A science, education and psychology alum of Delhi University and former principal of Noida’s Army Public School, Dr. Mahesh Prasad was appointed principal of Step by Step School, Noida in 2013. SbS is ranked India’s #1 co-ed day school in the latest EducationWorld India School Rankings 2017-18.

How satisfied are you with the Union Budget 2018-19 allocation of Rs.85,010 crore for education?

The education outlay in 2018-19 has been increased by a mere 3.83 percent over the revised estimate of 2017-18. Our education spending is significantly lower than of other BRICS countries. More than 50 years ago, the Kothari Commission had recommended that the government invest at least 6 percent of GDP in education. Unfortunately, no government till now has mustered the political will to implement this recommendation. Given our poor social and economic indices, an allocation of around Rs.150,000 crore would have been appropriate. 

The Union government proposes to scrap the no detention until class VIII provision of the RTE Act. Are you in favour of this amendment?

It’s unfair to scrap the no detention policy of the RTE Act. Students are not responsible for their academic deficiencies. There are other important contributory factors such as economic deprivation of parents; lack of access to good schools; poor infrastructure of their schools; poor quality of teachers; and the bias against English. Given that all these factors contribute to failure, this proposal to penalise students will lead to massive drop-outs from the school system.

What are your Top 5 suggestions for reforming K-12 education?

• It is axiomatic that the quality of education cannot exceed the quality of teachers. Lateral entry and exit paths for motivated, passionate talent will attract high-quality professionals into the education sector. It is also important that compensation scales of teachers are comprehensively reviewed. 

• The National Education Mission is an umbrella programme expected to strengthen teacher training institutions, appoint language teachers, upgrade school assessment programmes, etc. These laudable objectives need to be boldly supported with sufficient budgetary allocation. 

• Deepen and widen vocational education. The National Skill Development Corporation is a useful platform but it needs more funds and energetic involvement of industry. 

• Create a 21st century education architecture — an Indian Education Service with multi-disciplinary professionals — responsible for framing and implementing education policies.

• Set up residential schools in tribal areas similar to Navodaya schools and establish one B.Ed college in each district of the country.