The topic for next week's forum which is to appear on Saturday is:

Syed Zia Ul Hasan Naqvi: Education standards within India are different from place to place & state to state on account of many education boards (up to 12th) in the country.

In our country uniformity of educational standard should be maintained at any cost and disparity in it should be removed. Because of disparity in educational standards students are the worst sufferers particularly when they apply for admission in a university of a different state in India or when they appear in an interview for employment they don't get chance for admission and employment for instance when we compare the education standards of MP higher secondary board with that of Maharastra state higher secondary board we notice a sea change in their standards.

Government should cross the Rubicon to proscribe so many education boards and endeavour to establish only one education board up to 12th standard and eke out uniformity in education standards all over the country. In this way students can have equal opportunities for their higher education and careers. One board is definitely in the interest of students so it should start soon for bringing uniformity of education standard in our country.

Sushmita Shrivastava: No there should not be a single board for students up to standard XII, as the level of education and the manner of teaching is different in all the states. India is a vast country extending from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. People speak different languages. People of some states are very good in English, others are weak. They have different levels of intelligence, different talents. Some states are backward, some are poor. Children of such states will be at a disadvantage if they are asked to compete with children of advance and richer states.

Then there are states like MP where good teachers are hard to get. Teachers here make the foundation of children weak as they themselves do not understand the children's books. Then what will they teach to the children? In such a scenario we cannot think of a single board since we cannot maintain same standard of education and cannot provide same facilities to children in all states.

Anshul Gupta: This is a real serious issue and students of Madhya Pradesh Board are at double disadvantage first because of being from Madhya Pradesh and secondly because being from State board. It is no secret that south Indian state boards and CBSE, ICSE are high scoring boards and 98-99% is not unheard of while in Madhya Pradesh board merit list of class X and XII starts from 92-93% and ends around 89% which is pretty average for other boards. Students suffer while competing for admission to all India colleges where weightage is given to one's class X and XII marks (as this author has).

Moreover various companies recruiting and government departments while giving weightage to board marks don't pay attention to relative marks in boards and compare everyone on same scale.

It is high time that MP Board of Secondary Education takes some step in this direction and change marking pattern of its exams.

Sarad Damodaran: From ancient times human beings have been concerned about the purity of substances. When it comes to the purity of gold, we searched for the hallmark of ISI and if it was the case of toothpaste, we have searched for the hallmark of the Indian Dental Association.

The world has changed a lot. Today education has such hallmarks as the State Boards, CBSE and IUPAC. These hallmarks have created lot of differences between the weak and intelligent students or between the rich and the poor students.

When a weak student of CBSE joins MP Board, he scores at least passing marks, it's quite understandable that the student is weak. But, when a student of MP Board gains above 90pc by dint of his hard work, he/she is teased by saying that if he/she would have been in CBSE, then they would not have scored more than 60pc, is this not a wrong thinking in the minds of the people? If a CBSE student talks good English, then the State Boards too provide the students with better opportunities in regional languages.

When parents are transferred to other states their wards too have to change schools; As a result the education pattern too may change. Language problem may crop up.

In order to avoid any problems to the students, there is urgent need to create a common education board which should have same study material irrespective of states. Regional language may be included in their studies.

Ashish Soni: Yes, in my opinion it is the requirement of the time that there should be a single board for students up to Std XII. This step would bring similarity in education. If there are many education boards there would be a situation of confusion for the students as to which education board to opt for. And, if this problem is solved, then next question is, what is the utility of so many education boards as they are only creating differences in imparting of education. We see in present context that job providers opt the best students from best schools/universities or colleges or boards. It is a well-known fact, if there are many education boards, one among them would be best and the students passing out from such a board would secure jobs on priority than others. Practically, we can see this condition in MP. Students of CBSE are preferred everywhere -whether it is a job sector or college or any other institution as the Central Board of Secondary Education has created a different and a good image in education and in the teaching field.

In a single Education Board system the Government can also make effective efforts to improve the quality of education. Both, Central and the State Governments can made joint efforts for this.

Satish K Singh: As we know too many cooks spoil the broth. Similarly too many educational boards are creating great confusion among students and are also spoiling the career as well as future of the children. In our country a number of schools are running in rural areas where there is no syllabus even. The schools are not affiliated to any boards as well. Children who come out from such schools find themselves confused.

Every state in our country has its own education board. At Centre, two or three education boards are running. Besides, the minority communities have their own boards. In short the students are totally confused.

