International Journal of Educational

Science and Research (IJESR)

ISSN(P): 2249-6947; ISSN(E): 2249-8052
Vol. 4, Issue 6, Dec 2014, 1-8
TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

REALISATION OF VISION 2020 & THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN INDIA

BABAR ALI KHAN
Assistant Professor, Azad Technical Campus, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT
The Planning Commission constituted a Committee on Vision 2020 for India in June 2000 under the chairmanship
of Dr. S.P. Gupta, Member Planning Commission of India. The document provides a framework and perspective for those
in government and the private sector who are tasked with formulating initiatives for national prosperity. The report of the
Committee examines many important issues, but the ones that stand out most powerfully are employment and education.
The World Banks new education vision for 2020 is: invest early, invest smartly, and invest for all.
For developing countries to fully reap the benefits of education both by learning from ideas and through innovation they
need to unleash the potential of the human mind. And there is no better tool for doing so than education.
The education sector in India is one of the most important sectors, as it holds the key to social and economic
development of the country. The sector has emerged as one of the most lucrative sectors in India with literacy being
considered the key to sustainable development and inclusive growth.
Today, possessing knowledge and having the ability to use knowledge in a world-wide arena is critical to personal
and societal advancement. Knowledge societies that constantly develop new ideas, technologies, methods, products and
services are crucial for future prosperity. To meet these challenges, institutions of higher education are seeking ways to
further connect their faculty, students and outside communities in a strategic infrastructure where ideas flow,
new initiatives blossom, flexibility abounds and global reputations expand. Knowledge development and the
commercialization of that knowledge in the international context are seen as the primary work of 21st century universities.

KEYWORDS: Planning Commission, Vision 2020, Knowledge Society

INTRODUCTION
Although the present Republic of India is a young developing nation, our people have a rich and illustrious history
as one of the longest living civilizations in the world. The British historian and politician Lord Macaulay in 1835 had to
admit before the British Parliament: I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person
who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber
the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage.. Thus, it would be wrong to state that in
1947 India started to construct a modern nation from scratch. Rather, it began the process of rediscovering its rich cultural
and spiritual values that had formed the foundation of India in the past. It is on this foundation that the Planning
Commission of India formulated our vision of India 2020.
The Planning Commission constituted a Committee on Vision 2020 for India in June 2000 under the chairmanship
of Dr. S. P. Gupta, Member Planning Commission of India. The report identified nodal points of Indian prosperity.
Its central conclusion is that India has the opportunity to emerge as one of the worlds leading economies over the next two

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Babar Ali Khan

decades, provided her citizens have the self-confidence, the self-reliance, the will and the determination to realize their
individual and collective potentials. The document provides a framework and perspective for those in government and the
private sector who are tasked with formulating initiatives for national prosperity. The report of the Committee examines
many important issues, but the ones that stand out most powerfully are employment and education.
Role of Education and Potential of Human Mind
The World Bank education strategy for the next decade, said that better learning for all students worldwide is vital
because economic growth, better development, and significantly less poverty depend on the knowledge and skills that
people gain, not the years spent in a classroom. The bottom line of the Banks new education vision for 2020 is: invest
early, invest smartly, and invest for all, says Elizabeth King, the World Banks Education Director and lead author of the
new strategy. In todays competitive global economy, getting maximum value for each education dollar demands smart
investments that are proven to contribute to learning. Learning quality needs to be front and center of these education
investments, and Learning for All, the title of the new strategy, means ensuring that all students, not just the most
privileged or clever, gain the knowledge and skills that they need to get jobs and succeed in life.
"For developing countries to fully reap the benefits of education both by learning from ideas and through
innovation they need to unleash the potential of the human mind. And there is no better tool for doing so than education,
says Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group.
Today, possessing knowledge and having the ability to use knowledge in a world-wide arena is critical to personal
and societal advancement. Likewise, having a skilled and globally focused workforce is perhaps the most important
ingredient to any organizations competitiveness in a world where competitors can come from next door or around the
world. Any entity that does not support an environment that attracts, sustains and retains creative, imaginative, and globally
resourceful individuals will eventually fall behind. The role of higher education in such nurturing is most apparent as
universities and colleges are considered by many to be the primary suppliers of such individuals (Florida 2002, Friedman
2005).
Globalization of Education
There are some common perceptions of U.S. Universities for the globalization of education. One of the
perceptions is that the internationalization of campus and community is both an opportunity and a challenge that must be
dealt with today. Study results indicated that university leaders understand and embrace this point and feel an urgency to
deal with it. Those in charge of programs, curricula and initiatives are looking for solutions to the challenges of
globalization. Key questions related with the challenges are:

