TN gears up to improve enrolment ratio

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is planning to improve the gross enrolment ratio (GER), a statistical measure used in the education sector to determine the number of students enrolled, for higher education, from 16 per cent to 25 per cent.State Planning Commission member E Balagurusamy on Saturday told Express that in order to attain the target, the commission will focus on improving quality of education in schools and colleges.The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), describes ‘Gross Enrolment Ratio’ as the total enrolment “in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the official age group corresponding to this level of education.”“The expansion should focus on quality, because quality improves employability. Developing the skills of the students is also important,” said Balagurusamy on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s School Excellence Conclave on ‘Quality Education: Managing Next Gen Classrooms’.The Planning Commission will submit its report to the state government before March next year. “Public consultation is going on and a report will be prepared in the month of January or February next year,” he said.Earlier delivering the inaugural address of the conclave, Balagurusamy hit out at the rote learning system in Indian education. Marks should not be the only criteria to judge the quality of a student. His ability to think should also be analysed.He pointed out that the teacher’s role is to make the students think and question. “A mediocre teacher reads or writes on the board, a good teacher explains, a very good teacher demonstrates and an outstanding teacher inspires,” he said.Balaguruswamy said youth should have the courage to challenge the teacher as well as the people so that they can bring in change and teachers should promote such qualities among them.Dr N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Task Force on Education, CII-Tamil Nadu State Council and Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Take Solutions and A Senthil Kumaran, Principal Counsellor - Education Excellence, CII Institute of Quality were also present on the occasion.