Narayana Murthy calls for Pay-per-performance system in schools

IT czar N R Narayana Murthytoday said he wants pay-per-performance system be implemented in every school and the students should vote on the competenceof teachers based on certain attributes.
"What is my vision for primary and secondary education in India? I want India to go from its current 130th position in HDI in 2015 to the top 10 by harnessing education.
I want every child to receive the best help from teachers to rise to its best potential commensurate with his or her capacitywithout being hindered by financial constraints," Murthy said, delivering convocation address at the University ofMysore.
"I do not want the access to high quality, high leverage education to be restricted to only the elite as it is today but to be available to the poorest of the poor also," he said.

Murthy was conferred honorary doctorate by theUniversity, which is celebrating its centenary year.
"I want the Indian schools and universities to become inspiration for children all over the world. I want our children to focus on problem-solving, orientation to improve the context rather than the current focus on learning byrote," he said.

Noting that market will be the "ultimate decider" of the efficacy of every school, he said the only function of the government was to regulate the quality of education by setting standards.
The committee for standards will consist of well proven teachers, academicians, parents who have a global outlook.

He said the syllabus and examination system will have to be validated once in five years by comparing it withthe best global standards by a committee of experts withIndians from around the world as well as experts fromcountries that have done better than India.
He said many people think that education is expensive and would like to remind them of the words of Derrick Bok, aformer President of Harvard University, who said, "If youthink education is expensive, try ignorance".
The septuagenarian industry leader also made a case for
directly elected mayors with a minimum of five years term, so that carefully crafted visions can be implemented.

It will also ensure accountability, he said and rued that at present the presence of multiple agencies makes it difficult to fix responsibilities.
He said our cities must be developed for higher economic growth by realising their socioeconomic potential, and urged politicians and bureaucrats to work for the same.
During the post-lecture interaction, when asked who between the two (politicians and bureaucrats) were more detrimental, Murthy said it was the system which had to be blamed.
Stating that cities were engines of growth, he warned rapid urbanisation did not guarantee sustained growth which was possible only if we planned the cities better.

Murthy also made a pitch for being more open so that not only Indians but the foreigners too feel at home in our cities.
Our cities need spatial planning laws, planning institutions and adequate number of qualified town planners, he added.