A petition has been filed in the SC seeking uniform education across the country.
Even as the issue of Universal Civil Code (UCC) is gaining momentum, a new demand for uniform education system has come up. The system will have common syllabus and curriculum for all children in the age group of 6-14 years.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking uniform education across the country. The plea has been filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeking directions from the apex court to look into the feasibility of establishing “One Nation One Education Board” by merging the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Board and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Upadhyay, in his petition, has also urged the Supreme Court to ascertain the feasibility of constituting a National Education Council, on the lines of the GST Council, or National Education Commission to implement the uniform education system. The petition says that the Centre and states have not taken suitable steps to introduce uniform education system having common syllabus and common curriculum in spirit of Article 21-A (free and compulsory education).
“Uniform education system having common syllabus and curriculum up to secondary level, has many benefits. First of all, it will ensure equal opportunity to all students throughout territory of India in spirit of Articles 14-16. It will promote fraternity, unity and national integration among students of different education boards. It will curtail the menace of linguism and regionalism as well as the feeling of being rich or poor. Also, it will ensure that all the students have a level playing field for what they aspire to be,” said Upadhyay.
Even as the matter is under the SC’s scrutiny, there are voices against any such proposal. Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Kulbhushan Sharma, president, National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA), said: “Instead of ‘one nation, one board’, we should be talking about ‘choice of board’. While the state government should give recognition to the schools, parents and schools should have the choice to choose the board. A centralised board, as proposed in the petition, will only promote corruption and government control which will not be good for the students. Already, the existing boards are not fully autonomous and are controlled by the government. One nation, one board will further monopolize the education system.” According to the petition, children may not be able to exercise their fundamental right under Article 21A unless the Centre and states provide value-based uniform education. It also urges the Court to ascertain the feasibility of introducing a standard textbook having chapters on fundamental rights, duties, directive principles and the golden goals set out in the Preamble, and make its study compulsory for all the children aged 6-14 years throughout India.
“It clearly appears from the last 10 years’ data that even though children of 6-14 years age group are pursuing free and compulsory education under RTE Act, the students of the State-funded public schools, particularly, State-funded minority schools do not appear fairly well and at ease with the children of the same age group and same classes pursuing their studies in the CBSE affiliated convent and private schools. Therefore, value-based uniform education having common syllabus and common curriculum is the need of the day,” said Upadhyay.
He said in his petition that the State board students are not equipped to compete with the students of CBSE-affiliated schools. Even this disparity cannot be fully removed, but the Centre can establish a standardized entrance system for college and university aspirants, the petition added.