2.19 The amendment of the Constitution to include Education in the Concurrent List was a far-reaching Stop Whose implications substantive, financial and administrative -require a new sharing of responsibility between the Union Government and the States in respect of this vital area of national life. While the States would administer the subject in the normal course, the Union Government would accept responsibility to ensure the national and integrative character of education, to maintain comparable quality and standards, including those of the teaching profession at all levels, to study and monitor the educational requirements of the country as a whole in regard to manpower for development, to cater to the needs of research and advanced studies, keeping abreast of the emerging areas of technology and the new, explosion of knowledge and information the world over, to look after the international aspects of education, and Human Resource Development and in general to promote excellence at all levels of the educational pyramid throughout the country. The concept of concurrency signifies a partnership which is at once exciting and challenging. The National Policy shall be oriented towards giving effect to it in letter and spirit.