Kapil Sibal moving too fast with reforms

Updated on: Friday, October 30, 2009

Nagpur: Everybody felt that the Indian school education system needed radical changes. But nobody expected things to happen at lightning pace.

Every other day, newspapers across the country have been carrying announcements by either the CBSE board or the Union human resources minister Kapil Sibal. Even the Maharashtra government has not been far behind.
The reforms are coming at jetspeed so much so that schools are finding it tough to keep abreast of it despite a slew of awareness programmes being planned. A section of educationists now feel that Sibal needs to slow down a bit as the recipients of his reforms may not be ready to embrace them.

When he took over as the HRD minister in June, Sibal layed out his 100-day plan. He has announced radical reforms but perhaps done it in haste without testing it. Several of his reforms, like making CBSE Std X exam optional, has shocked the country. Experts say that not testing the reforms could lead to a collapse of the education system.

'The minister is going too fast. He is not giving anybody the time to react. I think all the reforms he has been announcing one after another should have had a pilot run,' said Akhilesh Chandra Chaturvedi, the principal of Delhi Public School.

The schools in the city are still in the dark about all the new rules. 'We are not able to connect on what is going on. The CBSE has informed us that they will be conducting a workshop shortly where everything will be explained,' Chaturvedi added.

Devendra Burghate, principal of Shivaji Science College, agrees with Chaturvedi. 'The reforms are being implemented in haste and without giving a thought. It is not good for the country. The minister, as well as Central Board, is perhaps going too speedily with the new reforms. If you really want to bring radical changes in education system, it has to be taken step by step and set in a time frame. Any decision taken hastily will lead to collapse of the entire system,' he said.

Kapil Sibal moving too fast with reforms

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