I had blogged earlier about the importance of the current “Deciding Decade” for India’s future. I’ve been looking into small ways that I can personally help in improving Education in India – been prototyping online virtual learning site with Moodle, etc.
Recently there have been 3 big education policy changes that could have far-reaching (+ve or -ve) impact going forward:
1) Right to Education (RTE)
– I was initially sceptical that this is one more “right” that might not get fulfilled. But on closer look some of the provisions might have a huge impact – like 25% reservation of seats in ALL private schools, definition of standards for 1:30 teacher:student ratios and the massive sums allocated for states to implement RTE.
2) Foreign Universities Bill
– This is another controversial bill that allows universities from around the world to setup campuses in India. Ex: Virginia tech setting up campus in Chennai.
3) Common Syllabus (New in Tamil Nadu)
– While this is only in TN, there are rumblings about a common syllabus throughout India. This kind of change can make it easy for the country to develop a common infrastructure to train teachers, to provide online educational resources for children, etc.
While we cannot immediately tell whether these large changes will be positive or negative, one thing is clear. The education scene in India will be quite different in the coming decades.
[...] changes happening in the Education scene (like other areas of life) in India – some key changes in 2010 here. One major change in TN in 2011 has of course been the new AIADMK State Government headed by [...]