What kind of careers are emerging in todays interconnected world, where are they emerging and how do we
prepare our students and communities for them?

How can our departments, schools and university as a whole achieve an enhanced international presence?

How can institutions of higher education be positioned for success in todays global environment and what role
should local, regional and international partners play?

What global trends, developments and related research topics are most important to our scholarly disciplines
today, and how can we take advantage of such to create new knowledge in the future?

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.9678

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Realisation of Vision 2020 & the Role of Education in India

The realities of globalization (greater competition, relentless pressures to innovate, new worldwide markets and
production options, growing concerns over cultural and environmental degradation) have resulted in a common perception
that knowledge societies, those that constantly develop new ideas, technologies, methods, products and services are
crucial for future prosperity. This has resulted in even greater demands on universities to develop deep rooted
entrepreneurial cultures that are international in scope, such that the creation, transfer and use of knowledge is ongoing and
evolving
To meet these challenges, institutions of higher education are seeking ways to further connect their faculty,
students and outside communities in a strategic infrastructure where ideas flow, new initiatives blossom, flexibility
abounds and global reputations expand. Knowledge development and the commercialization of that knowledge in the
international context are seen as the primary work of 21st century universities.
Most observers believe that the ability to harness the good from globalization and avoid the bad lies in the
cultivation of knowledge (see - Robertson 1992; Ali 2000; Friedman 2000; Newman, Couturier and Scurry 2005).
Education Sector in India
India's GDP has grown at an average of over 8% for the last 10 years, with significant contribution from services
and manufacturing sector. The accelerated growth in both services and manufacturing sectors is largely attributed to the
skilled talent pool available in the country. India has the 2nd largest base of population worldwide with a literacy rate of
around 74% (2011) registering 9.2% of decadal growth (2001-2011 as per the 2011 census). The 12th Five Year Plan
(2012-2017) aims at an increase in literacy rates to 100 per cent. Realizing the potential in the larger base seeking
education in the country, there is an enhanced focus on management and development of education system in India.
Expansion, inclusion and quality are the three cornerstones of our national goals in education. The Government
has set a target of 21% Gross Enrolment Ratio GER) by the end of the Twelfth Plan (2017).This is a formidable target
considering the present GER of 12.4%.
The focus is to shape up the existing system in the changing scenario of globalization with attempts to resolve the
issue of getting trained manpower in the field of higher education for sustainable growth and development of the nation.
The rapid expansion of excellence in education is evident as India boasts of various institutions of academic excellence
such as Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) ranking 11th in the Financial Times Global MBA rankings for
2011 and Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras at 47th, 52nd, 63rd and
68th rank respectively in the worldwide engineering and technology rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
While the relative share of public expenditure on education as percentage of GDP grew to 2.98% (USD 51.4
billion) in FY 2011 from 2.61% (USD 21 billion) in FY 2006, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education in
India (per cent of relevant age group enrolled in higher education) is estimated at 11%. In comparison to the enrolment
levels of 60% in the US and 16% in China, India aspires for 30% enrolment by 2020. As approximately 220 million
children start schooling at entry level across India and roughly 80 per cent drop out by the time they reach class 10 and
around 6% (i.e. 14 million) reach college, there exist ample opportunities for growth, diversification, and investment in the
education sector.

