BIRLA AMBANI REPORT ON PRIVATISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION (EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND POLICY IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA)

 Education is always one of the most important needs of human beings. It is the process of instruction which is aimed at the all round development of children. Human development is the real indicator of the advancement and promotion of a society.. Education universally is recognised as an important investment for development of human resources. It is a key for technical innovation and economic development. Providing education to all human beings is one of the primary objectives of the government. Higher education was largely funded by the central and state governments till the early nineties.

Due to the wave of privatisation of education in our country, government has diverted its focus from higher education to primary education. The government urged the private sector to enter this field of higher education. The government allowed the private sector to establish fee-paying and self-financing institutions to meet the increasing demand for higher education for specific courses. The demand for higher education has been increasing extremely rapidly all over world. India is no exception to this phenomenon. The university system is trying to accommodate the increasing numbers into its fold. It has been extremely difficult for traditional universities mostly public universities to fulfil the aspirations of young entrants into higher education. There is a lot of pressure on the universities to offer courses that would enhance the employ-ability of the students. However the process of bringing about change in the existing courses i.e. academic programs, syllabus, evaluation system etc is very slow. The private institutions could cater to the demand for courses that were in demand. There is demand for collaborating with the industry at every stage.

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

1.     Primary education and secondary education should be made compulsory and free. Primary education should be the part of educational agenda and there is no getting away with the constitutional commitment of providing elementary education to the students up to 14 years of age.

2.      Teachers should be provided with regular training and facilities for quality up gradation.

3.   Migrate  from teaching to sensory education for primary students and to evoke curiosity among students. The focus must be on healthy psychological development and joyful learning experience

4.    Introduction of ICTs and smart classrooms as a part of integrating technology into educational field

5.      It claimed to ban all political party activity in the private university campus and educational institutions.

6.   As the report saw the opening passage to passing of private university bill with growing privatization of higher education it also stressed on marketing Indian education abroad to lure overseas students.

7.      Emphasized value education in primary, secondary and higher secondary stages.

8.      Intensive vocational training is a must from secondary level on wards.

9.    Teacher should act as a facilitator rather than transmitter of knowledge through experience and practice learning.

10. Common national content should be introduced at least in the areas related to history, literature, culture and languages.

11.  Common admission tests for admission in professional curses such as SAT, GMAT, CAT, GATE

12.  Decentralization of management.

13.  Encourage schools to upgrade content, resources and facilities to make themselves more market oriented.