The education sector is poised for reforms especially the right to education envisaged under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) the endevour of Human Resource Ministry is to make the Act more workable and creating a synergy among various institutions involved in the education sector. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) sub-committee recently recommended an end to the annual examinations and no detention provisions in the law. CABE is the apex education policy making body in the country and has education ministers of all states as members. The sub-committee has cited decline in students’ performance to underline the need to revert to the traditional annual examination system for the school assessment. Currently under RTE comprehensive and continuous evaluation of the children throughout the year is the norm. Besides no child can be detained -something many Chief Ministers have objected to saying no detention policy was leading to laxity among the students. The proposed reforms also talk of provision to curb unfair means practice in higher education and to set up a National Academic Depository to create an online national data base of academic certificates from senior secondary to university level. The government is also planning to impose stringent penalties on managements which charge capitation fee to curb unfair practices. HRD Ministry is planning to bring in new guidelines for common entrance examination, common curriculum and a common transfer policy for students and faculty and transfer of national credit system. The expected reforms would also stress on the mandatory accreditation of higher educational institutions by the National Assessment and Accreditation Centre and the National Board for Accreditation for shortage of faculty. Availability of finance for education needs urgent attention. In most developed countries, if a deserving student is unable to finance education, he or she gets financing on easy terms, without collaterals. In India, education financing is largely based on collaterals provided by the student-invariably, by her parents. This should stop. Collateral-free financing can be made available if a robust framework of credit guarantee funds is made operational.
