Delayed Education Policy*

Today's world is signified by the mutual union of two important trends: faster development of technology, and faster growth (and better reach) of information and knowledge equally. Linear Progress - go to college first; get a bachelor's degree; then earn the first job where you can learn job-based skills; and then only go and become a productive employee- this arrangement is no longer sufficient. For the graduates to arrive at the very first job, equipped with special disciplinary or subject-matter skills, job related skills, and soft skills is increasing, since they are now expected to be up and running on the day of their arrival.

Many recent surveys show that 70-80 percent of students graduate without special job skills. Employers complain about the lack of preparation for even entry level jobs. About 70 percent of the employers say they are not able to find people with the skills needed for entry-level jobs. The traditional model of higher education, focusing on the development of educated citizens - even if not completely broken still, is not far from breaking.

Adjustment of the higher education system to the labour-employment market, nimble and flexible education programs, customised delivery of education according to the needs of the individual, creation of right personality traits and the ability to focus better, combining academic experience with lifelong learning, these are the top-priority action points which are apparent even without the so called extensive analysis by the ‘group of experts.’

Moving forward from the discipline focussed higher education to the inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary education was the development witnessed in the last century. In the 21st century, academic curriculum will need to focus on effectively integrating skill development with disciplinary knowledge.

Competent, enabled, efficient and effective higher education system needs equally competent, motivated, efficient, innovative, curious and committed teachers who are in a perpetual mode of learning. It is necessary to improve teachers' qualifications and competence rather than diluting the established norms of entry to the vocation. A policy adventure of the recent kind wherein just to enable easy entry into higher education jobs, even the entry level marks for SC/ST candidates for admission into PhD programmes were scaled downwards is just dirty politics. Such kind of policy disposition will be suicidal for the future of the country.

We want to a send a manned-space-mission to the moon in 40-45 months but we cannot make a National Education Policy in 18-20 months – What an irony?

Or is it that being in politics needs no education and therefore good education is never a political priority, notwithstanding the fact that education space is always captured by the politicians.

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* The Committee to design a new National Education policy was setup by the Ministry of HRD on 24.06.17. Extensions in its tenure have been granted on 27.12.2017, 06.04.2018, 20.06.2018, 28.08.2018 and 31.10.2018. It is so unfortunate that the policy makers never undertake any proactive policy making; and when they do get down to reactive policy making, by the time they make a draft policy, the world has already move so far ahead.

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