Year when school became a right and marks gave way to grades……..Anubhuti Vishnoi
2010 saw the HRD Ministry ushering in the law that gives every child the right to education, and setting off the process for a shife from marks to grades for evaluating students. Anubhuti Vishnoi tracks the reforms that marked the year.
Right to Education
The Right to Education Act came into effect on April 1, the culmination of a promise made years earlier. Promising all children aged between six and 14 the right to school and mandating that every school allocates 25 per cent seats for students from the underprivileged section, the legislation is expected to push up school enrolment figures across the country. With the RTE have come a code of conduct for teachers, strictures against corporal punishment and updated teacher recruitment rules, all aimed at improving teaching quality.
Higher education reforms
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal introduced three key legislations in Parliament: the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, the Educational Tribunal Bill, and the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill, all aimed at ushering in transparency, a flow of information based on self-disclosure to students, and a speedy dispute redress mechanism. The ministry also put together an agreeable version of the Foreign Education Providers Bill with a bold framework to attract foreign universities, and addressing domestic concerns at the same time.
Marks to grades
2010 also marked the shift of some 10,000 schools affiliated to the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) from a marks-based system to a grades-based one. The year also saw CBSE schools switching to a Continued & Comprehensive Examination (CCE) system that assesses a student on learning skills through non-conventional methods like quizzes and puzzles rather than the usual paper-and-pencil tests. The immediate feedback is that the shift to grades and the CCE have been well received by students, parents and teachers. The CBSE also took an international plunge, launching CBSE International and affiliating 25 schools from the Gulf countries.
E-governance in tech schools
The regulatory system for technical education hit a low when the entire top brass of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was made the subject of a CBI investigation in a corruption racket. To clean up the rot, AICTE introduced e-governance in 2010, not only making transparent the process of granting recognition to courses and institutes but also mandating that each AICTE-recognised institute discloses on its website all details related to faculty, infrastructure, student strength and courses on offer. The AICTE has also eased land norms for setting up new institutes.
‘Deemed unfit’
Early in the year, the government submitted to the Supreme Court a report that recommended withdrawal of the “deemed to be a university” status from 44 of 130-odd such institutions; it pointed out deficiencies in several other universities too. The issue is still sub-judice but the University Grants Commission (UGC) has already rolled out stringent new regulations for deemed universities that call for greater accountability and quality.
Gadget innovation
The HRD Ministry’s dream project for a $10 laptop may still be distant, but it did launch a Rs 1500 tablet/computing device, developed in collaboration by a number of IITs and IIMs. The touchscreen gadget generated global interest and the ministry has invited expressions of interest from mass production houses to make it available to students across Indian colleges and universities.
Common Entrance
Doing away with multiple exams after school is the new mantra to ease the burden on students. Seven of the 14 new Central universities held a Common Entrance Exam last year to admit students to their inaugural postgraduate courses and and the system is said to have worked smoothly. The challenge is to extend this to all 40 Central universities so that a student who has passed Class XII simply has to take one entrance exam and on the basis of that score can seek admission to a course of his choice at any of the Central universities.
Copyright
After heated debates and controversies, the Copyright Amendment Bill was finally introduced in Parliament. It proposes to give creative artists behind the screen the long-due benefit of royalty, though film directors and producers have been crying foul. The Copyright Act dates back to 1957 and was last amended in 1999 but had not factored in the huge changes in terms of digital development.
Belling the CAT
After an embarrassing debacle with the first online Common Admission Test in 2009, CAT 2010 finally got it right. Their reputation redeemed, the Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) now plan to take the exam to the next level. Next on the agenda is the CAT exam being conducted on foreign shores and a special Section 25 company to be set up by the IIMs especially to hold CAT.