145;Centre should support Common School System146;

HRD Secretary R P Agrawal, however, said while he did not discourage the idea of a Common School System, a hybrid model8212;where both public and private schools should exist8212;like the one followed in the UK, is something that should be explored.

Agrawal said, 8220;The mission statement should be that every girl in the country should be sent to school. If that happens, every problem in the country can be solved.8221; He spoke of the quality of education being provided at schools and said that there was a need to improve quality parameters. Citing the IIT and IIM example, the HRD Secretary said it was possible for excellence and equity to go hand in hand.

Professor Ved Prakash said that nobody believed that Bihar could take such a bold and innovative step towards education, and now that it has taken a step, the Government should support them.