An alumna of Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur, who quit a high-level job with the State Bank of India to pursue her passion for teaching, Vijay Chadha is director of academics at the CAIE (UK)-affiliated Fravashi International Academy, Nasik.
Are you satisfied with the Union Budget 2018-19 allocation of Rs.85,010 crore for education?
The education outlay for 2018-19 is 4 percent higher than the previous year, with a significant portion (Rs.50,000 crore) allocated to school education and Rs.35,010 crore to higher education. This year’s budget has taken a two-pronged approach to education — first, to improve the quality of teachers through integrated B.Ed programmes and training of 1.3 million untrained teachers, and secondly to promote digitalisation of education. However, the bottom line is that this massive allocation of Rs.85,010 crore needs efficient implementation capability.
What are your Top 5 priorities for reforming K-12 education in India?
• Align curriculums, teacher training and student assessment countrywide. India should adopt global best practices in curriculum development and teacher training from high performing countries such as Singapore, Australia, Canada and Finland.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging transparent interaction between parents, teachers and students.
• Transform the way we invest resources allocated for education. Today, much of the budget is spent on buildings, infrastructure and peripheral priorities that yield lesser returns. Instead, we should invest available resources in teacher training and development to make the teaching profession a first-choice career for young people.
• Integrate technology into education. Efficient and meaningful use of technology is the most powerful tool of our times to engage students with learning.
• Encourage creative and discovery-based learning in classrooms. As in Scandinavian countries, we should create multiple learning pathways for students to pursue professional and vocational education based on their abilities and interests.