Education Sector-2010
Retrospects and Prospects
Recent Trends And Developments In Education:
With the fast developments and many variations, conflicting trends can be noticed in the educational system in India. One of the major conflicting trends that can be noticed is the ‘cost of education’. As the expense of formal education in the educational institutes is increasing very fast, the expense of education via the internet is comparatively low and affordable.
Online Education and E-Learning Opportunities: Electronic learning through computers at any convenient place has now become an important mode of education. Since the regular courses in India are getting very expensive and highly competitive, distance and online education is fast developing as an amazing option. Students now can have an easy and cheap access to Internet with the help of cyber cafes and the various other cheap internet home connection schemes available these days. With the facility to download many e-books, free of cost the benefits of e-learning have been immensely increased with convenience and flexibility in learning along with development of necessary skills and competencies needed in the 21st century. It can be self paced or instructor led and includes media in the form of videos, text and audio and builds user knowledge on a given subject. Many parents have enrolled their children in training institutes, for online learning on the web from home, which is much safer than having to go to a tuition center after school hours.
Distance Education Programmes: The distance education programs are serving wonderfully, especially for the less advantaged segment of people. Distance learning can be availed through various types such as postal correspondence programs, pocket PC or mobile learning programs, interactive CD-ROM programs, tele-courses or broadcast course via television or radio and many more.
Methodology of Education: With lots of information to gather and more and more books to study, now students are found more burdened with studying, learning and grasping the materials and the lectures. On a contrasting note however, so much efforts are being put into making the learning process an enjoyable one.
Role of Information Communication and Technologies (ICTs): Use of ICT in the education sector in India, though recent, has picked up fast, and the benefits are already starting to show. In recent years we witnessed many radical changes and rapid growth in the education sector. This is due to several factors, and the one factor that needs to be mentioned first is India’s telecom success story. Thanks to extensive telecom coverage and affordable rates at which bandwidth and Internet access is available.
Technology Enabled Teaching in Schools: Another major contributor of success and memory is technology enabled teaching in schools nullifying the social and economic boundaries by making teaching in classes highly interactive. The intervention of technology has changed our outlook to life and methods of instruction bringing the abstract and difficult school curriculum concepts to life inside classrooms and makes learning in schools more enjoyable and memorable.
Opportunities Abound: A recent research study predicts that India’s Education sector will step up its IT spending from an estimated USD 356 million in 2008 to USD 704 million in 2012, A large number of institutions are opting for networking solutions, storage and ERP implementations to support their functioning by establishing three most popular IT solutions; Wireless LAN (WLAN), Storage Area Network (SAN) and ERP.
The encouraging part of ICT application in education sector are:
Commendable job being done and continuing to be done by Governments both at state and national level in providing the networking infra structure to the grassroots levels with connectivity, security for productive usage.
Participation of corporate sectors in conducting rural training activities with higher levels of appreciation for technology tools and more enthusiasm in rural areas.
Making the IT products at more affordable rates. For instance, projectors, which used to cost upwards of Rs 2 lakh, are now made available for just about Rs 40,000 or less.
The support of state Governments in providing audio-visual aids like; over head projectors, digital infrastructure and campus-wide network and content servers etc.
CHALLENGES: Those concerned with tapping the opportunities in the education sector should also take note of the typical challenges. Experts point out that it is not as simple as installing a PC and running a CBT (Computer Based Training) package; there are many challenges when setting up projects at a state-wide level and in rural areas.
One challenge is the consistency in the way teaching is done. The teachers playing multiple roles; as teacher, administrator, principal and one who is highly respected at the local community level lack consistency in the delivery of education and also in evaluation. In that context digital technology ensures standard delivery of education.
Language and contextualization is another bigger challenge.
The teachers and students should be able to relate to the content, rather than just mug it up.
While the future of education in India looks promising, ICT can certainly help in disseminating educational content, and facilitate remote learning, in the Indian context. It can overcome challenges like teacher shortage and student dropout—and bridge the digital divide.
INDIA, SCOTLAND COOPERATION IN EDUCATION SECTOR: India and Scotland signed memoranda of understands (MOUs) strengthening the education links between the two countries in October 2010 to promote student and faculty exchange and encourage joint degree development. Of this the diabetic foot care project under the healthcare program benefitting thousands of people from unnecessary amputation through diabetes is very important. A partnership agreement has been made between Glasgow Caledonian University of Scotland and Sitaram Bhartiya Institute of Science and Research in Delhi.
INDIA-US COOPERATION IN EDUCATION SECTOR: India-US cooperation in the field of education is now poised for major expansion and the foreign education Bill provides an “excellent opportunity” for American universities to open their off-shore locations in India. The benefits the countries derive are:
Helps in meeting the demand in India for expanding the education infrastructure of schools, universities and institutes imparting vocational training providing excellent opportunity for US universities to increase the number of Indian students studying in their Institutions and at their off-shore locations or through tie-ups with Indian institutions.
Helps in changing the perspectives and outlooks bringing a modernising impetus to a traditional society countering the cliché of “brain drain” with the concept of “brain gain/ brain circulation”.
Promoting productive utilization of expertise of Indian Americans to help India’s rejuvenation through our Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of Overseas Indians programme.