If students of all the boards come on one platform they would not be able to communicate with one another. Moreover if you want to get government job, the pattern of examination would be different in different states.

It is high time to change our present education system in the interest of the student community. There is also need to adopt a practical approach to education. Unless education gives us confidence, and a clear vision, there would be little chance of any profound, long term change in the society. Children should not remain merely passive recipients of development benefits, but should also actively participate in development as planners, monitors and evaluators. A single education board up to Std XII would go a long way in meeting these requirements.

Dr Suram Singh Verma: Taking into consideration the self-made rules & regulations, pleasing and always fluctuating policies at different levels towards the marginalization of education system and thus, from national interest it is good to have a Central governing body for school education with due importance to regional educational requirements.

It will be a good step towards bringing government school system at par with private schools in terms of syllabi and examination standard throughout the country but finally who will be the loser is a well-known fact. However, education at present has just come to the level of attending a school and nothing else in case of acquiring knowledge and skills.

Moreover, it has very less relevance with the career of the candidate as the career and job opportunities in the country are totally biased & manipulated and have nothing to do with education. At present also, there are some national level education boards (CBSE & IBSE etc) but the effect of these boards towards improving the level of knowledge imparting in school education instead of improving is declining day by day due to their liberal attitude towards education.

Amrita Soni: Yes, there should be a single Education Board for students up to Std XII. For example presently we are having Central Board of Secondary Education and MP Board of Secondary Education.

On the one hand we see that CBSE has a high standard and quality syllabus and students who have qualified secondary education from CBSE can easily face competitive exams, but students of MP Board can't face so easily. What's the reason behind it?

The reason is only that we have categorized the students. CBSE course allows only those students who fulfill its qualification, requirements, but students who are comparatively weak in studies can't get admissions in CBSE schools. This has resulted in categorization of students. If we peep into the past, we see that an average student of MP Board doesn't have more chances than CBSE students in any field, whether it is corporate sector, Govt. Sector or Private Sector.

Reason behind is only that each sector likes to recruit highly qualified candidates. So it is necessary in the present context that there should be only one Education Board. This would create only qualified students. If any student is weak in studies, he or she would have to work hard to pass and there would be no shortcut of success. This would also result in a fair competition, as no one would be selected for their education from any special board or university.

K Rajesh: Indian education is constantly in a move to catch up with the globalized education standards. The parameters of education are being adjusted to suit to the global trends. As more and more windows of opportunities are opened up to the students, the need to mould themselves to the demand side is creating a challenge to the education system. Today's education system is market-oriented. The basic fundamentals of demand and supply have become a pivot around which the whole policy revolves. Now, it is the market, which decides where the education should focus. Everyday new courses are evolved to meet the requirements of employers. Some of the state governments have included call centre training courses to cater to the BPO sector.

In this context, a single education Board for students up to Standard XII is highly recommended as it would bring out uniformity in the system and can better prepare the students to take up the future challenges. Moreover, it would create a single platform for the educationists to formulate curriculum on broad consensus to provide a level playing field for the student community. It would help them to crack the competitive exams to enter the stream of professional courses. At present, when there is more than one board, a switchover from one to another creates a gap, which would leave the students vulnerable to the tough competitive level of professional courses. Not only a dynamic approach is required but also a complete overhaul is required to check the depleting standards. A single education board can effectively innovate and meet up the requirements of the market. Earlier, the competition was at national level, but now it is global. But the vital question is whether such a system would help the marginalized section that is at a nascent stage to raise them to the global standard. Unless a unified approach is adopted at the grassroot level, the benefit will not percolate to the marginalized section.

RJ Khurana: The issue is one of maintaining high standards of academics and not of one, two or three Boards for XII standard examinations. If the number of students is very large more Boards may be set up to ensure uniform testing standards and compilation of results.

Presently quality has taken a back seat and secondary education has fallen in the hands of politically contaminated inefficient and incompetent hands who fill up most important positions. The results are before everyone to see. Irregularities and bungling have become the order of the day.

If this trend continues and the secondary education is not swept clean of corrupt, unacademic, self-servers, things will further deteriorate and a day will come when the entire system falls apart.

Krishna Chander Mouli: Yes. Single Education Board system would be ideal, not only for XII standard but at the primary and middle levels too, though the CBSE has exempted up to X standard from the Board. This system will have many advantages provided the syllabus is designed with a national character and is strictly enforced in all public, private, ethnic and other religious academies as well as a National Education Policy.

