The Odisha government has constituted a 15-member task force for formulation of State policy and reforming school education system with renewed focus on quality and inclusion.
Recommendation of the task force will help develop a roadmap for the period from 2014 to 2024.
The government has retained P. K. Pattnaik, former additional Chief Secretary of the State, as chairman of the task force. Mr. Pattnaik had earlier headed similar task force constituted in 2001 which submitted its report ‘Vision 2020’ – an agenda for School and Mass Education in 2003.
Primary task of the task force is to examine recommendations of Vision 2020 which were acted upon or partly implemented and recommendations which remained unaddressed. Vision 2020 will, however, be baseline for articulating vision for a system of education with a competitive edge, says the latest notification issued by School and Mass Education department.
“The existing issues and concerns that constitute the critical mass of dissatisfaction and tend to plague the system’s efficiency and effectiveness through a dispassionate and objective gap analysis should be taken into consideration,” it maintains.
The task force has also been assigned to study and analyse non-traditional approaches and innovations tried by non-government organisations and social activists and corporate those exercised autonomy, freedom and flexibility to translate their goals into reality.
The report will consist of two parts – State policy on school and mass education and roadmap for implementation. The State government has asked the task force to submit its report within three months.
The task force will hold regional consultations with appropriate constituencies of stakeholders to capture their voices and views on various aspects of school and mass education.