MANUFACTURING AND MISSING LINKS IN EDUCATION POLICY

Abstract

The glissando of Make-in-India campaign is perched on rhetorics like Skill India and Ease of Doing Business. It is also a takeoff on the NMP-2011, which seeks to bolster India's manufacturing foot print, encourage FDI, and bolster exports. The paper brings out the genesis of our manufacturing policy and experience and the challenges that confront Make-in-India. It highlights disconnects that manifest in our education policy both at the primary and tertiary level where GER and inclusivity have become the buzzword; clearly discounting the quality dimension. It draws upon the global best practices where local bodies are financially and functionally empowered to provide quality education at the primary level and act as the building block for research and innovation at the tertiary level. The paper makes a powerful plea for evolving a new educational policy where public policy treats the primary and higher education as a merit good in a holistic manner, fosters PPP, quality and eschew ideological obscurantism. It also calls for abnegating the asphyxiating control that shrouds the UGC. Article visualizations: