Sir,
I want to thank the hon. Minister and congratulate him for rolling out the long
overdue National Education Policy. Naturally, a lot has changed amongst the key
domestic and global trends in the educational field. Our lack of an updated
education policy framework that took those developments into account had been
an obstacle in our goal of developing an affordable world-class education
system for all Indians. I must say that I want to thank the hon. Minister
because I have had the pleasure of meeting him, discussing in great detail the
ideas and the issues related to various aspects of the field of education. I
was very pleased when the Minister responded very constructively, listened to
these suggestions and has included many of them in his policy document. As I
have said before and I will say again, my140 only regret is that this was not
discussed sufficiently inside the Parliament. I would like to say that the
development160
of our education infrastructure must remain a major priority for our country. I
am confident that even if we have disagreements on specific details, we can
constructively engage with each other in the common endeavour of developing a
world-class education system for our country.
On
that spirit of constructive deliberation, I would like to share few concerns
that I have with the allocation in the Union Budget for the Ministry of
Education which threatens to stifle the roll-out of a truly ambitious National
Education Policy. At a time when the Ministry is seeking to roll out a serious
and broad policy framework that would be the cornerstone of a sweeping change
in our education system, it is indispensable that there280 be adequate budgetary
allocations to facilitate the smooth implementation of policy. Hon. Minister, you
will remember that we met soon after you had announced the policy and I had
said that I only hope you will get the funding for320 this from the Finance
Ministry. You assured me it had all been cleared in the Cabinet. Unfortunately,
the reality today is that the Budget has been characterized by a rather bizarre
series of cuts to the overall Budget of the Ministry of Education. Instead of having
allocations commensurate with the soaring ambitions of the National Education
Policy, we have a shocking but evident disconnect between the targets outlined
in the National Education Policy and the financial support being offered by the
hon. Finance Minister. Any hope for positive developments in our primary and
higher education system has been effectively handicapped420 by the Budget
allocations. The numbers suggest that education is not a priority for this
Government. Just last year, the Standing Committee on Human Resource
Development had highlighted that the allocation for the Department of School
Education was 28 per cent less than what the hon. Minister had asked for.
I must say that the very definition
of education in480 India must include digital literacy now,
if our children are to gain essential access to contemporary sources of
knowledge. There is a need to digitalize classrooms through the introduction of
a national computer curriculum in all languages that allows children in
primary schools to achieve a basic understanding of how to operate a computer.
What was a pen and paper to our generation is now a keyboard and a mouse and
the fact is that children have to learn them560 if they have to
survive in today’s world. This would require the Government to allocate the
necessary funds to ensure that computers are available and the teachers are
trained. With the existing barriers and dividers of class, caste, gender etc.,
it is likely that the current push towards online education will actually
divide our society more, unless we can find money for them. If we want to make
it a tool for progress, we have to find the funding. 640 It was really
disappointing to note that there was no mention in the hon. Finance Minister’s
speech of any attempt to address the challenges of online education, digital
divide, no provisions to compensate for education lost during the pandemic, not
even a roadmap for those who have been separated from the fold because
of these barriers within our system. I am700 really hoping that the hon. Minister for
Education will address these issues when he replies to us today.
I applaud the desire of the Minister
to develop world-class universities in India and I support him in wanting to
have campuses of eminent foreign universities here. But that should not be at
the expense of funding your existing Central Universities. Their grants have declined
by roughly Rs. 1,000 crore when compared to the Revised Estimate of the previous
year. Similarly, despite warning signs and the pandemic, the allocations for
research and innovation have actually fallen from already paltry levels in800
the current financial year. That is a 25 per cent cut, making us the only
country to chart such a course of action on research after the events of last
year. I appreciate the hard work that the Minister has put840 in to reforming the
education system. These underwhelming allocations actually let him down badly.
His own Government has let him down. The hon. Minister should ensure that we
discuss the National Education Policy in Parliament at some point and the temple
of democracy should not be reduced to a noticeboard or just a budget counting
exercise. But I do want to say that since our higher education has been so
process-oriented and outcome-deficient, we need to really make an effort to
ensure that your Ministry’s requirements are properly funded.
Hon. Chairman Sir, children must be
taught about the needs of the society including various laws regarding their
role in the development of society by including syllabus in subjects at960
primary level only. All schools and colleges in the country must
come under one roof having the same course, same syllabus, 980 same plan of
buildings, designs and infrastructure, uniform school dress, and the students
must be provided everything free up to 12th standard of education under
Government sector only. Government must promote collaboration between Indian
higher education institutes and top international institutes and also generate
linkages between national research laboratories and research centres of top
institutions for better quality and collaborative research to achieve good
results. Steps may also be taken to engage with students regularly to help them
overcome anxiety and stress to face examinations. Digital education is a
welcome step and involvement of radio and television may be made compulsory to
enhance the education system and responsibility must be fixed on them. The
Government is also helping the students financially to study abroad for the
higher courses and there must be a policy for a certain period for their1120
stay abroad so that they can come to India and serve the nation and we can
utilize their knowledge and skill for the overall growth of our nation. We
welcome the three-language formula and mother language is essential at the
primary level to grasp the subject thoroughly. Drop-out students may be
tracked. Setting up of academic bank is a welcome measure to avoid duplication.
Research funding may be increased. All the primary schools in the country should
have facilities of free food, free dress, and supply of books.
Poor infrastructure is a big
challenge to the higher education system and particularly the institutes run by
the public sector suffer from poor physical facilities and infrastructure.
Faculty shortages and the inability of the State educational system to attract
and retain well-qualified teachers have been posing challenges to quality
education for many years. 1260 Most of the research scholars are
without fellowships or not getting their fellowships on time which directly or1280
indirectly affects their research. There are insufficient resources and
facilities as well as limited numbers of quality faculty to advice students.
Moreover, lndian higher education institutions are poorly connected to research
centres and to industries where the student's skill can be utilized. Management
of Indian education faces challenges of over-centralization, bureaucratic
structures and lack of accountability, transparency, and professionalism. As a
result of the increase in the number of affiliated colleges and students, the
burden of administrative functions of universities has significantly increased
and the core focus on academics and research is diluted.
I am not going to make any political
speech because education is something which is very close to our heart. On
education, we never want to have a1400 political debate. I will not repeat the
same points as raised by many hon. Members who have spoken on this subject. My
concern is whether this Government has taken ample note of the present crisis.
What is the present crisis? 1440 The present crisis is the digital
divide in India. Nearly 70 per cent of students of India are deprived of
internet connectivity. Take the case of entire India during this COVID pandemic
and take the case of my constituency where internet availability is very
feeble. What is the fate of our students? The issue came up when the online
classes started in different parts of the country. Most of the students were in
a very deprived condition. Their parents were under tremendous pressure on how
to cope with the online classes which were happening in other areas. Has this
Budget taken note of this digital divide? These poor students are deprived of
devices like smartphones, tabs, etc. That was required to be a part of this
Budget. 1567
