Page 78 - EducationWorld Feb 2021 Low

Interview

“Top priority needs to be given to education & skill development”

Dr. Shashi Tharoor is Member of by other scholars, and we ought to
Parliament and former Minister of pay attention to it.
State for Education in the Congress-
led UPA-II government at the Way back in 1967, the Kothari Commis-
Centre. Also a skilled debater and sion recommended that we spend 6 per-
spokesperson of the Congress Party, cent of our GDP on education. But it hasn’t
Dr. Tharoor is a prolific, multiple happened for the past 70 years. How do
awards winning author having you explain this?
written over 20 bestseller mainly The 6 percent recommendation was
non-fiction books. Excerpts from an perhaps a bit of a fantasy because it
interview with Dilip Thakore (For was propounded by Dr. Kothari at
full video interview see www.educa- a time when education expenditure
tionworld.in) was well below 2 percent of GDP.
Since then, it has risen to 3-3.50
Although you had a short stint as a junior percent. But the problem is that
minister in the HRD ministry of the UPA-II governments have always had
government, you are the Union education too many urgent and conflicting
minister the country needs, but never demands on the same pot of money,
got. What would be your major education to be able to allocate more for
reforms, if this wish is fulfilled? education. It’s also true that our GDP
Obviously, the list of answers would has grown exponentially since that
be so long that we would take up target was enunciated. What we are
the entire discussion answering of girl children from class VIII spending today is certainly much
just this one question. So let me try onwards, in fact class VI onwards more than 6 percent of the GDP in
and give you a few headlines. It’s for banal reasons such as the lack 1960-80.
been a matter of great frustration of decent usable toilets. For girls,
for me that we have not been able toilets are very important, once they But I’m sure you’re aware that the West-
to make the progress we need reach the age of menstruation. These ern countries which have much larger
starting with basic universal literacy, infrastructural deficiencies have to GDP than ours, are spending 6-7 percent
which, as you know, is climbing be remedied. But equally, the quality of their GDP...
towards 80 percent for men, but of education has to be improved so That’s not necessarily constructive
is still in the high 60 percent for that families consider it useful to expenditure. If you look at what
women. We need to go all the way in retain their kids in school rather than it costs to get a college degree in
improving literacy through primary, pull them out. America, it’s way too expensive
high school, college education to This apart, we also need to ensure and costs that much to sustain the
strengthen our gross enrolment that learning outcomes are given massive endowments of American
ratios. At all these levels, we are greater importance. At the moment, universities.
below the world average. This is very we are putting more children in What concerns me as a policy-
disappointing. schools. But the problem is they’re maker is that Indian parents are
I think I tend to agree with Neh- not learning much. Too many studies spending $5 billion per year for
ruji’s decision that in a time of scarce have established that the vast major- their children’s education in foreign
resources, he could focus on only one ity of our class V children cannot universities. Therefore, we need to
sector in the education arena. And he read textbooks and manage class urgently establish world-class uni-
chose to invest in high quality higher II maths. This untenable situation versities in India. There was a time
education institutions. But the prob- needs to be urgently remedied. when many foreign universities were
lem with that is they became islands In this connection, very interest- looking for opportunities to estab-
of excellence in a sea of mediocrity. ing pedagogical research is being lish campuses in India. But our very
We have to do much more to liberate done by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan restrictive laws prevented that and
them by giving them greater auton- in the University of California, San no government at that point had the
omy. Our higher education system is Diego. Following groundbreaking clout or determination to pass the
over-regulated but under-governed. research, he has advanced the un- required laws.
I believe there’s a great deal we can conventional suggestion that primary During my brief stint in the HRD
learn from the successful systems schooling would be greatly improved ministry, we tried to enact some laws
of countries like the US, which is a by the appointment of teaching assis- that could have made it possible. But
paradigm for excellence in higher tants to prowl through classes while vested interests in the political class
education. teachers are teaching, to ascertain sabotaged this initiative. So what I
Moving down to high school, children who need help and immedi- want to stress is that policy changes
we have an extraordinary high ate remedial education. There’s also need a buy-in from the political
percentage of dropouts especially a lot of interesting work being done establishment, prioritisation by gov-

78 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2021