NEW DELHI: After the Board examinations in schools were re-introduced, the NITI Aayog has argued for revisiting the policy of automatic promotion up to eighth standard. The draft “Three Years Action Plan” has also called for greater autonomy to public universities and colleges under the “World Class University Programme” to ensure a paradigm shift in quality education in the country.
While advocating that the government expenditure should grow for health, education and rural infrastructure, the NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagaria stated that there should be a shift from emphasis on quality of education in schools to foundational learning. Under the chapter on education and skill development, the draft plan lays stress on moving away from input-based to outcome based assessments. “Various studies have shown that the quality of education has suffered on account of automatic promotion due to which the Board examinations had to be introduced. This is a half-hearted measure and it will be in the interest of students and overall quality of educations that the outcome based assessments be introduced across all grades,” said a senior official, who added that “outcomes (educational) should be ranked across jurisdictions”.
The draft also argued that the ICT (Information and communication technology) should be used judiciously to align teaching to the students’ levels and pace. “A tiered regulation of universities and colleges should be created to provide greater autonomy to top universities under the current system, besides there should be focus on creating and funding public varsities under the World Class University Programme,” the draft action plan notes.
The plan also advocates the girls’ education by designing innovative conditional cash transfer schemes. It also seeks development of a comprehensive “Nutrition Information System” to deal with the issue of malnourishment in the country.
The draft also seeks creation of a “National Science, technology and Innovation Foundation”. The Foundation will identify and deliberate national issues, recommend priority intervention in the field of science and technology and prepare frameworks for their implementation to give a leg up to the drive for the knowledge-based economy in the country.
While estimating that the urban population would grow by another 22 crores in the next 15 years, the draft plan seeks to free up land lying idle with the sick public sector units to give them for the housing sector. “There is a need to bring down the land prices to make housing affordable through increased supply of urban land, besides initiating steps like flexible conversion rules from one use to another, and more generous floor space index,” the draft plan adds.