Need to Improve Quality of School Education: New CBSE Chairman
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, Chairman of CBSE
The new CBSE chairman emphasises the need for improving the quality of education in schools across the country with ample thrust upon teacher quality to sustain improvement in the standard of education.
By Rakesh Raman
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which manages education for public and private schools and works under the Government of India, has appointed its new chairman.
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, IAS, took over as the new chairman of CBSE on Tuesday (July 26, 2016).
Sharing the vision and role of CBSE in school education, Chaturvedi emphasised the need for improving the quality of education in schools across the country with ample thrust upon teacher quality to sustain improvement in the standard of education.
[ क्यों हैं आप स्कूल की शिक्षा से परेशान? छुपाओ मत, मुझे बताओ। ]
Chaturvedi is not alone who is worried about the poor quality of education in India. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, did not mince his words to say recently that the Indian education system needs immediate improvement.
The President said it was a contradiction between our aspirations to occupy a place at the high table of the comity of nations and the reality of education in the country that motivated him to draw attention to the need to improve quality of education in the country.
[ शिक्षा का सुधार: आईये सुने अरविन्द केजरीवाल जी के मन की बात ]
Mukherjee was particularly referring to the poor quality of higher education in India. However, the education standards are equally bad in the primary and secondary school education in India.
As a result, the unemployment situation is going from bad to worse – which is also reflected in the worsening Human Development Index (HDI) of India that falls at a poor rank of 130 in the world.
Moreover, a new ‘Pearson Voice of Teacher Survey 2015′ reveals that Indian students may be educated but they are not employment-ready.
In the survey, 52% of the respondents believe that India’s Education Assessment Framework lacks specific action points for teachers and parents to enable holistic education.
[ क्या आप भी अपने बच्चों की पढ़ाई को लेकर परेशान हैं? ]
Plus, in the recently released Draft National Education Policy (NEP), 2016, the Government of India has also admitted that there are many flaws in the Indian education system.
So, what should we do to improve the quality of education particularly in Indian government and private schools which are supposed to build the foundation for higher education of students?
“One of the foremost priorities will be to make CBSE a modern and multidimensional front ranking organisation,” Chaturvedi said.
[ Education Dilemma: Let Us Save the Lives of Our School Children ]
Although Chaturvedi did not elaborate on the kind of measures that CBSE will take to revamp the school education systems, CBSE will have to act – and act fast – to carry out a complete overhaul of the existing education paradigm.
It will include the change of existing syllabuses, change of books, appointment of qualified teachers, and career counselling for students keeping in view the dynamics of the contemporary job market.
Here is a complete report on the kind of measures that CBSE can take to revamp the school education models in the country. Read the report.
CBSE must know that the current education system is so damaged that it cannot be repaired. The wise move on the part of CBSE and other government departments will be to start afresh and chalk out a totally new education plan for Indian schools. Believe me, it is possible.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government award-winning journalist and runs free schools for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
Photo courtesy: CBSE
