Archive for 2007

PM’s remarks in the full planning commission meeting

Following is from a PIB report.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, chaired the full Planning Commission meeting here today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s closing remarks on the occasion:

            “We have had a wide ranging discussion on a subject which is vital for the continued progress of our country. We have covered all the critical areas in education, although I believe that more work needs to be done to give a final shape to the Skill Development area.

            The approach presented by the note of the Planning Commission has received broad support. The proposed scale of Central Government funding for education in the 11th Plan amounts to almost Rs.2.5 lakh crores in constant prices, which is a four-fold increase over the 10th Plan. The share of education in the total Plan will correspondingly increase from 7.7% to 19.4%.  This reflects the high priority being given to education by our Government and represents credible progress towards the objective of raising public spending of the Centre and the States combined to 6% of our GDP.

            The proposals discussed today are at varying degrees of conceptualisation. While some are ready to be operationalised in a few weeks, others will take longer to take final shape. The Planning Commission, the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other Ministries concerned with Skill Development must now move quickly to operationalise the approach agreed to today by preparing detailed programmes for each of the major new initiatives.

I wish to emphasise a few points in particular:

1. Focus on Quality Education in Elementary Education

The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has made breakthroughs in providing universal access in most parts of the country even though I recognise that the quality and quantity of high incidence of drop-out rates I think constitute, I think serious drawbacks. It must now move to a phase where the goal would be to extract the maximum value for the money being spent. It should rapidly move its focus to quality improvement. It should even be called the Second Phase of SSA. The Ministry of HRD should work out minimum standards which must be met by all schools, whether public or private, and also chalk out the details of how to ensure that the objective is actually achieved. Special attention needs to be paid to districts with concentrations of SC, ST and minority populations. The Mid Day Meals (MDM) scheme has to be rapidly expanded to cover 60 million additional children at the upper primary level by the end of year 2008-09 and I am glad to report that the Cabinet had today approved this ambitious proposal.

2. Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

            We are setting out a goal of universalising secondary education. This is clearly the next step after universalising elementary education. While the goal is laudable, much work needs to be done before we are in a position to launch the Scheme for Universalisation of Access for Secondary Education (SUCCESS). Its details need to be quickly spelt out and discussed with States so that we are fully ready to launch it from the year 2008-09. We must not underestimate the complexity of this task as the principles for universalising elementary education cannot be easily transferred to secondary education. The physical, financial, pedagogical and human resource needs are quite different. We also need to recognize the role currently being played by the private sector and the policy design must factor this in. Detailed strategies and plans would need to be worked out rapidly for each state. Special attention would need to be paid to Districts with SC/ST/OBC/Minority concentration. The points that are made by Shri Sharad Pawar when we are dealing with children from disadvantaged background I think their special needs need to be kept in mind. The recommendations of the Sachar Committee need to be seriously considered and factored into our planning processes while planning for this programme.

To kick start the initiative, the proposal for setting up 6000 high quality model schools with costs to be shared by the Centre and the States needs to be finalised within the next few weeks. The mechanism for setting up and managing these schools – whether in the government sector or through private participation in some aspects – should be worked out by the Ministry of HRD, in consultation with the Planning Commission. It must be recognised that about 60% of secondary schools are under private management and the Ministry and the Planning Commission should focus on incorporating the role of the private sector wherever possible. An outline of the proposal should be available within two months.

Expanding secondary education would run into capacity constraints on many fronts – in getting an adequate number of mathematics and science teachers, in ensuring better attendance of teachers, in ensuring a high quality of education and in ensuring accountability of schools. This would require attention to be paid to teacher training and  managerial control aspects. The Ministry of HRD, there is no doubt that  elaborate specific proposals for meeting this need.

3. Higher Education

The Higher Education System has been relatively neglected in the past decade. It was the investment made in this system in the 50s and 60s which has given us a strong knowledge base in many fields. We are committed to rapidly expanding this sector as well.

There is now general agreement on setting up 16 Central Universities in States which do not have a university, 14 Central Universities in other States, 8 IITs, 7 IIMs and 5 Indian Institute of Science, Education & Researches. I am already getting requests from a large number of states for locating these institutions in their states. I am sure that with the large number of institutions we are considering, we would be able to satisfy every state to some extent.

Some of these universities/institutions should, ab initio, be targeted to achieve world class standards. For the Central Universities aimed at world class standards it will be necessary to be more ambitious in terms of infrastructure, especially if they are to include departments of science, medicine and engineering. This involves higher costs. The scope for private participation in these universities should therefore be systematically explored. The location of these institutions should be determined in a manner which balances the desire for achieving a greater geographical spread with the potential synergies arising from co-location. Location decisions should not be purely based on land availability. We should encourage States to compete for the location of these prized Central Institutions.

These are decisions which would define the educational growth trajectory of states for many decades to come and must be taken with utmost care.  The details and the roll-out of this high visibility programme should be worked out by an Inter-Ministerial Group consisting of the Ministry of HRD, the University Grants Commission and the Planning Commission and outside experts which the Planning Commission can appoint within a fortnight. Locational decisions should be taken within the next two months.

