New Delhi: Following is the text of the speech of the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal at the inaugural of the Conference of State Education Ministers held here today.

“I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to this Conference. We had met during the last Conference of State Education Ministers on 8th June 2011 and again for Shiksha Ke Haq Abhiyan on 19th October 2011. During this intervening period, I have interacted through separate meetings with the Ministers of different states for discussing several areas of mutual interest in the education sector.

Recognizing the centrality of State governments both in policy formulation and effective implementation of them, I have made it point and spared no efforts in conducting consultations with you regularly since 2009. Education being a Concurrent subject, continuous dialogue with the States becomes crucial in a federating structure and I personally feel that your support has been of immense importance for the development of this sector. These interactions have been extremely useful in many of our initiatives and policies, ranging from the Right to Education, continuous and Comprehensive evaluation, reforms in higher education. In all, a total of 7 meetings (three of CABE and four of State Education Ministers) have been held since August, 2009.

I am also glad that we have been benefiting from the valuable suggestions of the Hon’ble State Ministers. To recall, in Vocational Education, the Committee of State Education Ministers, headed by Bihar Education Minister Shri P.K. Shahi, was constituted in January 2011, to suggest ways and means for strengthening vocational education in the country at all levels and to develop a broad consensus on the contours of the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF).

Similarly, issues raised by the States in these meetings are appropriately and promptly addressed by the officers of my Ministry. I would like to cite a few instances of issues raised in the last Meeting of June 2011 on which action has been taken at our end. These are:

• Preparation of bridge course by IGNOU which will help Bihar Government for training of 1.15 lakh untrained teachers. Action has been taken in the matter and accordingly, the 6-month enrichment course has been finalized and study material has also been prepared by IGNOU. The revised courses would be shortly offered to the untrained teachers of Bihar already enrolled with IGNOU.

• Madhya Pradesh had sought my intervention of opening of DIETs in 9 newly created districts. In this matter, under the revised Teacher Education Scheme which has been approved by the Department of Expenditure, it is proposed to establish a DIET in each of the districts created on or before 31st March, 2011, including the 9 newly created districts of Madhya Pradesh.

• Uttar Pradesh requested that the process of teachers’ recruitment should not be hampered due to restructuring of NCTE. In this regard, we have reiterated that recruitment of teachers is made by the State Government at its level. The NCTE has laid down the minimum qualifications for the person to be eligible for appointment as a teachers in Classes I-VIII, in pursuance of section 23 (2) of the RTE Act. The reforms underway in the NCTE are to create a more enabling environment for establishment of quality teacher education institutions in the country.

These are some instances, but as you would see from the Action Taken Note circulated before you, we try to promptly address the issues raised in these consultations, which are also very useful for the purposes of our own policy planning.

Usually, it has been the past practice that the CABE meeting and the State Education Ministers Conference are synchronized and held almost simultaneously. This time, however, since the CABE is under re-constitutions (which is likely after the elections), CABE meeting will be held a little later.

We are in the terminal year of the XI Plan and together we have made substantial progress in the different sub-sectors of education. RTE Act has come into force from 1st April, 2010, Saakshar Bharat has been launched, examination reforms at secondary level through Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation has been introduced. In Higher Education, focus on access, equity and excellence translated into strategies for achieving expansion, inclusion and improved quality. Substantial achievements have been made by the establishment of several new institutions – Central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs, SPAs, IISERS, Polytechnics and model degree colleges. Under inclusive education, implementing the recommendations of the Oversight Committee for reservation of seats for OBCs, construction of girls’ hostels, providing scholarships and fellowships for socially and economically disadvantaged sections are some of the measures. For quality enhancement in higher education, launching the National Mission in Education through ICT (NMEICT) and the Low Cost access-cum-Computing Device Aakash, academic and governance reforms and five new path breaking legislations are some of the major initiatives.

Today, we are meeting at a crucial stage when we are at the threshold of the XII Five Year Plan. The spread of education in society is at the foundation of success in today’s globalized world, where the real wealth of a country is not its tangible natural resources but in knowledge; which is the driver of the economic development.

In addition to the Agenda items circulated, we can also discuss other pertinent issues regarding implementation of the RTE Act and Saakshar Bharat, improving the learning outcomes at different educational levels, vocationalisation of education and skill building, quality infusion in secondary schooling. In higher education, emphasis on technology enabled education and deploying outreach programmes for enhancing the utilization of ICT and e-content, research and innovation, collaboration and networking, strengthening State level institutions, demand side management for student facilitation and support, strategies for attracting talent in higher education, addressing gender, regional and social gaps in the growth of higher education through inclusive measures, leveraging private sector investment, language development, book promotion policy. All these issues need substantial inputs from States which are greatly responsible for effective implementation of the policies.

I would urge the State Ministers to consider the tabled agenda items: introduction of a common eligibility examination for higher education in Science and Engineering, the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework (NVEQF), proposed new Community Colleges in the XII Plan, curricular renewal for equitable quality of elementary education and Grievances Redressal under the RTE Act. We would like meaningful discussions on all the agenda items and I would like to give an opportunity to everyone to contribute. I would request each one of you to express your views and pro-actively engage in the deliberations. As we deliberate, the spirit of cooperation in achieving common goals must be the underlined. As I had been saying since 2009, these issues are not about you and us, but they concern the future of the children of our country and we have to work together to improve access to education with equity and quality.”