Amartya Sen at the convocation in New Delhi on Monday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, July 4: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen today said the attitude of Jawaharlal Nehru towards primary education was “deeply lamentable” in terms of channelling resources and prioritising.

“Primary education remained neglected ever since Independence…. Nehru’s attitude towards primary education was deeply lamentable,” Sen said while addressing a special convocation of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration where he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

At a media conference that followed the convocation, Sen sought to clarify his views and said he was a great admirer of Nehru.

“I have great respect for Nehru. Nehru had an understanding of primary education and was committed to it. But in terms of channelling resources, priorities or planning, there was a big failure,” he said.

Sen said Japan and Korea had given much importance to primary education by allocating more resources in those days. “It looked like there was no sense of urgency in primary education at that time (in India),” said the economist, who has set up a trust, Pratichi, which focuses on primary education and health for the underprivileged.

Sen applauded Nehru for giving due attention to technical and higher education. “Nehru did a lot for technical and higher education. Those days, the IITs were started,” he said.

Statistics bear out Sen’s views. According to the first five-year plan (1951-56) document, the central government had envisaged an investment of Rs 35.02 crore for the entire education ministry for five years. Of this amount, the allocation for primary education was Rs 12.5 crore while that for technical education was Rs 11.55 crore.

However, in recent years, the allocation for primary education has increased in line with the stress laid by the UPA government. The allocation is Rs 1.84 lakh crore for the eleventh plan (2007-12) and that for higher education and technical education put together is Rs 84,000 crore.

“Recently, schooling is beginning to get the attention it deserves,” Sen said.

The low coverage and low quality of school education in India extract a heavy price in the pattern of economic development, he said.

“The Indian economy may be doing much better than before in many different ways, and yet India is still paying quite a heavy price for having a far less educated general labour force than, say, China,” he said.

Sen, who has agreed to advise the mentor group that will suggest a road map to make Presidency University a centre of excellence, declined to comment on the plans of the group. “You ask Prof Sugata Bose (the chairperson of the mentor group) about it. I am an adviser to the group. I do not know the issues. I cannot comment,” he said.