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Go back to Gurukul System of Education: M V Subbaiah, Chairman, NSDC Two-day National Summit on Quality in Education Chennai 23rd Oct: Chairman, National Skills Development Council and former Chairman of Murugappa Group Mr. M V Subbaiah today called upon educational institutions to break free from the present learning methodologies and go back to the Gurukul format of imparting education which he feels is much in tune with the requirement of the rapidly changing needs of the global economy. In his keynote address at the two-day National Summit on Quality in Education organised by CII Institute of Quality (CII-IQ) in Chennai today Mr. Subbaiah advocated a two-pronged recommendations that of Gurukul teaching and learning process at the School level and the German vocational model for Higher education. Explaining the formats Subbaiah said that the Gurukul system basically promotes a holistic personality growth process by involving all the Motor Sensory activities that of– Hand, Mind, Physical, Movement and Reflexes. This he said would help a child acquire key motor skills at the primary levels that form the foundation of their ability to navigate the world around them in a more holistic way. The German model he said should be adopted after completion of schooling whereby a student is free to choose a vocational course that interests him/her. This basically ‘helps the student to excel in the field he/she pursues. He said: “any person who spends atleast 10000 hours pursuing his/her passion will become an expert.” He added that “I like the experts present here to ponder over on these two recommendations, which I personally think if pursued with a single-minded conviction will be able to reap huge benefits in just a few years from now”, Subbaiah added. Over 500 delegates comprising of principals, senior faculty and administrators from across India and overseas are participating in the National Summit. Renowned educationists, corporate heads and Government representatives will be presenting their perspective on how to deliver quality education with inclusiveness both at School and Colleges levels so that every citizen in the country gets access to education. Inaugurating the National Summit Chairman of CII-IQ K N Shenoy in his welcome address observed that without appropriate hand-holding the rural and other disadvantaged sections of the society, India cannot dream of pursuing the goal of being the next super power. He said: “We at CII have made an earnest beginning to push the concept of holistic and quality education by promoting various ‘educational excellence’ initiatives over the last eleven years. These initiatives basically equip institutions with a set of quality tools to provide highly structured and seamless education processes to all its students and the other stakeholders involved.” According to National Knowledge Commission, there is a requirement for atleast 1,500 new Universities in India. It is estimated that Indian students spend close to US$ 40 billion a year on Higher Education abroad. A potential market is already in existent if high-end quality educational institutions are set up in India to tap this pool. Latest statistics provided by HRD ministry indicates that out of every 100 children attending elementary school only 12 reached the graduation level. As compared to Europe at 50 students and the global average stand at 27 for every 100 students reaching college from elementary level. A new Law aims at increasing India’s graduation average to atleast 15 by 2012 and to 30-35 by 2020 from the present 12. To ease several bottlenecks affecting the education sector HRD Ministry has proposed several Legislative, Policy and Administrative initiatives in its ‘First 100 Days Action Plan’ document to bring about some semblance of parity and uniformity in the way education is imparted and governed in India. On the Legislative front the government proposes to establishment an autonomous authority for Higher Education and also plans to enact a law that makes mandatory assessment and accreditation in higher education through an independent regulatory authority. On the Policy front the government is looking at setting up of a brain-gain initiative to attract talent from across the world to the existing and new institutions and also launch a new distance learning initiative. As far as Administrative initiatives are concerned the government is aiming at implementing academic reforms by reviewing semester system and regular revision of syllabi and also looking at setting up 100 new polytechnics in districts where these centres are not there across India. In addition to various educational models being showcased at the national summit, an exclusive exhibition centre has been set up for delegates to get a feel of the latest technology that is available for institutions to make education journey a joy for all stakeholders. |
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National Summit on Quality in Education 23 - 24 October 2009 |
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‘Quality Education : Scalable with Inclusiveness’ |