Firstly this system will facilitate one medium of communication-preferably either Hindi or English all over the country. Activists of South's regional languages need not get agitated at this prospect because if one of the south Indian languages is to be made a medium of learning, at least 30 other states will first of all have to learn it whereas in the case of Hindi or English the language is already widely spoken, written and understood. Secondly there will be similarity in the subjects being taught anywhere in the country. There can always be one or two subjects on the regional aspects, like language, history and culture-all encompassing- so that every student is adequately exposed to his own region and his roots too. For a country like India with so many linguistic, cultural and historic diversities such exposure is essential.

If there is one Board, every time a family is shifted from one corner of the country to another corner, their children will have no problem in admission as well as the syllabus. The politicians even if they are in treasury benches will not be able to meddle with the syllabus in introducing their whims, fancies, and idiosyncracies like it is happening now. With the BJP introducing all and sundry about so called Hindutwa and Congress introducing all illogical trash in the name of so called secularism confusing the whole lot of academic community including the students and their parents/guardians. If the Single Board system is introduced the lip service of unity in diversity will then be taking a real shape. Single Education Board system will not only stand out as a milestone in the academic pathway but also be a landmark policy decision in making education rich by socio-cultural-historical diversities. This will further pave way for the smooth integration of all the ethnic and linguistic societies thus strengthening the National unity enabling us to become knowledgeable and skillful to combat all challenges successfully.

RK Kutty: I think time is apt now to think on such lines. Perhaps no leading educationist in the northern part of this country ever thought of the need of imparting a bilingual educational programme from the lower primary level up to Std XII whereby giving more thrust to English as a compulsory language. Today, if the pupils from the south of the Vindhyas are excelling in divergent fields, one of the main reasons for that is imparting of the bilingual formula there. I am very specific about the wonderful educational reform format introduced in Kerala way back in between the 50s and 60s when a sort of three language formula `English, Malayalam and Hindi (International, Regional and the National language)'. That is the reason; people from Kerala were in great demand in northern India, immediately after independence and the subsequent formation of various states.

Now even if the Centre or the States plan to reintroduce the compulsory two-language (English & Hindi) or the Kerala model of three-language (one regional language), the problem is that of getting that much number of teachers who can take the English classes throughout the country, as it is almost dried up. Apart from that, the sorry state of affairs in Government (both Centre and states) run schools and colleges is another problem area. Most of them are in a sad state of degradation. Of late, even the most conservative and fundamentalist ideologues of the Muslim community too started feeling that they suffered great loss by keeping a larger majority of their community deprived of the English education. Now that when the government of India too is very active in bringing up the minorities (particularly the Muslims by giving them reservations in all sectors- courtesy the Sachhar Committee report), it is well thought of to have single Education Board for students up to Class XII, so that the coming generation can at least catch up with the fast changing situations on a global basis and withstand it holding up their head and shoulder together. Better late than never.

Dr Visal A Khan: There may be a number of boards according to provinces, but the pattern or syllabus must be common, and should be designed keeping in view the vocational education to prepare skilled work force in middle level in one or more group of occupations trade or job after matriculation at 10+2 stage of education. The objective of the course should be to enhance individual employability and to provide an alternative for those pursuing higher education. It is a distinct stream intended to prepare students for identified occupations. The subjects to be studied may be brought under three parts. English & General regional language, Foundation Course, Vocational Subjects (Theory & Practical), Optional subjects (PCM, PCB, Commerce).

The Central Department of Vocational Higher Secondary Education should control all boards to conduct two- year vocational courses at the Higher Secondary level leading to the award of the "Certificate in Vocational Higher Secondary Education" in the concerned discipline. The courses may be conducted in selected Government Higher Schools/High Schools. Each institution may give admission to 25 candidates in one course. A marginal increase not exceeding 20% seats in a course may be sanctioned subject to availability of facilities, demand from the local public and without any additional financial commitment.

Candidates with Vocational Higher Secondary qualification may be made eligible to appear for the Entrance Examination if otherwise eligible. The certificates obtained after studying PCM, PCB, Commerce, may be made be equivalent to Pre-Degree of the Universities, have also recognized these courses as equivalent 10+2 certificates. The Government must exempt pass outs from producing migration certificates while seeking admission for higher studies in various Universities in the other states. The common pattern of education up to XII will facilitate not only the employees of Central Govt but to various universities of India and will generate self-employment perspectives.

are: First Debashish Mukherjee , Second K Rajesh , Third Sharjeel Khan.