BackGovt initiates process to bring in a new education policy
Broad contours of the policy have been uploaded on mygov.in and suggestions will be taken till the end of the month before they are taken to a joint task force
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New Delhi: The human resource development (HRD) ministry will consult half a dozen ministries to prepare and monitor the progress of a national policy on education, which will help shape the country’s education and job scenario for the next several years.
The National Democratic Alliance government has initiated the process of bringing in a new education policy after a gap of 29 years. The broad contours of the policy have been uploaded on mygov.in and suggestions will be taken till the end of the month before they are taken to a joint task force.
Other than HRD, the ministries of information technology, commerce, labour, social justice, tribal affairs, health and youth affairs will be taken on board for finalizing the draft and monitoring it, an HRD ministry official said on Thursday. A labour ministry official said collective policy making will help in reducing duplication. The labour ministry has more than 11,000 industrial training institutions and was involved in a tussle with the HRD ministry over the certification process two years ago.
India got its first national policy on education in 1968 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the second came in 1986 under Rajiv Gandhi.
The new education policy will set the tone of India’s competitiveness as a young demography, help the government’s “Make in India" mission and keep in mind the Digital India thrust given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mint had reported on 26 January.
“The ministry had asked the industry input by 31 March, following which they (ministry) may take it to the task force," said Shobha Misha Ghosh, head of education wing at industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). “I believe education and skill needs to be seen together while preparing the national policy," she said.
Under the proposed policy, quality, skill and technology adoption will be the main themes and the HRD ministry will take all decisions with due consultations with state governments. Keeping in mind the 31 March timeline, the second ministry official said that the ministry has called a meeting of the state education ministers to discuss the broad contours of the policy.
India has more than 220 million students in schools and over 29 million in higher education, at least 90% of them under the jurisdiction of states.
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