National

Legislation soon to make education free, compulsory

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 3. The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, today said that the United Progressive Alliance Government would shortly bring in legislation making education free and compulsory.

Addressing a function to mark the birth centenary of the legendary headmaster of the Madras Christian College High School, Kuruvila Jacob, Mr. Chidambaram said over 50 per cent of the children in the country were school dropouts before they completed five years of education.

A million children, especially in Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, did not complete three or four years of schooling every year, he said.

Such dropouts regressed to virtual illiterates after 10 years and they lived up to 65 to 70 years, thanks to the improvement of life expectancy and better medical care, he added.

Dubbing it a "colossal waste of human resources," he said it was a shame that the country, even after 57 years of Independence, was not able to make elementary education universal and compulsory.

He appealed to the people to take a vow on the occasion of the birth centenary of the great visionary, Kuruvila Jacob, to rededicate themselves to the cause of making education up to Standard VIII universal and compulsory.

The Centre had set aside a large amount, besides levying 2 per cent cess, to fund education, Mr. Chidambaram said adding that the noon meal scheme to be implemented at the national level would also support the Government's plan. Though the State legislations in this regard were rarely exercised, the proposed Central legislation would go a long way in achieving the goal of universalisation of education, he hoped.

He described Kuruvila Jacob as a completely secular-minded person, who ensured equal treatment to all students.

`Creative facilitator'

Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, commended the late headmaster for his holistic view of education, taking personal care even in designing the school building.

Referring to poor infrastructure and inadequacy of qualified teachers, he said the country was designing an exclusive satellite for education, which was not available in any other country in the world.

The satellite, taking the regional, linguistic, cultural and socio-economic diversities into account, would bridge the gap in the quality of education, besides being a creative facilitator providing a new dimension to education in all levels, he said.

The former Member, Planning Commission, K. Venkatasubramanian, hailed Kuruvila Jacob as a courageous person, who was known for his discipline.

He was of the view that today's education needed reshaping at all levels. He suggested that a statue of Kuruvila Jacob be installed in the city to perpetuate his memory.

`An institution-builder'

The Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , N. Ram, said Kuruvila Jacob was a visionary with the gift of practicality, which made him an institution-builder. He anchored everything he did in a transparent bundle of values. He revelled in responding to challenges. Strong and clear in his personal faith, he was exceptionally broad-minded, secular, and progressive. A running thread in his career was the knowledge that at the heart of the educational project was the challenge of reconciling the pursuit of excellence and high quality with making the project accessible and affordable to all sections of society, he said.

The Special Adviser to the Prime Minister, M. K. Narayanan, said the late headmaster understood the basic fundamentals of civilised behaviour.

S. Viji, the convener of the Late Kuruvila Jacob Birth Centenary Celebrations Committee, presented the highlights of the `Kuruvila Jacob Initiative for promoting Excellence in School Education.' An audio-visual presentation by Lata Menon and her team was screened. Dr. Kasturirangan released a book titled `Shaping Young Minds: The Kuruvila Jacob Story' authored by Usha Jesudasan. The first copy was received by Mr. Chidambaram. Dr. Venkatasubramanian released the souvenir and the first copy was received by Mr. Narayanan. Convener of the Centenary Committee, K.M. Mammen, proposed a vote of thanks.

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