A year after it was set up, the Education Commission of West Bengal has submitted its first report to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, giving its 22-point recommendations for development of the education sector in the state.
Calling on the Chief Minister recently, the Commission, headed by its Chairman Prof. Samir Kumar Brahmachari, suggested that implementation of the recommendations would "surely improve" the state's academic environment and overall standard of education.
The Commission members have expressed satisfaction saying the Chief Minister had accepted most of their recommendations.
"The CM has accepted most of our recommendations saying it won't cost much for their implementation. She has assured us to take measures for their implementation to uplift the education system," Brahmachari said.
The state government had set up the Commission about a year ago with the participation of some academicians to prepare a road map and perspective plans for 2020-2030 for the state's education sector.
The Commission has pointed out that every institution in the state should be inter-connected through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to achieve a seamless sharing of knowledge and resources.
The need of the hour was to provide IT-enabled services in all the state-run colleges, especially those in the rural areas, for the development of higher education. It said value based education that enhances dignity of labour and enables students to take up every job has to be discharged in a professional manner.
"Value based education - for integrated development of character, personality and sense of caring, development of health and hygiene should be accorded priority," it said.
Besides, 100 per cent students should have an opportunity to complete high school, every child should have access to computer and the state should lead in innovation and inventions, the report said.
The Commission also suggested the government to adopt strategy to achieve through strengthening the four pillars of education - Excellence, Employability, Inclusiveness and Value Based Education.
