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Gulbarga: Wipro Corporation Chairman Azim Premji has stressed the critical need to ensure quality education for all the children.

He was speaking after presenting awards to the winning schools under the ‘Learning Guarantee Programme’ in the City on Saturday. The programme is a joint venture of Azim Premji Foundation and the State government.

Mr Premji said, providing quality elementary education to all should be paramount. In a country that has millions of children who have been deprived of education on the basis of caste, creed, gender and socio-economic backwardness, it has become supremely important to demonstrate this quality.

He said, “today, we are poised to a very unique opportunity. Almost every economist, industry expert, business person and all are expressing, that by the year 2020, India could be one of the two superpowers in the world, in terms of contribution to the world GDP by having a largest talent pool”.

However, he pointed out that, this dream would not materialise if education is not ensured to all the children. The new bill on compulsory education takes a view of education and talks about all round development of the child, including aspects such as intellectual, physical, psychomotor, ethical, socio-cultural, attitudes and values.

Towards this, Mr Premji said, the Learning Guarantee Programme has made a beginning in measuring some cognitive aspects of learning.

Through this, it would be possible to create accountability for education and learning among school teachers, members of the schools development and management committees (SDMCs) and the children.

Most important, he added, this was most required in a resource starved country like India. Once the teachers and others make up their mind, anything could be achieved, he pointed out.

Mr Premji pointed out that through the programme, they had come to know that more and more schools and parents were willing to take accountability for their children's education. It had also shown the vital role the headmaster, teachers and the members of the SDMCs could play in improving learning.

In education of this nature, caring for children and feeling responsible for the holistic progress of every child would form the basis for all decisions. “Such education should invest in teacher development, better assessment systems, community participation and in a culture built on the imperative of the learner,” he added.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister B K Chandrashekhar, MLC Sashil Namoshi and M R Tanga and others were present on the occasion.

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