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Indian education system needs to change: Sibal

DUBAI — Colleges and universities in India need to move towards a model of collaborative learning and teaching, which provides better opportunities for students and professors, said Kapil Sibal during an educational conference in Dubai.

“The transformation of our university system is not a mere concept, it is a reality we need to accept,” said Sibal who was addressing a gathering of Indian chancellors and vice-chancellors at Dubai’s Crowne Plaza Hotel.

“Indian universities are still grappling with problems of executive councils, salary increments, and politics of education failing to understand the needs of a generation which will follow soon,” said Sibal. A key reformist in Indian education, Sibal has been credited with introducing the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system as part of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams.

His thrust towards inclusive education and collaborative teaching frameworks has received a mixed reaction among educators. “Rather than seeing the Internet as a tool of threat, we need to embrace its potential uses as a tool for learning and exchange of ideas. Universities need to reinvent themselves and create open-courses which can be accessed from anywhere,‘’ said Sibal.

Sibal who heads the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is also an advocate of building a central repository of educational courses.

Currently, over a thousand courses are being developed at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) as part of an open-course project.

The four-day education conference, Educon 2011, is being organised by Sakal Media Group in partnership with Dubai International Academic City (DIAC)

muaz@khaleejtimes.com