BLOG 3 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION DAY: QUALITATIVE AS WELL AS QUANTITATIVE EXPANSION

 

 

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION DAY: DEC. 03

QUALITATIVE AS WELL AS QUANTITATIVE EXPANSION

 

            Agricultural Education Day celebrated every year on Dec.03 commemorates with the birth anniversary of first President of Independent India and Union Minister of Agriculture, 'Bharat Ratna', Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The day remembers and acknowledges his contributions in development of agriculture education in India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) decided to celebrate Dec. 03 as Agriculture Education Day to further the interests of the youth in this ancestral and noble profession, to choose 'agriculture' as their professional career, to motivate them to pursue research in agricultural and allied sciences and to become successful agri-preneurs by establishing their own income generating units.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad: The country’s first president was born in the Bengal Presidency of India on December 3, 1884 (now in Bihar). Dr. Rajendra Prasad was an Indian liberation fighter who worked as a lawyer, teacher, and author. From 1950 to 1962, he served as the country's first and longest serving president. During the Indian Independence Movement, Rajendra Prasad joined the Indian National Congress. He rose to become one of Bihar's most powerful politicians and was a staunch supporter of Mahatma Gandhi. He was an ardent participant in the 1931 'Salt Satyagraha' and the 1942 'Quit India Movement.' Along with many other prominent freedom fighters, he was imprisoned. He was a key figure in the creation of the Indian Constitution. In 1962, he received the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. Dr. Rajendra Prasad died on February 28, 1963 after completing the age of 78.

Agricultural Education in the country: Also six decades ago, when the first agricultural university in the country came up at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand in 1960; agricultural education has made huge expansion both quantitatively as well as qualitatively since then. At present, the country has 75 agricultural universities which include 3 Central Agriculture Universities (CAUs), 64 State Agriculture Universities (SAUs), 4 Deemed to be Universities and 4 Central Universities (CUs) with agricultural faculties structured on the Land-Grant pattern of the United States of America integrating teaching, research, and extension. These universities together with ICAR’s 106 institutes and hundreds of other centres comprise the National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES), one of the largest in the world. The NARES, has been the harbinger of the Green, White, Blue and Yellow revolutions, collectively called as the Rainbow Revolution. It has generated the necessary technologies and the human resources that have helped India to transform from a ‘begging bowl’ to ‘food basket’.

NEP 2020: Government has now come up with new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which warrants some changes in basic structure and curriculum of agricultural education in the country. Keeping in mind the broad mandate of NEP 2020 to focus more on multidisciplinary and holistic education, the Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) have to reorient their curriculum, introduce multiple entry and exit levels, go for digital interventions to accommodate Academic Bank of Credits and forge strong partnerships with other HEIs to enable them to transfer credits earned by students from one institute to other. At the same time the teaching and learning have to be made more technology enabled, skill oriented and culturally integrated to make it more inclusive and equity oriented. At the entry level in HEIs, vocational education has to be included. All the reorientation is to give the students flexibility in shifting from one subject to other, to get higher education in the form of certificates/diplomas/degrees and at the same time giving them an opportunity at a later stage of their life to convert their certificates and diploma into degrees. Students will be at liberty to complete their education both in terms of the length of the time as well as choice of courses.

            Increase in GER in agriculture from the present percentage has also to be undertaken. Directives have been enlisted to enhance Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in agricultural universities with at least increase of 10% seats from 2021-22 academic session on annual basis and for this the scores of the common entrance test conducted by ICAR through National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission of the students in all the AUs for UG/PG/PhD may be used by AUs for the admissions. The ICAR is to act as a Professional Standard Setting Body (PSSB) for Agricultural Education in the NEP 2020 entrusted to develop the curricula and lay down academic standards for the agricultural education in the country at par with global standards. One of the reasons for unemployment is because of separation of education from training. This results in a huge pool of qualified graduates who unfortunately do not have the necessary skills so that they can at least set up their income generating units. Skill development through trainings has to be made an inalienable part of the teaching and learning process. Agriculture education has to be leveraged with the necessary skills and competencies to enable youths to set up their own ventures.

         The day is being celebrated by conducting various activities. The activities include awareness programmes, debates and essay competitions, Elocutions, Exhibitions, Interfaces, Quiz Competition, plantation drives, compaigns visits of students and farmers to field and laboratories,

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