Headline : Kasturirangan to head education committee

Details :

Why in News?
Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan will head the committee, tasked to prepare the final
draft of the new National Education Policy (NEP).
Brief History:
First National Education policy came up in 1968.
Different commissions were set up to formulate the first NEP. They were:-
University Education Commission (19481949),
Secondary Education Commission (19521953)
Kothari Commission (196466)
Till now three NEP have been formed:-
First in -1968
Second in -1986
Third in -1992
Aim of NEP:
To promote education among Indian people.
To spread education in both rural and urban India.
To promote education from elementary level to college level.
To meet the changing dynamics of the populations requirement for quality
education, innovation and research.
To make India a knowledge superpower by equipping the students with necessary
skills and knowledge
To eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics and
industry.
New Committee:
Composition:
It will be a nine member committee including the chairman.
The committee will be headed by K. Kasturirangan.
Committees diversity:
Diversity of the committee will be helpful to understand the various issues
involved in formulation of the policy.
Different age groups of members will be helpful in bringing experience, innovation
and global exposure in policy formulation.
Various inputs:
Democratic, participative and inclusive approach has been taken to receive inputs
on NEP. Some of them are:-
Consultations took place at tehsil, district and state level.
Regional conferences were organised where State governments have given their
detailed opinion.
Rajya Sabha debated on the issue.
Special education dialogue was organised.
On MyGov platform views of people were taken online.
Suggestions from previous T.S.R Subramaniam committee.

Way Forward:
There are various challenges pertaining to the education system like Gender
discrimination, poverty, inadequate teacher to student ratio, low Gross Enrolment
Ratio(GER), poor infrastructure, etc.
With the formulation of the new committee which is headed by a well versed person
and comprised of diverse members, we can hope that NEP will be in tune with
changing demands of the education system and it will address the issues involved.
Section : Social Issues