National Knowledge Commission Report to the Nation 2009: Overview

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championed by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE); on Teachers, championed by the Azim Premji Foundation; and on Biodiversity, championed by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). • Health Information Network: The developments in information and communication technology have created new opportunities for enhancing the efficiency of health care delivery. NKC believes that the country needs to develop a web-based network, connecting all health care establishments, in both private and public sectors. When fully functional, all health care transactions will be recorded electronically and this data will be available in the health data vault to authorised users, when they need it and where they need it. For this purpose a common Electronic Health Record (EHR) based on open source solutions needs to be created and disseminated widely. CONCEPTS Knowledge concepts are organised and disseminated through the education system. Education is the key enabler for the development of an individual and for altering the socio-economic landscape of a country. Therefore, NKC’s work has focused on revamping the education sector. NKC’s concern with many aspects of the Indian education system covers school education, higher education, professional education, and vocational education. • School Education: Making access to good school education a reality will require major expansion at the elementary and secondary levels and improvement in the quality of schools. NKC has therefore proposed generational changes in the school system which would encourage decentralisation, local autonomy in management of schools, and flexibility in disbursal of funds. To improve quality and generate accountability, NKC has also recommended improving school infrastructure and revamping school inspection with a greater role for local stakeholders and greater transparency in the system. Further, wherever feasible, Information and Communication Technology should be made more accessible to teachers, students and the administration. NKC has also emphasised the need for reforms in the curriculum and examination systems by moving away from rote learning to a critical understanding of concepts and finally improvement in faculty. • Vocational education and training (VET): To improve vocational education and training (VET), NKC’s recommendations focus on increasing the flexibility of VET within the mainstream education system. NKC has also emphasised the need to expand capacity through innovative delivery models, including robust public private partnerships. Given that only 7 per cent of the country’s labour force is in the organised sector, enhancing training options available for the unorganised and informal sector will be critical for enhancing the productivity of the bulk of our working population. It is necessary to ensure a robust regulatory and accreditation framework, along with proper certification of vocational education and training. This will allow easier mobility into higher education streams, enhancing the value of such training. • Higher Education: In higher education NKC recommendations have focused on the three key aspects of expansion, excellence and inclusion. NKC has recommended increasing GER in higher education to 15 and above by 2015. In addition to increased public spending, this would involve diversifying the sources of financing to encourage private participation, philanthropic contributions and industry linkages. To bring about this expansion, NKC has suggested the creation of 1500 universities by 2015, partly by restructuring the existing ones. In order to reduce the current barriers to entry, NKC has recommended setting up an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE) which would be at an arm’s length from all stakeholders and would accord degree granting power to universities. To ensure quality, NKC has called for reform of existing universities to ensure frequent curricula revisions, introduction of course credit system, enhancing reliance on internal assessment, encouraging research, and reforming governance of institutions. Further, there is an urgent need to restructure the system of affiliated undergraduate colleges which no longer provides a viable model for quality higher education. NKC has also suggested creating models for community colleges that provide credit and noncredit courses leading to two year associate degrees. These would include general education programs as well as employment oriented programs, creating the flexibility for students to pursue higher education later in life. NKC believes that all deserving students should have access to higher education, irrespective of their socio-economic background. While the 14 National Knowledge Commission
government heavily subsidises university education by keeping fees low, there is better value created for this subsidisation by ensuring well funded scholarships and affirmative action that takes into account the multi dimensionality of deprivation. • More Talented Students in Maths and Science: To rejuvenate science education and research in the country NKC considers it crucial to attract more students in maths and science. To encourage this, NKC has recommended launching a massive science outreach program, upgrading available infrastructure, revitalising the teaching profession and revamping teacher training at all levels. • Professional Education: The professional education streams are plagued by the problems similar to the higher education system. NKC has recommended that the present regime of regulation in all professional education streams including medical, legal, management and engineering education, be replaced by subgroups on different streams under the proposed independent regulator. This would have to be accompanied by independent multiple accreditation agencies that provide reliable ratings. Other measures for improving professional education include allowing greater autonomy to institutions, reforming the current examination system, developing contemporary curricula and encouraging research. • More Quality Ph.Ds: To invigorate research and development in the country, NKC has recommended steps to improve the quality of Ph.Ds. It has suggested massive investment in education and research at all levels, together with renovation and reform of the university system, and the fostering of a global outlook in research. Further, steps have to be taken to rejuvenate the doctoral program across disciplines and develop vigorous industry-academia interaction. NKC has also recommended the setting up of a National Research Mission which will create the required research ecosystem in the country. • Open and Distance Education and Open Educational Resources: Development of open and distance education and open educational resources is imperative to achieve the objectives of expansion, excellence and inclusion in higher education. More than one-fifth of the students enrolled in higher education are in the Open and Distance Education stream. NKC recommendations on distance education focus on creating a national ICT infrastructure, improving regulatory structures, developing web based common open resources, establishing a credit bank and providing a national testing service. To supplement this, NKC also recommends that the production of quality content and leveraging global open educational resources, needs to be focused on in a comprehensive manner. We need to encourage open access for all materialresearch papers, books, periodicals etc. CREATION Producing new knowledge and protecting existing resources is critical for a nation to compete in the global knowledge economy. This makes it important to consider all activities that lead to the creation of knowledge directly or help in protecting the knowledge that is created. NKC has therefore examined issues such as innovation systems in the country, science and technology activities and the regime of Intellectual Property Rights. • Intellectual Property Rights: For India to become a global knowledge leader, we would need to be at the forefront of creating knowledge. This requires a favourable eco-system that not only protects the ingenuity of the creator but also rewards knowledge creation through commercial applications. In order to facilitate the creation of knowledge NKC has recommended scaling up efforts to build a world class IPR infrastructure, including steps to modernise the patent offices and building global standards. IPR training in IP Offices as well as in educational institutions needs to be intensified, and IPR Cells need to be developed. In addition, NKC has recommended establishing new structures such as a separate IPR Tribunal, a national institution for cutting edge IPR policy and a Global Technology Acquisition Fund. NKC recommendations also highlight the need to protect traditional knowledge, create incentives for it and also explore mechanisms for identification of key IPR issues in new technology areas. • Legal Framework for Public Funded Research: To revitalise research in universities and give an impetus to public funded research, there is a requirement for enacting a legislation that would give universities and research institutions ownership and patent rights over inventions arising out of government funded research. This will create an enabling environment Report to the Nation 15
Page 1: Overview Report to the Nation 1
Page 4 and 5: Terms of Reference and Organisation
Page 6 and 7: Dr. Jayati Ghosh Dr. Ghosh is a Pro
Page 8 and 9: Methodology • Identification of k
Page 10 and 11: NKC Snapshot Recommendations submit
Page 13: Summary of Recommendations ACCESS P
Page 17 and 18: the Agricultural Technology Managem
Page 19: and awareness and also infrastructu

National Knowledge Commission Report to the Nation 2009: Overview

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