Contact FICCI
Cost-effective, content-sensitive, universal education vital in schools of the future: Andhra HRD Minister
Dec 17, 2018
NEW DELHI, 17 December 2018: Mr Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Minister of HRD, Government of Andhra Pradesh, today underlined the need for the making school education accessible to all, reducing the cost of learning and making the education system content-sensitive.
Speaking through a video message at 'FICCI ARISE School Education Conference 2018 - Schools of Future: Learners of Tomorrow' organised by FICCI, Mr Srinivasa Rao said the Andhra Pradesh Government was the first to adopt the Model Self-Financed Independent Schools Code and expressed hope that this would be followed by other states as well.
FICCI Alliance for Re-Imagining School Education (FICCI ARISE) in collaboration with Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. has prepared the Model Code for states for regulating the establishment and operation of new schools and recognising existing schools as self-financed independent schools. The Model Code lays down the framework for independent schools to practice utmost levels of transparency and governance through self-regulation and accountability. Equity, Quality, Excellence and Partnerships are the four pillars of this code. The Code prescribes a balanced framework that provides adequate autonomy to self-financed independent schools to excel and renders adequate powers to the state to regulate them.
Mr Adityanath Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of School Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said that the four questions that need to be answered while devising an education system are: Will such a system educate the child, will it enhance his innovativeness, will it empower him and will it make the child employable in the future?
While acknowledging the role of technology in making education suited to the needs of the learners of tomorrow, he said that the role of teachers should be lost sight of.
The folly of governments is that whenever things go wrong, they bring in more regulation. That was not the way forward, he said and added that the need was to create more and better infrastructure. Surely, the parents would have to pay more for better education facilities but that brings in its train political pressure against any such move. The way out is to manage better, he said.
Dr Vinod R Rao, Secretary, (Primary & Secondary Education), Government of Gujarat,emphasised the need for increased use of technology for scaling up and simplifying the complex education system. In the next two to three years, he said, Gujarat intends to convert over 2 lakh schools into technology-driven smart classrooms.
He said that the state government was focussing on bringing in reform by way of periodic learning outcome assessments. This would entail progressive ranking of students, teachers and schools, in a bid to impart competition amongst schools for better education.
Dr. Rao said that the policy of opening primary and secondary schools indiscriminately was flawed. The corrective lay in consolidation and merger of schools but was difficult to implement because of the political opposition to any such move.
Mr Prabhat Jain, Chairman, FICCI ARISE & Director, Pathways World School, said that the learners of today were vastly different from those born in the 20th century. Today�s learners were multi-taskers, inventive and disruptors. Educators, therefore, have to adopt ways of learning tailored to the learners of tomorrow.
Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI, called for learner-centric school education system. The need was for increased public spending in school education and mechanisms that incentivise the private sector in delivering quality education, he added.
Mr Naga Prasad Tummala, Co-Chair, FICCI ARISE & Chairman, People Combine Initiatives, also shared his perspectives on the subject.