educational and life-related out-
comes,suchas higherincomes,and
leadsto lowerratesof unemploy-
mentandcrime.It canbe argued
thatan absenceof preschooleduca-
tiondoesnotleadto lowerincomes,
unemployment andcrime.
Thedraftrecommendsgreater
voluntaryandcommunityinvolve-
mentin theprocessof ECCE. This
raisesthequestionof thegovern-
ment’svision of its ownrole in
strengtheningECCEbeyondthe ser-
vices rendered by anganwadi
centres.
At themoment,theIntegrated
ChildDevelopmentServices (ICDS)
centres andtheirworkersare entrus-
ted withthe additionalresponsibility
of preschooleducation. Thedraft
policyenvisages a greaterrolefor the
ICDScentresin termsof the content
of theECCEprogrammeandnotes
thatso farthesecentreshavefo-
cussedon playanddaycarebutnot
so muchon education.It alsoac-
knowledges thatthisis because the
centres havepoorinfrastructureand
lacktrainedteachersfor children
between three andsix.Curiously, it
doesnotrecommend greaterinvest-
mentfor suchcentres. It doesnot
alsocriticallyassessthe qualityof the
preschools that flourish in the
privatesector,especiallyin cities,or
evaluatetheirfee structure.
Thedraftreportsays,correctly,
thatthe goalof education is to build
an equalandbettersociety. Thefirst
thingthenewpolicy oughtto have
donewasto ensureregulation of
commercialshopsof educationthat
startrightfromthe preschoolstage.
The document repeatedly
stressestheimportanceof Indian-
nessin educationandthe roleof the
“local”. It recommendsthattheNa-
tionalCouncil of Educational Re-
search and Training (NCERT)
prepare a pedagogical andcurricular
framework incorporatingthe“nu-
merous richtraditionsin Indiain-
volvingart,poetry,songs,gatherings
of relatives andmoreto imparta
senseof localrelevance, enjoyment,
culture andsense of identityof com-
munity”. It doesnot clearlyexplainin
whatway“gatheringsof relatives”
anda senseof “identity”arecrucial
for childrenas youngas threeto six.
Thequestionof “identity”is a loaded
onein a countryas plural as India,
especially withrespectto suchyoung
children.PEERTUTORING
Thedraftstresses“foundationallit-
eracyandnumeracy”in youngchil-
drenandsaysthatteachersalone
cannotbe responsiblefor this.It re-
commendsone-to-onepeertutoring,
whichit sayswasa featureof the
“successful ancient Gurukulasys-
tem”.Thiswillbe revivedand“presti-
giouspeer-tutoring positions”willbe
instituted.Peereducators andcom-
munityvolunteers will be ropedin
for all schoolsubjectsandnot justfor
foundational literacyandnumeracy.
Thedraftcallsfor a National Tutors
Progamme to enablehighquality
peertutoringamongstudents.
Thedocumentexpresses concern
aboutsteepschooldropoutrates,es-
peciallyafterGrades 5
and8, thoughit ob-
servesthatgrossenrol-
mentratioshavegone
up in the primary
stages.Thegrossenrol-
mentratesfor Classes 9
to 10 andthe11 to 12
were79.3and51.3per
cent respectively for
2016-17,the latestyear
for which data are
available. It acknow-
ledges serious defi-
ciency of secondary
and upper secondary
schools and accepts
thatdifficult accesscanbe a reason
for the highdropout rates.Thepolicy
recommends expansion of infra-
structure to makeeducationuniver-
sally accessiblebut falls short of
recommendinggreatergovernment
investment in publiceducation.
Therecommendationforflexible
modelsanddiluting the provisionsof
theRightto Education(RTE)Act
andencouraging non-governmental
philanthropic organisationsandal-
ternative modelssuchas gurukuls,
pathshalas and madrasas rather
thanpublic-funded educationap-
pearcontradictory. Thealternative
formscanonlysupplement a robustuniversaleducation system, butthis
the policydoesnotcategorically ad-
vocate.A morecandidandhonest
policywouldhavealsolooked at the
economic compulsions that keep
peoplefromsendingtheirchildren
to school or pullthemoutmidway
throughschool.
Thepolicyrecommends restruc-
turingschoolcurriculaandpedagogy
in fourstagesin a waythatwill“heav-
ily incorporateIndianandlocaltra-
ditions, ethical reasoning,
socio-emotionallearning,computa-
tionalthinking, logical reasoning,
scientific temper, languages and
communicationskill...” in a manner
thatis “developmentally appropri-
ate”.CONSTITUTIONAL VALUES
Theteachingof constitutional val-
ues,saysthe draft,willforma partof
ethicalandmoral reasoning.The
constitutional valuesmentionedin
the document,however,
do notinclude secular-
ism,sovereigntyor so-
cialism. It is well
recognised that there
are 15 constitutional val-
ues embodied in the
Preamble, including
justice,liberty, equality,
humandignityandthe
republican character of
the Indian state. The
values listedin the draft,
therefore, make inter-
esting reading: “Demo-
cratic outlook and
commitment to liberty
andfreedom; equality,justiceand
fairness; embracingdiversity, plural-
ity andinclusion;humanness and
fraternal spirit;socialresponsibility
andthespiritof service;ethicsof
integrityandhonesty; scientific tem-
per andcommitmentto rational and
publicdialogue;peace;socialaction
throughconstitutional means; unity
andintegrityof the nationanda true
rootednessandpridein Indiawitha
forwardlookingspiritto continu-
ouslyimproveas a nation”.
“Integration”, “Indiansystems”
and “multidisciplinary” are other
catchwords. The document says
therewillbe no “hardseparation”K.KASTURIRANGAN,
formerISRO Chairman,
ledthedrafting
committee.K.BHAGYAPRAKASH