International rankings, land allotment for new campuses: New HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has long list of tasks

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has a new minister at the helm of affairs. Education being a key area of focus for the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the future action path could be guided by the National Education Policy 2019, a draft of which has been released by MHRD.

Ramesh Pokhriyal, a seasoned politician since 1991, has been part of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for three terms. As the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pokhriyal held additional charge of departments like higher education and information from 2009-2011. He started his career as a teacher at an RSS-affiliated school Saraswati Shishu Mandir.

The education system in India is divided into three major chunks - primary, secondary and higher. Each of this segment has its own set of challenges. As the new MHRD minister, these are some of the areas that will be under Pokhriyal's watch:

Dropouts

The first step to a formal schooling education is getting adequate number of students enrolled and ensure that the rate of dropouts are low. Almost 25 percent students dropped out of secondary education in 2014-15.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan scheme offers free and compulsory education for children in the age group of 6-14 years. Effective implementation of the mission will be a key focus for the new government. Even within the school system, improving the male-female mix in schools could be an immediate priority.

New IIMs

The government has given a nod to set up new Indian Institutes of Management in Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Jammu, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Sirmaur and Vishakhapatnam. However, not all of them have permanent campuses and this has been a cause of concern. The first priority of the new HRD minister would be to enable these institutes to have their separate campuses. Land allocation and additional grants would enable this process.

Unrecognised institutes

About 5,000 institutes in the technical education and higher education segment are said to be operating in the country without a valid registration. MHRD had earlier planned a crackdown on the blacklisted institutes that offer degrees and diplomas without being accredited. Under Pokhriyal, the focus could be on bringing out a comprehensive list of institutions that do not have the legal permission to offer courses and take penal action against them.

Mid-day meal scheme

With a view to enhancing enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in August 1995.

In 2001, MDMS became a cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme under which every child in every Government and Government aided primary school was to be served a prepared Mid Day Meal with a minimum content of 300 calories of energy and 8-12 gram protein per day for a minimum of 200 days.

The scheme was further extended in 2002 to cover not only children studying in Government, Government aided and local body schools, but also children studying in Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) centres.

Now the National Education Plan (draft) proposes that breakfast should also be offered under this scheme so that children get additional nutrition before lunch. Implementation of this scheme would be another mammoth task.

International rankings

MHRD has reiterated time and again that the system of higher education is unique and often the international rankings ignore the realities of the Indian market. To deal with the inconsistencies and the poor ranking of top Indian educational institutions, MHRD brought out its own rankings called National Institute Ranking Framework in 2015.

Each institute is ranked based on the teaching, research, graduation outcome, inclusivity and perception. NIRF continues to be a national ranking while still only a handful of Indian universities/colleges feature in the top 100 list of global institutes.