Once the broad policy framework is clear, we should make a start with detailed planning for the proposed Central Universities aiming at world class standards. The proposal in the Planning Commission note to set up distinct teams, to go into details of the structure and operationally relevant issues for each university is a good idea. We should have a creative approach to the design of these new centres of learning. Ideas such as common entrance tests, the semester system, flexible syllabi, student body diversity, inter-institutional student transferability, faculty recruitment and transferability, autonomy and governance reform should all be well thought out in this design. The final approval of funding for these universities should be given on the basis of the reports of these teams.

We should also seriously look at the proposal for fee increases to reasonable levels in a graduated manner accompanied by a scheme of extensive scholarships and loans which would ensure that no student is denied education because of his or her financial constraints This is a reasonable approach and the Planning Commission should work out these proposals in greater detail.

We must also seriously examine the role of private initiative in supplementing public funding for higher education. We obviously cannot rely on the private response alone but we should welcome it as a supplement. I believe that there is a role for private initiative in this area. Many states have developed good quality private institutions. We should carefully examine the policy issues that need to be addressed to promote growth of such institutions in the future.

Finally I would like to draw attention to an aspect of quality education that has been touched upon but not adequately elaborated. The IITs and IIMs have acquired a “star status” globally and we have ambitious plans of expanding the number of such institutions. However, there are large potential capacities within existing institutions which can be easily captured. Some of the existing IITs and IIMs are well endowed with land and have the capacity to expand the size of the student population by three fold. We are currently planning an expansion of 54% for providing reservation to students from other backward classes (OBCs). In fact I feel we should set up a committee to go into the optimum capacity of the existing IITs and IIMs. The Planning Commission and the Ministry of HRD should set up a group for this purpose.

The role and functions of apex institutions like UGC, All India Council of Technical Education, Medical Council of India, etc, need to be reviewed in the context of the large number of changes that have taken place in higher, professional and technical education in the last many years and the demands of a new knowledge economy.  The Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other concerned Ministries should set up a Working Group to suggest a specific reforms agenda in this area.

4. Vocational Education

One area where I believe that we have slipped a lot in our commitments is in vocational education and skill development. I had mentioned on 15th August that we will develop the capacity for enrolling one crore children under this stream. The proposals, however, are too sketchy – both in vocational education and skill development. I would like to Planning Commission, in consultation with all concerned Ministries to finalise this proposal before 2nd October so that we see some real action on the ground this year.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, I compliment the Planning Commission and the Ministry of HRD for having put in sustained effort in giving shape to our commitment to improve the quantity and quality of our education system. However, what I would like to emphasise is that we cannot discuss options endlessly. We need to work with a sense of urgency and work to fixed timelines if we have to see action on the ground. Otherwise, we will continue with a theoretical exercise within these four walls for some more years. We need to work hard to ensure that all that we have agreed today takes off in a reasonably short time frame. Proposals for setting up 6000 schools covering all blocks, having 30 Central Universities and providing large capacities in vocational education must be finalised within the next two months. Locational decisions must be taken fast. It is only then that the common man will have faith in our ability to deliver on our promises.”

2 comments September 14th, 2007

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan : Steps in Orissa and Delhi

Following are excerpts from  a report in NDTV.

The government is likely to re-orient Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), the flagship programme of Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, into a National Mission for Quality Elementary Education.

A decision to transform SSA into a national mission with specific monitorable target is likely to be taken by the Planning Commission meeting on higher education under the chairmanship of Prime Minister. …

The meeting will also consider a proposal to enact a law to provide compulsory quality education to children of 6-14 years of age, with joint funding from the Centre and states.

The Commission will take a view on the proposal to revamp the National Literacy Mission and introduce Lifelong Education and Awareness Programme.

Following are excerpts from a report in Asian Age on Orissa’s plans.

The Orissa government on Wednesday decided to provide Rs 500 crores in the coming supplementary budget for widening of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme in the state.

This was decided after a review meeting held here …

It was found that the at least 40,000 teacher posts are lying vacant in various primary and high schools. The chief minister asked the department officials to fill up the vacant posts on war footing.

The long standing demand for establishment at least one high school in each gram panchayat was discussed in the meeting. It was resolved that 1,119 gram panchayats — which do not have high schools — will soon get new high schools. Middle english schools in all these gram panchayats will be upgraded as high schools, the meeting decided. Mr Patnaik also stressed the need for increasing the literacy rate in the state. 

September 13th, 2007

Orissa government mulls grading engineering colleges: Dharitri

September 12th, 2007

Mostly job oriented programs at Fakirmohan University: Dharitri

New Indian Express also reports on this.

2 comments September 12th, 2007

Some numbers related to IIT Kharagpur : a reference point to NISER

Update on April 14, 2008:  IIM Kozhikode has a faculty of 17 against the sanctioned strength of 40 members, IIM Calcutta has 70 against a sanctioned strength of 88; IIM Bangalore has 74 as against the sanctioned strength of 89.

