NEW DELHI: The much-awaited draft report of the new national education policy could be presented to the government within this week along with a framework of action. The report will be circulated among the States as well as different stakeholders before the policy is unveiled.
A five-member committee headed by former Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, set up for evolving the policy, was given two months’ extension to submit the report, which expired in February.
While the committee members remained tight-lipped about the suggestions and recommendations, it is learnt that the report has called for sweeping reforms in the teacher education programme and mandatory rural postings for newly appointed teachers.
The committee is likely to suggest a revamp of the three-language formula, introducing new streams and making skills training an integral part of curricula. Sources said the policy could unveil a roadmap of transforming higher education institutions into centres of excellence.
The NDA government adopted a bottom-up approach reaching out to all stakeholders right from the village panchayat level to the district and State level to seek the views on the formulation of the policy. Suggestions were invited on 33 themes identified for discussions. The focus of the policy has been to meet the “changing dynamics of the population’s requirements” with regards to quality education, innovation and research.
The existing National Policy on Education was framed in 1986 and modified in 1992. Since then, several changes have taken place, necessitating the need for revision of the policy.
The themes discussed were were governance reforms for quality, ranking of institutions and accreditations, improving the quality of regulation, pace-setting roles of Central institutions, improving State universities, integrating skill development in higher education, and promoting online learning.
NCPCR for School Safety in Policy
New Delhi: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the HRD Ministry to include school safety as a part of the new education policy being formulated. “The new education policy has 33 themes and we want that school safety should be the 34th theme,” a member of the child rights body told Express. The NCPCR has already written a letter to the HRD Ministry making the suggestion, he said. The government has identified 33 schemes based on which the new national education policy would be formulated.