Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) a not for profit, autonomous society provided a unique platform for interface between Academia, Society & the Government through an open house discussion on the leading issues affecting private sector education.
EPSI as a part of its initiatives organized an Interactive Session with Shri Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister of HRD and top officials of the Government in the capital on Saturday. The discussion provided the stake holders a platform to raise issues of concerns and explore possible solutions, which could find ways in education reforms being considered for education.
The open house discussion, the first ever of its kind, was attended by large number of Education Entrepreneurs, Vice Chancellors, Directors, Principals, Professors etc. from different institutions across India.
The representatives of the Universities brought forth the leading issues affecting private sector institutions. They highlighted the need for a clear policy statement on role of Private Sector across education i.e. School, Colleges, Higher Education, Technical Education, Medical, Law, Agriculture etc. by Ministry of HRD and provision of a level-playing field to the Private Indian institutions in tandem with the policy for the upcoming foreign universities in India.
The new “UGC regulations for deemed universities 2010” which interfere with the autonomy and freedom of administration thereby strongly discouraging the private sector, were also discussed. The educationists felt that the “Tandon Committee” evaluation was unfair. The representatives suggested that good private education institutions should be encouraged by providing more autonomy for creativity and growth and grants for research and development.
Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Directors, Principals of education institutions who emphasized these issues commended EPSI, for providing them with this opportunity of an Interactive Session to explore possible solutions with the Hon’ble Minister, which could find way in education reforms.
On the need for developing a platform for regular interaction over issues concerning education, on the lines of Chambers in Industry like CII, FICCI, Assocham etc. Mr. Manohar Chellani, Secretary General EPSI said, “A recognized Chamber for education will go a long way in removing anomalies and unfair practices. EPSI has submitted its request to Ministry of HRD on 20th July, 2010 for EPSI’s recognition as National Chamber of Education and would definitely like to play a catalyst role for bridging the gap.” Hon’ble Minister acknowledged the need for such a platform and announced the formation of MHRD-EPSI Forum which shall interact on quarterly basis to address issues concerning education across sector.
It was a historic movement with Hon’ble Minister of HRD, Shri Kapil Sibal arriving on first ever occasion of a dialogue with the stake holders in an Open House Platform and the entire audience gave a standing ovation on this important initiative by the Minister.
Hon’ble Minister in his address raised critical issues for national development through quality, access and inclusive education and gave a call to private sector to join hands with the ministry to build the world class human resources as expected by one and all. He informed that the ministry has been proactively working on bringing necessary education reforms and they have positioned several initiatives, however, would also like to consider the views of the private sector so that a conducive environment is created and India becomes a global hub for quality education. EPSI assured the Hon’ble Minister that they would work hard with the vision of the Hon’ble Minister and would leave no stone un-turned to make this happen for the youth of the country.
The stakeholders present at the open discussion agreed that the challenge is huge and the responsibility should be shared with the Government to achieve the planned targets. The public private partnership model could be effectively developed by allowing greater participation of private sector, NGOs, industry etc., by facilitating incentives for achieving the planned target. School Associations represented certain issues arising out of implementation of Right to Education (RTE) and Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to which the Hon’ble Minister responded by assuring that they will be considered in the meeting scheduled on 14th August, 2010 with representatives from all over the country.
Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI)
EPSI a not for profit, autonomous society, endeavors to facilitate towards complete literacy, globally competitive and qualitative education, and generate skills and professionals for employment so as to foster socio - economic development. EPSI been undertaking several initiatives by giving the country a unique platform for interface between Industry, Academia, Society & the Government on the subject dear to our heart i.e. promotion of education. EPSI ascertains ground realities by undertaking research based programs across the country covering various sectors of Education and works for solutions to bridge the gap. These programs across the country have received overwhelming response. Various recommendations submitted on higher education by EPSI to the Ministry of HRD, Government of India have been accepted.
