Education Commission of West Bengal – Terms of Reference
Higher Education, Education Commission
Government of West Bengal
Department of Higher Education
(University Branch)
Bikash Bhavan, Salt Lake, Kolkata-91
No. 992-Edn(U)/1U-96/13 Dated: 01.10.2013
NOTIFICATION
The State Government has been considering, for some time past, the need for setting up an Education Commission to prepare the road map and perspective plans for the State’s education sector.
Now, after careful consideration of the matter, the Governor is pleased to constitute the Education Commission of West Bengal with the following members:
| 1. | Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | Chairman |
| 2. | Dr. Amitava Bose, former Director, I.I.M., Calcutta | Member |
| 3. | Dr. Abu T. Khan, Prof., Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati | Member |
| 4. | Prof. Sanghamitra Banerjee Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata | Member |
| 5. | Dr. John Felix Raj, Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata | Member |
| 6. | Dr. Asokendu Sengupta, Educationist | Member |
| 7. | Dr. Kalyan Rudra, Educationist | Member |
| 8. | Swami Shubhakarananda (Shantanu Maharaj), Ram Krishna Mission, Belur Math | Member |
| 9. | Ms. Susmita Bhattacharya Chatterjee, Former Principal, St. Thomas Girls’ School, Kolkata | Member |
| 10. | Ms. Supti Pande, Mass Education Expert | Member |
| 11. | Ms. Renu Barman (Singha), Educationist | Member |
| 12. | Secretary, Department of Higher Education Government of West Bengal | Member Secretary |
The Terms of Reference of the Commission will be as follows:-
a) To prepare a Road Map/ Vision Document for 2020 and 2030 for the State’s education sector covering elementary, secondary, higher secondary, higher education, mass education, technical and vocational education, non-formal education, madrasah education, with an emphasis on the aspects of expansion, excellence and equity;
b) To suggest innovations in the existing education systems so as to improve the overall standards of education, and to harness the full potential of human resource development in the State, with due emphasis on character building of the State’s youth;
c) To review the courses/ programmes, their syllabi/ curricula and to suggest changes in keeping with the latest trends nationally and internationally, and to suggest changes in the learning appraisal methodologies, with the objective of making education more enjoyable and tension-free;
d) To suggest steps for making education more attuned to the needs of the economy, including forging academia-industry linkages, harnessing the full potential of e-learning through the IT and ITeS;
e) To suggest measures, including financial and other incentives, for attracting private investments in the education sector in order to turn the State into a major educational hub of the country;
f) To appraise the relevance of the existing Acts, rules, regulations and procedures in the education sector, and to suggest improvements;
g) To review the functioning of statutory and other bodies in the education sector, so as to avoid jurisdictional overlaps among multiplicity of bodies, and to synergise them to work seamlessly towards the overall goal;
h) To study the existing system of administrative practices and procedures and to suggest steps to overhaul them for making the structure more dynamic, accountable and result-oriented, through a system of incentives and disincentives, etc.;
i) Any other matter incidental or ancillary to the above objectives which the Commission in its judgement may want to deliberate upon.
The Chairman of the Commission shall have the rank and status of a Minister of State in the State Government;
The Commission may formulate its own procedures.
The Commission may invite subject experts for its meetings. Officials of Government Departments related to the education sector will provide full assistance to the Commission, including submission of data, undertaking studies/ surveys from their end, and preparing reports for the Commission, etc.
The Commission will be provided accommodation, secretarial and other logistics support by the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education.
The Commission shall first submit an interim report within a period of six months of its first sitting, and the final Report within a period of one year, whereupon it shall dissolve.
By order of the Governor,
Sd/- Vivek Kumar
Secretary