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Government Initiatives
Government is playing a crucial role in order to ensure low cost quality education for all citizens. The government
is seeking means to enable the reach of education pan India. Government policies such as Right to Education (RTE) are
aimed at providing compulsory and free education to all including the economically weaker sections in the society.
All private schools, both government aided and unaided, will now have to give admission on at least 25 per cent of their
seats to students belonging to the weaker sections without charging them any fee. The adoption of Comprehensive
Compulsory Evaluation (CCE), a grading-system to continuously evaluate the student's performance on a regular basis
further aims at de-traumatizing the students.
Initiatives such as the National Policies on Education (NPE) focuses upon uniformity in education, making adult
education programmes a mass movement as well as providing universal access, retention and quality in elementary
education with special emphasis on education of girls, establishment of pace-setting schools (like Navodaya Vidyalayas) in
each district, and vocationalisation of secondary education. Specialised schemes like Kasturba Gandhi BalikaVidyalaya
(KGBV) focused on girls' education and Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), a multi-faceted adult education programme are
further fuelling the growth of education sector in India.
Further, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has planned 374 model colleges across India where the GER is
below the national average. National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill has also proposed a
single apex institution in higher education to maintain standards and promote higher education and research in India.
The budget allocation to education was 19% of the plan (USD 70 billion) in 11th Five Year Plan that has been increased to
USD 100 billion in12th Five Year Plan (2012-17). The expenditure on education has been raised to USD 11.56 billion for
FY2012, a hike of around 24% over FY2011 towards universalising secondary education and increasing Gross Enrolment
Ratio (GER). The government is also looking to double its spending in the sector to 5% of Indian GDP in the next 5 years
from 2.98% in FY11.
Special grants are being provided to various universities and academic institutions to recognise excellence.
Recently the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur received USD 44.35 million and Indian Institute of
Management (IIM), Calcutta received a grant of USD 4.43 million. USD 1.2 billion for University Grants Commission,
USD 1.25 billion for technical education and USD 208 million have been granted for National Mission in Education
through Information &Communication Technology (NME-ICT). Additional USD 111 million is proposed to be provided
for National Skill Development Fund during FY2012. Vocationalisation of Secondary Education, a centrally sponsored
scheme is aimed to improve the employability of India's youth and a group of Ministers has been set up to recommend a
National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework and preparation of a roadmap for its implementation.
Quality Enhancements
Increasing enrolment to cover the entire school-age population needs to be combined with efforts to increase the
quality and relevance of school curriculum to equip students with not only academic knowledge, but also values and
life-knowledge. A qualitative shift is needed from routine memorisation to development of childrens capacity for critical
thinking and from methods that emphasise teaching and passive learning to those that foster active interest and the ability
of children to learn on their own.

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.9678

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Realisation of Vision 2020 & the Role of Education in India