Update on Oct 16, 2007: IIT Delhi has a sanctioned faculty of 583, with 130 vacancies.

Update on Oct 2, 2007: IIT Bombay has a faculty strength of 420, with 100 vacancies.

Frontline has a nice article on IIT Kharagpur.  Following are some excerpts.

it has 19 departments, eight multidisciplinary centres and schools and 13 schools of excellence besides laboratories and central research facilities. It employs 1,600 employees, including 460 faculty members, and has 7,000 students on a sprawling, green campus of over 2,100 acres…

In comparison, according to various reports NISER (New Indian Express, Kalinga Times) would have 250 faculty, 2000 students, 761 employees and will be built in 300 acres with a project cost of 823.19 crores. Thus, in terms of faculty size and employee size it is envisaged to be about half the size of IIT Kharagpur.

Some information on IISER as was given in a recent PIB is as follows:

The Government of India has set up three Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), at Pune, Kolkata and Mohali. Two more IISERs are being set up at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram. These Institutes have been/are being set up on th3 recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM). The total estimated project cost of each IISER is Rs. 500.00 crores which includes Rs. 241.00 crores fro construction of building and other infrastructural facilities and Rs. 259.00 crores as recurring expenditure, spread over a period of 7 years.

2 comments September 12th, 2007

Admission announcement by TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences): ad in Samaja

2 comments September 12th, 2007

NISER will be a world class deemed university: Samaja and others

2 comments September 12th, 2007

Outlook-Cfore business school rankings

Outlook has an article on it and its detailed ranking will be available later. However, MBAuniverse.com has published the ranking from 1-20 with its own analysis.  The rankings are: IIMA, IIMB, IIMC, IIML, XLRI, MDI, SPJ, NITIE Mumbai, IIM I, NMIMS, IMT Ghaziabad, IIM K, IIFT Delhi, ICFAI, XIM, SJSOM, IMI Delhi, IRMA Anand, TA Pai, Symbiosis Pune. XIM Bhubaneswar’s ranking, as per Outlook-Cfore calculations, has gone up from 16 last year to 15 this year.

September 10th, 2007

More details on the NITER proposal

More details are emerging on the NITER proposal. It seems it is only an Orissa govt. proposal. So it is far away from happening.  At this point Orissa govt. should focus on getting one of the new IITs and should pursue NITER only after it gets an IIT. Following is a report on this from Samaja. (New Indian Express also has a report on it.)

 

2 comments September 10th, 2007

Sai International to start classes next year: Samaja

 

September 10th, 2007

Next round Orissa JEE Counselling details for MCA and MBA – ad in Samaja

September 8th, 2007

A collocated NITER with NISER?

Following is from Pragativadi. (Thanks to Purna babu for the pointer.) I hope this news is true and not some gossip by a govt. official. If it is true, I hope it happens in addition to an IIT.

September 8th, 2007

Samaja elaborates on the 4 more govt. medical college proposal

The following appears in the front page of Samaja in the left hand side.


September 8th, 2007

Orissa may have 4 more govt. medical colleges

Following is a news item on this from Sambada.

In this regard we would like to point out to our earlier article where we suggested that the Orissa government should consider converting some of its district hospitals to medical colleges. May be they listened.

In general, the district colleges that have close to 250 beds should all be converted to medical colleges and the government should recover some of the cost by charging the students half or 1/3rd of what private medical colleges charge.

September 8th, 2007

Stewart School in Cuttack to celebrate its 125th anniversary

Following are excerpts from a Telegraph report on this.

…On November 20, Orissa’s Stewart School gears up to celebrate its 125th year.

The institution, where Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose received six years of elementary education, is marking the occasion by asking former students to come forth and to share memories of the alma mater.

Through this exercise, principal Asha Margaret Das hopes to accumulate an school information archive. On November 20, a five-day celebration with a host of programmes is also expected to start.

So far, the school has started a special unit to receive messages from former pupils. “I am sure that former pupils from far and wide must have interesting anecdotes to share,” she said.

“If you have any stories related to the old higher-secondary school or any other information, we would love to hear from you. We believe that it’s important for former pupils to realise they are a part of a rich historical past,” Das said. “It is one of the oldest schools in Cuttack and the few that are older are so by 10, maybe 25 years.”

The school, which started in 1882, was re-christened Stewart School in 1919 after its founder William Day Stewart, a civil surgeon. Stewart School began as the Orphanage School in November 1882. Soon, it came to be known as Protestant European School (in 1891) and in the same year its doors opened to Indian students. Since 1971, the institution has been managed by Diocese of Cuttack, Church of North India. Until that time it was under the Baptist Missionary Society. 

September 8th, 2007

Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in Raebareli

A PIB reports on the setting up of this institute at a cost of 435 crores and when set up this institute will have B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D programs and will get the status of an Institute of National Importance.

Considering the number of steel plants in Orissa, the Orissa government should at the opportune moment push to make BPNSI (Biju Patnaik National Steel Institute) of similar status.

42 comments September 7th, 2007

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