Aiming to bridge the gap between high- and low-quality school education, the government is working to bring in a single system and curriculum to teach students at the secondary and higher-secondary levels. A plan is being worked out to bring education up to Class 12 under the ambit of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
An expert group constituted by the Planning Commission has suggested that since there are anomalies in the 10+2+3 pattern, there is an urgent need to unify the secondary and higher secondary education systems all across India.
According to the note recommending suggestions in the school education system, a copy of which is with this newspaper, the expert group has asked the Planning Commission to make appropriate allocations while finalising the 12th Plan document.
Sources in the Plan panel revealed that the proposed changes have been incorporated in the 12th Plan’s (2012-17) approach paper. Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will make a presentation on the approach paper to PM Manmohan Singh next week and, if it is endorsed, it will be put up for the approval of the Union Cabinet, they informed.
Plan panel member and former Pune University vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav headed the expert group. The Planning Commission, as part of its efforts to finalise the 12th Plan document, has constituted a number of expert groups on key social and infrastructure sectors.
A decision to launch RMSA was taken in 2005 by the then human reso-urces development (HRD) minister, Arjun Singh. Singh had constituted a high-powered committee which had recommended a unified education system up to Class 10 all across India. The RMSA was to begin in 2009-10 but it got delayed.
The issue is now getting a relook as the expert group insists that education up to Class 12 be incorporated in the RMSA and the whole system unified by doing away with state-specific curriculum set by state examination boards.
Apart from state-specific examination boards, there is a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which conducts examinations for Classes 10 and 12. Central and other private schools are affiliated to the CBSE, leaving state-owned and aided schools to follow their respective boards.