CBSE can become an international board, especially in Global South: Dharmendra Pradhan

“Recently, I had the chance to interact with a person from Singapore who runs CBSE schools there and in Japan. While CBSE schools in Singapore are for the diaspora, I was surprised to learn about the popularity of the CBSE board and pedagogy in Japan. I was told that mathematics and other subjects’ pedagogy is sought after,” he said.

CBSE, the minister said, “can become an international board, especially for the Global South”. This plan, Pradhan said, had fallen off the track some years ago but has gained traction.

Asked about foreign universities, which are allowed to open their campuses in India as per the National Education Policy (NEP), Pradhan said the UGC is finetuning its norms which will allow such offsite campuses.

On Indian universities opening their campuses abroad, the Minister cryptically replied that some concrete announcements would be made soon.

Pradhan said India’s NEP is being looked at closely by the world. “NEP can become the model for emerging economies,” he said.

“NEP’s insistence on education beyond classrooms is enabling a new generation of entrepreneurs. The emergence of technology has allowed democratisation of education. We are planning for technology-based interventions to help students prepare for the IITJEE and NEET competitive examinations,” he said.

The Academic Bank of Credit, which has been implemented last year, he said would make credits-based scoring go beyond the IITs and IIMs. Also, NEP’s implementation would require consensus between states and centres and overall consensus.

Talking about increased budgetary allocation for education, Pradhan said at present the country spends 4 per cent of its GDP on education. “Yes, we are yet to achieve the 6 per cent of GDP mark as indicated by the NEP. But constraints of resources have also to be looked at,” he said.