CABE to meet on Oct 10

The 62nd meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) will be held on October 10 in New Delhi which is going to discuss and take key decisions. In the 61st meeting, the CABE has decided to develop a National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) which would facilitate the mobility of students in higher education. A panel was constituted to examine the formulation of the framework. The progress of the committee’s work would be reviewed at the meeting.

The Board is likely to take up the issue of implementation of Mid-Day Meal Scheme, which has drawn flak from all quarters. The Bihar incident- where nearly 26 innocent children have died because of food poisoning and the growing number of incidents of children falling ill after eating the food-will be discussed and a mechanism for effective monitoring and supply of healthy food may be evolved.
The CABE will also discuss the implementation of RTE Act in detail and related matters pertaining to best practices in implementation of school sanitation and hygiene education, as also elimination of gender and social gaps in school enrolment and retention.
Another important aspect that is likely to come up for discussion is the setting up of NTA (National Testing Agency) for a common engineering and professional course examination on the lines of SAT.
As the Rasthtriya Uchchatar Siksha Abhikyan (RUSA) got the Union Government’s nod, the CABE will deliberate the ways and means to increase the GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) in Higher Education which is presently 18.1% at national level. “RUSA will also address a major challenge on regional imbalances in higher education. Alongside this scheme, Government will strengthen undergraduate and postgraduate education in colleges. Further, he talked about the reforms to be introduced in higher education and about harnessing technology-enabled learning as an important asset of education. He also discussed development of skills in higher education” government said. The meeting will discuss measures to increase the GER to 25% by 2017, i.e. by the end of 12th plan period.
Other issues such as capacity building for teachers, streamlining distance education system, further expansion, strengthening and fine-tuning of ICT system.