CBSE should stress on 'descriptive and objective knowledge': Union Minister

Kolkata: The Central government has instructed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to lay stress on "descriptive and objective knowledge" to upgrade the quality of education, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satya Pal Singh said here on Thursday.

"CBSE has been instructed to make the examination pattern so as to test the descriptive and objective knowledge of the candidates. This was done after discussing with all members of the state boards to bring parity in the system," Singh said.

He was speaking at a session on higher education organised by Merchants` Chamber of Commerce & Industry in the context of students scoring 100 per cent marks in board examinations.

The Minister gave the example of students seeking admission in the Delhi University. The quality of education is not clear as some states give 98 per cent or 85 per cent and there is a huge disparity. So, the Central government is trying to make a comparison, take out a ratio and move ahead with the admissions, he said.

Calling for a forward-looking approach in framing educational policies, Singh said: "Scientists are talking about fourth industrial revolution, Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence... Are we preparing our children for these? Innovation and creativity have to be ensured at the school level, it can`t just crop up at the college level."

In order to awaken curiosity in school children, "Atal Tinkering Labs" was started in almost 3,000 schools of different states. It is not a matter of employability, it is to see the next generation is well prepared to receive, understand and adopt the new technologies, Singh said.

He pointed out that access to higher education is around 25.2 per cent in India. For this, the government is building new schools and colleges to end social and regional imbalance.

"We are ready to give 100 per cent funds to states for making Central universities, provided they give us land for free. Priority will be given to those states that do not have a Central university."

Singh described school education as the foundation of higher education quality.

"In our educational policy, we are trying to address the no-detention policy till Class 10 started by the previous (UPA) government. We tried to make Class 10 board examination compulsory but education is mainly a state subject," he said.

President of MCCI, Vishal Jhajharia referred to a NASSCOM-McKinsey Report "Perspective 2020: Transform Business, Transform India", which said that only 26 per cent of Indian engineering graduates were employable.

In this context, the Minister said: "We are seeing how academic and industry interface can be improved. This year we have made it compulsory for engineering students to go for internships every year for almost a month. This will give them hands-on experience which will make them employable."