Strengthening the mutual understanding and cooperation, particularly in the knowledge and innovation intensive sectors by way of providing opportunities in pursuing their higher education through the collaboration programmes of; teacher-student exchange, curriculum design etc., by setting up Certain fellowships and chairs like the Amartya Sen Fellowship at the Harvard University, BR Ambedkar Chair and the Bhagwati scholarships at the Columbia University.
Improve the Investment Opportunities in Indian Education Sector because of high levels of profitability and freedom in pricing of services. With stable cash flows unrelated to business cycles and low penetration of organized participants makes this an attractive market.
Through the innovative business models that have emerged in the education sector, investors can benefit from profits repatriated from subsidiaries.
TAKING THE EDUCATION TO THE MASSES: Although there is greater than fivefold improvement in the literacy rate of India from independence, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%. India is still one amongst the largest illiterate population of any nation on earth.
In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor conditions in our education sector. The most notable ones being the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and some of the Non Government Organisations (NGOs). The initiatives are as follows:
To increase progressively the expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP.
To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes
To ensure that no one is denied of elementary education due to economic backwardness and poverty
To make right to school education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6–14 years
To universalize education through its flagship programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Meal.
Asha for education founded by Sandeep Pandey with an aim of empowering and transformation of India’s marginalized poor. It is a programme focusing on basic education with the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. This is aimed at supporting education for poor children in India by tapping the resources of Overseas Indians.
Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation: This is an initiative by Shantha Sinha, started with the aim of guiding the people of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labour and send their children to school. The foundation’s aim is to create a social climate hostile to child labour, child marriage and other practices that deny children the right to a normal childhood.
Mid-day Meal Scheme: With a goal to serve over 5,00,000 children per day by 2009 Mid-day meal project believes in success by irradiating two of the most pressing problems of India -Hunger & Education. The high drop-out rate in schools has been a matter of major concern.
National Literacy Mission: The National Literacy Mission, launched in 1988, aimed at attaining a literacy rate of 75 per cent by 2007. It imparts functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 15–35 years. The Total Literacy Campaign is its principal strategy for eradication of illiteracy.
Sarva Siksha Abhiyan: The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Total Literacy Campaign) was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6–14 year age-group attend school and complete eight years of schooling by 2010. An important component is meant primarily for children in areas with no formal school within a one kilometer radius.
There is an increased need for more and more such initiatives to float up, which means active role to be played by other Non-Government agencies to take education to the weaker society.
TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES: Keeping consideration of the development some of the IT Companies are making efforts through the expansion of their knowledge base in IT to talent development in other sectors also as per the need requirement of person power covering sectors like; Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Retail, Aviation, Hospitality, Research and Development (R&D) in sectors, Pharmaceutical and Bio-technology, Telecom etc.
English Language Training – Need to integrate with the Global Economy
With the rapid growth of the Indian economy and increasing globalisation of Indian corporate given their burgeoning ambitions, there is an ever-increasing need for skilled, English-speaking human resources even though, India is one of the largest English-speaking workforce Country.
CONCLUSIONS:
Looking at the things that had happened up to 2010 in education sector it is clear that human resources will be the key competitive advantage that the country has to sustain for its robust growth. Thus, a strong foundation in the form of a robust education system will be the cornerstone to leading India’s growth over the next many years. With the Government showing a clear willingness to engage the private sector in accomplishing the daunting task of educating India’s 13.5 Crore students the following may be focused.
Providing significant opportunities for IT and ICT companies to play a contributory role in the development of education both in the Government and Private schools.
Developing the students as the products useful to the industries as well as other businesses.
Undertake reforms in the education sector meeting both local and global requirements in the existing and emerging industrial as well as other business opportunities.
Offering a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs in Engineering, Management, Medicine and Health sciences, and Science and Humanities through the institutions developed to the level of World Class.
Develop professionals of varied talent to ensure all round development. High-skilled talent can enable growth of the economy sooner.
Develop conducive environment for learning in our schools at primary, secondary and higher education. It is unfortunate, our political system/ central or state government is inept to build large universities of their own. But, something is better than nothing at all. These foreign universities, who are ready to come and establish themselves in India; will bring requisite know-how to successfully run a large university and will help create high-skilled talent in various fields.
Create ‘private sector’ autonomous education zones/ townships along the lines of Oxford and University of Cambridge in or near major metro cities.
Take steps to reverse the brain drain thus prevent waste of taxpayers’ money used for creating prestigious institutions like IITs, IIMs etc.
Education is the groundwork based on which we can definitely progress and develop provided we can master the change by spotting the trends and keeping ourselves flexible enough to get ready for the changes through our enhanced efforts in education sector in making it more purposive and meaningful by getting ready to acclimatize and succeed. Our growth despite the lack of infrastructure, inadequate resources in industries, endemic corruption, lack of consensus in politics, youth unemployment, large uneducated masses, ‘difficult to solve’ population explosion etc., should provide us the courage to build India as an economic superpower making use of huge potential available with abundant talent.
*(Author is a former Professor & Head, National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training & Research, Extension Centre, Hyderabad and worked as Principal in Private Engineering Colleges in Andhra Pradesh).