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More than numbers

Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s proposals have begun a debate and there is a looming conflict between grand conceptions and frustrating details. Especially, the proposal for a single national board at the Class 12 level is very likely to run into rough weather. It needs the tightrope walk of d ....Read more

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AgarwalBy: Kamal | Tuesday , 7 Jul '09 14:32:52 PM Reply | Forward Dear Sir,Mr.Sibal,Hon.Minister of Education propossed for single Board is a matter of thorough discussion. He should see the pros and cons of the single board no doubt the idea is good but its implementation is not. What about Kothari Commission in Schools were they implemented? Today schools are all commercial and loaded with corruption.What are our children getting in the name of education? Where is their practical knowledge and what is the percentage of talanted students? The need for one board is not that necessary as the structure of our education system is to be changed. There is no education for weaker students (admission nowhere) every school colleges want cream students with 90-99% cutouts why? The teachers must be up to the mark so there is a need of quality education not the Board.

Lost directionBy: Prasanna | Monday , 29 Jun '09 2:39:21 AM Reply | Forward I think the minister is missing the whole point here. One india is made of different cultures and we are bound together only by religion or out national identity. Any centralized education board is not going work. I think the minister has not found the root cause of the problem. The problem in my opinion to focus on delivering the same standard of education to a student studying in chennai and a student studying 100 miles away from chennai. This should be a focus. Focus should be on honest introspection(without any political intervention) of the syllabus for maths,languages,science,history. For india to become competitive we need to have students coming out of the system who have stood test of their ability and will.

Not Going to WorkBy: Nija | Sunday , 28 Jun '09 13:40:52 PM Reply | Forward This one board for a nation funda is definitely not going to work. Definitely not with the backdrop of the diversity we possess in our country, and considering the varied nature of the requirements out of a curriculum in different parts of the country. Having a national level board dictate the curriculum children in my state study is definitely not acceptable, especially so with the kind of experiences we've already had in CBSE/ICSE books talking cheap about Kannada (being a great language, and a major unifying factor to a major mass of people for ages in history) in its books that get distributed to the entire country. I dont think a new national board that Sibal is proposing can work in any different direction than the existing CBSE like boards.Sibal would be better off dropping this idea - which would def'ly have to be the outcome of his discussion with State education ministers. Instead please come up with plans to enrich education in all Indian languages, at all levels.

single board for XII but state divisions at VIII/XBy: Anupam Gupta | Sunday , 28 Jun '09 0:43:41 AM Reply | Forward Without doubt, there is a need for a board exam before the final one (XII). Mr Sibal at one point should be commended for bringing some changes in our 19th century system. at the same time, all these changes should be well thought of and with confidence of majority. Nobody should feel that they have been bulldozed into it. Although a MEGA central board with bring uniformity but at the same time, a bord of this size would be difficult to manage - so there should be a sensible decentralization where the current state boards could play a role. Also, it would be worth having a non-local exam (board) exam for VII/X before they take a final plunge as the stakes sometimes are too high and teachers should also get a reality check. Third, there should be a system of carrot and stick and well performing institutes should get a better funding and administration at poorly performed schools should be accountable to provide reasoning as to why they could not deliver...

Sabotaging Educational ReformsBy: Dr. Ram Chander Sharma | Saturday , 27 Jun '09 18:47:30 PM Reply | Forward Before a blue print of much needed educational reforms is out, vested interests are working over time to sabotage the process on the name of language, culture and regionalism. There are different timings and sylabi for the different school boards of the country. There were unprecendented strikes and bunds last year on the issue of Shri Amarnath ji land row, students lost the precious study time. The students belonging to the vulnerable states and living in most corrupt states suffer for lack of miontoring and unfare means adopted by the influencials. As the case of J

What about the supply sideBy: Manish | Saturday , 27 Jun '09 17:52:54 PM Reply | Forward Scrapping of class X exam and replacement of all the boards with one national board for class XII should be nationally debated before implemented. Having said that these proposals do not address the supply side (quantity and quality) of the school education. It is still very difficult to get ones ward into a decent school. One hears horror stories like planning for a school since inception of the baby. Also, what about the quality of the government (state and local) run schools, which imparts teaching in Hindi and the state's language. Some of them no doubt have decent teachers and are imparting quality education. But majority of them are of shoddy quality and are not even able to produce literate students. Supply side of the school education is the area that needs urgent attention.

No Lengthy Debates pleaseBy: Prakash Krishnagiri | Saturday , 27 Jun '09 13:54:51 PM Reply | Forward In the name of democracy and freedom of speech ...many hurdles will be thrown in the way of reforms. The editor here is recommending a nationwide debate. Why there is a need for it? Look at the fate of the Womens bill that has been in the debate for more than a decade. If MMS and PVN had thought of a debate before liberalizing, India would not have progressed. No debates please. If required, let it not be a lengthy one. We need reforms in the Education System and quickly. You will find people opposing for anything and everything. You cannot get a 100 percent acceptance. We all know this. Opposers will oppose. The Minister and the Government should show the will in going ahead with reforms in faulty systems that are in place in India. Many Education Boards will object, because they would have no place to go. Lets ignore their cry and keep in mind only the aam students and parents.

SibalBy: C2 | Saturday , 27 Jun '09 11:10:00 AM Reply | Forward Scrapping of class X exams will help urban students who are under tremendous stress. However rural students will be asked to work as child labor since there are are no exams. Teachers in Government schools in rural areas will take life even more easier and shirk duties. Hence what is good for urban India is bad for rural India. Instead of making urban India more prosperous, Kapil Sibal should worry for the rural students. Urban India can take care for itself. Kapil Sibal should think beyond his urban Delhi constituency. You give education and empowerment to urban rich and alms to poor rural Indians through NRGES, thus making rural Indians more poorer. May be we should have two governments - one for India and another for Bharat.