
Pressed against time, bureaucrats unhappy with timing of international education summit
The HRD ministry plans to hold a three-day conference from November 27 to 29 at Gandhi Mandir in Gandhinagar, a venue that has been hosting the Vibrant Gujarat summit.
Smriti Irani’s hurried plan of holding the international summit on education has left the bureaucracy in a tizzy as very little time is left for preparation. It has also left the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated education bodies upset for being left out of the grandiose plan for hosting educationists and education ministers from 180 countries.Both are also confused about how an event of this scale be organised in less than four months time. The minister for Human Resource and Development plans to hold the summit in Gujarat in the month of November.<!– Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>The plan to hold a conference was first mooted in February, but the issue was then put in the back burner. It is now at the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office that the ministry has started reworking on the project.The HRD ministry plans to hold a three-day conference from November 27 to 29 at Gandhi Mandir in Gandhinagar, a venue that has been hosting the Vibrant Gujarat summit. Sources in the government informed that the venue was chosen over Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi. As a practice, all international meets take place at Vigyan Bhawan.”It was decided that Gandhi Mandir is better equipped and more experienced in handling seminars of a bigger scale than Vigyan Bhawan,” said an official of the ministry.What has however left both the saffron brigade and the bureaucracy agitated is the pace and the manner in which the things are being pushed. “The meeting is just two months away and till now the agenda of the meeting has not been finalised. We don’t know which countries are participating. We need to set our agenda,” said a functionary of an RSS-affiliated education establishment.The ministry has written to the PMO seeking Modi’s presence on the inauguration day. But it is yet to receive a conformation. It will take at least two weeks for the ministry to create a website for the summit. “We have started writing to the education department of countries apprising them about the event. The details will follow later,” informed a source in the ministry.It will take atleast two weeks for the ministry to launch its website for the meet. “For events like these, details of the program are available on the website and the countries are asked to register there,” added the source.Pressed against time, in a highly unprofessional style, the HRD ministry has decided to write the letter first, just making the countries aware about the event, the details would follow later. After the agenda for the meeting is finalised, Indian missions in foreign capitals will be asked to share the details with these countries.Internationally, November is not considered to be the ideal time of the year for holding these meets. The semester is about to come to an end and academicians remain busy. “Most of the people we interact with internationally have appointments planned a year in advance. We have doubts about the kind of people who will be attending the meet,” said the Sangh functionary. The Sangh sources also informed that there has so far not been consulted in deciding the panel. The tentative agenda suggests that both school and higher education will be discussed in the meeting. India will be sharing its achievements and will try to pick up good education practices from the western countries. Gandhinagar choosen over Vigyan BhavanThe HRD ministry plans to hold a three-day conference from November 27 to 29 at Gandhi Mandir in Gandhinagar, a venue that has been hosting the Vibrant Gujarat summit. Sources in the government informed that the venue was choose over Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi. As a practice all international meets take place at Vigyan Bhawan.