Quality of education and expertise of teachers remain the top priorities for the sector. With institutions like Indian
School of Business (ISB) ranking 12th in the list of global business schools and IIT, IIMs being globally recognized for
excellence, India will continue to make its mark as a high quality education destination. The central government has
recently notified the guidelines for the state governments to conduct Teacher Eligibility Tests (TETs) to make school
teaching standards uniform and better across India. University Grants Commission (UGC) on the other hand has recently
started entrance test, even to enroll as a PHD candidate. The 12th Five-Year Plan also has a key focus on research &
development and quality PHDs. The plan would promote research in universities and other institutes of higher education
with at least 50 research universities by 2020. To enhance accountability and transparency, AICTE plans to introduce
stricter policies around fee disclosure, online declaration of fee, admission and faculty related details etc.
Emerging Trends
Digitisation and adoption of ICT is increasingly modernising the traditional way of classroom learning. Use of
ICT is increasingly enabling the standardisation of learning in rural areas and has helped bridge the gap of teacher shortage
and student drop out. Realising this, the government, in its 11th Five Year Plan invested USD 16 billion on ICT and
vocational training, out of which USD 9 billion were earmarked for setting up ICT labs for computer aided learning and
EDUSAT centres for distance learning programmes and USD 7 billion was set aside for National Skill Development
Programme for training through virtual centres for vocationalisation whereas the 12th Five Year Plan would spend around
USD 20 billion on IT.
Virtual Class Rooms are replacing Traditional classrooms like classroom by Khan's Academy. The academy has a
video library of over 2,200 micro lecture videos and over 42 million visits, allowing students to learn at their own pace.
Everonn'si-school initiative offers digitized content as per CBSE syllabus, live and interactive satellite sessions, virtual
labs, VSAT methodology enhancing peer learning across the country etc.
Supported by the increased government spending and policy initiatives on education projects, India's education
sector is likely to see private players expanding in the sector. The Planning Commission in 2009 estimated the resource gap
in the sector to be about USD 48.8 billion and adopted a public private partnership (PPP) model to bridge the gap. 250,000
vocational schools will be opened in India in next five years in PPP mode.
Many private players are now coming forward to invest in this sector. For e.g. Pearson, Educomp joint venture,
India Can, runs various government programmes with state governments. Everonn Education entered into a joint venture
agreement with National Skill Development Corp to provide vocational training to students across the country. Companies
such as Tata, Larsen & Toubro, Educomp, Wipro etc. have shown keen interest in participating in central government's
initiative towards 1,000 industrial training institutes (ITI's).
International Collaboration
The Education Bill regulating entry of Foreign Universities aims to allow entry of foreign universities to set up
their campuses in India and seeks to expand options for the students seeking higher education in India's top destinations.
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) plans to set up around 14 Innovation Universities in India with the
help of Ivy League universities like Yale, Harvard, Princeton and MITAs.
At higher education level, foreign players such as Duke University is considering an entry in India, to introduce
best practises with enhanced partnership as well as competition with the Indian counterparts through collaborations
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including VIT and State University of New York at Binghamton, Apeejay University and some of the Dutch universities.
Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad has tied up with Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China
Europe International Business School and Nanyang Technological University, to attract students from the US, Canada and
Europe. Apart from the direct entry of foreign players, Indian universities are competing globally with their expansion in
other geographies. Manipal Education's presence in Antigua, Dubai, Malaysia and Nepal and CBSE introducing
international curriculum for 25 selected schools in Oman, Qatar, Dubai, Muscat and Singapore in classes I and IX are a few
examples of such expansions.

CONCLUSIONS
It is an established and a well agreed upon fact that education contributes significantly to the economic growth by
improving the employability of the youth. According to Luis Proenza the president of the University of Akron lifelong
learning has literally become the new infrastructure of our knowledge-based economy. Education, as infrastructure, means
that we must be willing to see our schools, colleges and universities as key players in economic development, because of
the talent they create, the research they conduct, and the new knowledge they produce. It is partly from research and
innovation that new companies are born and new jobs are created. As India's consumer class is expected to increase ten
times by 2025, the entire ecosystem in the country is stimulated to reform the education sector. Government initiatives and
proactive participation of the private sector are largely working towards the development of education infrastructure in the
country. Being the third largest growing economy of the world, science and technology related research studies become
even more significant. The focus of the government and private players is on attracting students to pure science, applied
sciences and research. To ensure finances do not act as a constraint in research programmes, the government is further
looking for ways to attract investors, explore the possibilities of promoting research through private, public and
private-public partnerships. As a result, the overall market for higher education is projected to be worth USD 115 billion in
the next 10 years. The opening of the sector for foreign players will further introduce best practises, increased the
competition by setting the benchmarks and partnership with the Indian players. Technology-enabled learning in
government and private schools, e-learning and web based teaching is increasingly reducing the gap between the demand
and supply of teachers which is the most critical bottleneck faced in the rural parts of the country. The focus remains on
consistent learning and formative assessment process leading to de-stressed learning and evaluation. With investments
pouring in from private players, international agencies and the government to ensure successful implementation, India is
set to become a preferred destination for quality education in the years to come.

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Impact Factor (JCC): 3.9678

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Realisation of Vision 2020 & the Role of Education in India

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