Working Groups for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012)

Secondary and Vocational Education

Dated 19th June 2006

In the context of the formulation of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), it has been decided to set up a Working Group on Secondary and Vocational Education under the Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

I. Terms of Reference

  1. To review the status of secondary education
  2. To suggest measures for universalizing quality education upto class X and subsequently class XII for all children in the relevant age group who are willing to pursue education upto that stage.
  3. To review existing schemes of secondary and senior secondary education with a view to :
    1. Improving their effectiveness in terms of increased enrolment, improved quality and increased retention,
    2. Suggesting new schemes with focused targeting for increased access and quality secondary and senior secondary education
  4. To suggest measures for bringing girls, SC and ST, OBCs, Minorities, the Disabled and other disadvantaged groups on par with the rest, in the area of Secondary and Vocational Education.
  5. To suggest measures for reducing gender, spatial (rural and urban), social and other disparities, and focus targeting of marginalized groups.
  6. To suggest measures for providing adequate financial and other support to (i) talented and (ii) needy students, so that they are able to realise their full potential, and no one desirous of pursuing Secondary/Vocational Education is deprived of it due to financial and other constraints.
  7. Suggest measures for restructuring of Centre and State Secondary Boards and elimination of unauthorized Boards.
  8. To review the role of existing institutional arrangement which support secondary education, namely, NCERT, Teacher Training Institutes, SCERTs, NIEPA, NIOS with a view to redefine their role to the extent necessary
  9. To assess the financial requirements for existing and proposed schemes and programmes in secondary education for the XI Plan period.
  10. To suggest a long term vision for improving access and quality of secondary education and for re-orienting this to the needs of the coming generation and the knowledge economy.
  11. To define the role of the private sector in providing secondary education in the XI plan, and in the long term, including examination of incentives required for increased contribution of the private sector.
  12. To define the role of open and distance learning in universalizing access and providing education of satisfactory quality to students who cannot pursue formal education.
  13. To suggest measures for improvement of vocational education in the secondary /senior secondary school system and identify which subjects can be included in the curriculum, and which should be excluded.
  14. To examine how best the employees or end users of vocational education can be included in the process.

II. The Composition of the Working Group.

  1. Secretary (S and HE) - Chairman
  2. AS (S and HE)
  3. Director, NCERT
  4. Director, NIEPA
  5. Chairman, CBSE
  6. Joint Secretary (Vocational Education), Department of S and HE, MHRD
  7. Chairman, NIOS
  8. Chairman, NCTE
  9. Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU
  10. Director (Education), Planning Commission
  11. Economic Adviser (P), Department of S and HE, MHRD
  12. Vice-Chancellor, Jamia-Millia University, New Delhi
  13. Joint Director, PSSCIVE, Bhopal
  14. DDG (Trg.), DGE and T, Ministry of Labour
  15. Shri C.K. Mathew, Principal Secretary, Education, Rajasthan
  16. Dr. M.M. Jha, Principal Secretary, Education, Bihar
  17. Chairman, Maharashtra Board of Secondary Education
  18. Prof. Arvind Kumar, Director, Homi Bhabha Center for Secondary Education, Mumbai
  19. Shri Bhau Gawande, Maharashtra State Project Coordinator (Education)
  20. Shri Krishan Khanna, Chairman, i Watch, 305 Olympus, Altamount Road, Mumbai-200026, Fax: 022-23536782; e-mail : krishan[at]vsnl[dot]com
  21. Prof. A. K. Sharma, Former Director, NCERT, A-l 8, Sector-33, Noida, UPs
  22. 5hri Jalaluddin, Rtd. JD, NCERT, C-31-C, Gangotri Apartments, Pocket-C, Alaknanda, New Delhi
  23. Shri Anil Bordia, Chairperson, Foundation for Education and Development C-113, Shivaji Marg, TilakNagar, Jaipur-302004 Phone : 0141-2624820
  24. Shri Anwar Arif Jafri, "Eklavya", Bhopal
  25. Shri Lalit Pande, Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Paryavaran Shiksha Sansthan, Jakhan Devi, Mall Road, Almora-263601; Phone: 91-5962-234430 Email : usnpss[at]sancharnet[dot]in
  26. Dr. Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM
  27. Dr. R. Govinda, Sr. Fellow, NIEPA
  28. Mr. Luis Miranda, President and CEO, IDFC Private Equity Company Limited, 17, Vaswani Mansion, 3r Floor, Dinshaw Vachha Road, Churchgate, Mumbai -400020. Tele No : 91 22 22021413. email : luis[at]idfcpe[dot]com
  29. Joint Secretary (SE) - Member-Secretary

The Chairman of the Working Group may, if deemed necessary, constitute sub-groups and/or co-opt additional members.

The expenditure on TA/DA etc. of the official members in connection with the meetings of the Working Group will be borne by the parent Department/Ministry/ Organization to which the official belongs as per the rules of entitlement applicable to them.

The non-official members of the Working Group will be entitled to TA/DA as permissible to Grade I officers of the Government of India under SR 190(a) and this expenditure will be borne by the Planning Commission.

The Working Group will finalise its report by 30th September, 2006.