Premji says no to private education system

Mysuru: India's top philanthropist, Padma Vibhushan awardee and Wipro chairman Azim Premji has advised the state government to clearly define the parameters of school education in its new education policy, which is expected to be announced by the end of this calendar year.
Saying that there should be sustained and consistent efforts to improve public education system, the philanthropist explained that education is a long-term process."I'm hopeful that the new policy is designed for the next 10 years for desired results," he said while delivering a lecture on ‘Improving school education in India' as part of University of Mysore's centenary lecture series at Crawford Hall here on Tuesday.
Premiji felt that public education system, which is the backbone of democracy, should be strengthened and the government should not encourage parallel private education system, unlike in developed countries.
"Many developed countries invest more on building a strong public education system. Private educational institutions are less in emerging countries. But the trend is ‘reverse' in India. Developing parallel private schools is not a solution to address the challenges," he said, adding: "Teachers' training educations system should be improved as many teacher training colleges have become commercial. There is a need to develop capacity of university teachers besides restricting external interference in the education system. Schools and colleges need to improve on many counts, and the government has to create a supportive environment to bring in changes."
"Good education is the one that enables growth and development of children in multiple dimensions," Azim felt.
"About 80% of children still go to government-run schools," he said. Based on his experience in education, Premji highlighted the importance of having good teachers. He strongly emphasized on providing quality public education and the need to revitalize the education system.
This was UoM's sixth centenary lecture programme.
Azim Premiji Foundation, since its inception in 2001, has been focusing on improving quality education in villages. The foundation works in six Indian states, including Karnataka, Bihar and Rajasthan, covering 3.5 lakh schools to help improve learners' performance. Azim Premji University was established under Azim Premji University Act (2010).