Is Indian Education System Set For An Overhaul ?

Indian Education Sector looks set for a turnaround.From Corporate India entering the education sector to the various government reforms, things are looking bright for the Indian Education Sector.Infact, the HRD minister has invited the Private Sector to play a major part in lifting the education standards in India.

“There is need for paradigm shift. The government cannot do this. The private sector has to come forward. The government will create appropriate environment for investment by private sector” (Source: The Hindu)

The need for quality education is also evident from the fact that the Services Sector( IT-ITES,Hospitality etc) have been major contributors to the Indian GDP for some years now.With growing demand, Human Resource is going to play a vital role in shaping the growth of the sector.The education system will have to come good from the grass roots to make them business ready.

In a bid to attract more quality and bring in international exposure, India is set to sign up key MOU’s with the UK.One of the key tie-ups is with the Imperial College, a top quality science college which is already involved in setting up the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Ropar.The major focus of the MOU’s is going to be for skill development, vocational training and teachers’ training.

The HRD ministry is also trying to modernize the Indian Education System by leveraging technology in the operations function.The government has plans to provide Education Degrees online by the year 2011.According to the plan, the students of schools, technical colleges and universities will be able to get their certificates through a centralized online pool for a fee.The process will involve all affiliated educational institutes to submit their degree to a central repository from where the students can access their degrees and print them too.

I speak for myself, but the traditional process of getting degree certificates has always been a pain.The babu-culture in a lot of universities makes it even more difficult to get hold of the degree certificates.The online process will simplify the process to a great extent.Moreover, with a central online repository the degrees will be safe for future use.

Another major benefit of the online degree certificates that the government is betting on is the reduction in forgery of degree certificates which is rampant.With a single source of truth available at the ministry’s disposal, it will become difficult for someone trying to manipulate the degrees.The ministry also plans to open up the repository access for Employers looking to verify the credentials of their prospective employees.

The costs involved in the overhaul and implementation of the online system are not known but at the risk of generalization, i think the government might reap some monetary benefits in the form of fees to further invest in the education sector.

The Indian Education Sector is seeing increased attention both from the public and private sector.With increased participation and execution, the Indian Education System might just become the nurturing ground for the best talent there is globally.

What are your thoughts? Are the steps taken by the government in the right direction?