Feb.18 : Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal has been as good as his word. In August last year he had raised the prospect of having a common curriculum for mathematics and other subjects of the science stream for all schools in the country at the senior secondary level. Some school boards had demurred but the Council of Boards of School Education in India had broadly gone along with the idea. Now COBSE has reportedly endorsed the proposal unanimously.

Language, history and literature have presumably been left out of the scheme for the reason that India is a diverse country and school boards in different states need to take regional or local content into account. This appears to be a fair concern. On the whole, however, we would do well to be alive to the consideration that if India is to emerge as a net producer of knowledge in the world, it would help to have across the country a uniformly high standard of education in fields such as mathematics and the sciences. Once students clear this bar at the school level, they could enter university in any part of the country without worrying about variation in standards. At present this factor sets some students at a disadvantage. Since all school boards would be offering the same curriculum in science and mathematics in the changed situation, children in all states would now have equal opportunity to aspire for the best centres of higher learning anywhere in the country. In this important sense, the proposed measure has a strong democratic dimension that must not be overlooked. The government is already considering extending the scheme to commerce. This is good thinking. Like science and mathematics, commerce as a scholastic discipline does not lend itself to regional or cultural considerations or bias. Mr Sibal and the school boards in the country can, in the same vein, also look to broadening the scheme of common curriculum to certain other subjects as well. These can include geography, economics, health science and art. It may also be a splendid idea to introduce the theory of knowledge as a subject at the school level under the common curriculum. An elite international school board such as IB (International Baccalaureate) has this as a part of its syllabus. Why should the general run of students in our schools be deprived of the opportunity? Being in the front rank of conceivers and implementers of thoughtful ideas in the important field of education — which bridges social gaps and enhances productivity and incomes both within the country and in international comparisons — is a good in itself, but it is also a necessity if India hopes to be a leading member of the international community in the coming decades.Along with bringing certain subjects of study under one framework, the government hopes to introduce common entrance tests for the top universities. This is in the nature of a logical follow-up. The challenge, however, lies elsewhere. If a curriculum of a certain standard in key subjects is to be brought into effect across the country, ways will have to be found to create an enabling environment as well. This means creative teachers of acceptable standard and laboratory facilities. It is futile to contemplate raising the bar across school boards and not have the right level of teachers in adequate numbers. Mr Sibal is thus invited to engage in some degree of multi-tasking. He has got to invest in updating the infrastructure of schools, lending support to school boards in need in all parts of the country. He must also, of necessity, invest in teachers’ training. But, on the whole, he is on to a good thing. He must plug away.