NIOS : The Way Forward - The National Institute of Open Schooling

NIOS: The Way Forward / 3
and others who work with their hands. The former are created superior and to
rule while the others are to remain subject and be ruled. For good measure, a
divine sanction was also attributed to this socially engineered caste hierarchy
so that the so-called upper and lower spectrums of society internalized it as
the will and design of God. However, in the last three or four decades of
modern Indian history, this socially ascribed status, this cultural myth, is being
challenged and the sharp borders of this humanly engineered system are
beginning to get broken down, though still at a slow pace.
In the knowledge society that is emerging today, knowledge is the gateway to
quality of life. Access to and availing of knowledge and acquiring competences
for life and living are non-negotiable constituents for national regeneration
and to build a New India according to the integral vision of our Constitution.
Hence, with the rest of the world and following the UN’s mandate, India is
pursuing the goal of universalization of education. For achieving this difficult
goal, it must develop systems and strategies to reach the hitherto unreached.
In India, we identified the following national vision and goals:
The Report of the National Commission on Teacher Education (1983) and
National Review Committee Report (1991) of the National Policy on Education
of 1986 (“Towards an Enlightened and Humane Society”) identified the
following National Goals:
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A United and Secular India
A Modern Nation
A Productive People
A Humane and Caring Society
An Enlightened and Proactive Citizen
The India that is envisioned is the India of the Constitution.
1.1.3 The Education Context
In the current context, good quality education is an essential resource for life
and living. The presence or absence of this resource is the basic divider of
our Indian society today. India had the distinction of its ancient insight that it is
knowledge that liberates us. (gyana marga mukti marga) but knowledge had
remained the prerogative of a few in our Indian society. The unavailability of
this essential resource, namely a good quality education, continues to deprive
the poor of availing of the many benefits of life and living even today. As a
consequence, a significant third of the population is sidelined and marginalized,
while there is such an over-abundance of both knowledge and technology
with the few rich and the powerful.