The Hindu : Teachers to resist privatisation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 21, 2002

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Teachers to resist privatisation
By Lakshmi Balabrishnan

They have been talking about it for quite some time now. And even if the response from the Government's side remains just as ambiguous as before, the teaching fraternity of the University seems to have made up its mind on coming together and agitating against privatisation and commercialisation of education.

At a press conference held this week to announce a joint march to Parliament by the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO) and the Federation of Central Universities Teachers Organisation (FEDCUTA) on March 6, the topic eventually became the focal point of discussion.

Terming private teaching institutes as teaching shops, the FEDCUTA president, Kamal Mitra Chenoy, remarked that if the present trend of these commercial hubs continued, the

coming days will witness a system predominantly class based. ``Education, specially in a country like India, should be something that everyone can afford. Specially those who are financially not well off, but just as eager to learn. By encouraging private players who work solely on the basis of profit, we are moving towards an elitist education dominated by those with money power.''

Appointment of professors on a contract basis was another issue that teachers feel is of utmost importance. According to teachers from universities in Haryana and the North-East, the contract system has led to the employment of teachers who do not meet the necessary academic requirement but are ready to work for less.

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The joint march to Parliament will, however, also see teachers reiterate the demand for implementation of pay revision in Jharkhand, abolition of dual emoluments for readers, exemption of Ph.Ds from net and revised pay scales for teachers, instructors and accompanists. While urging the government to increase fundings for education to help complete pending projects, the two teachers body pointed out that the shrinking resources have ravaged infrastructural facilities not only denuding libraries and laboratories, but even depriving classrooms in many institutions or the minimal implements necessary for the teaching learning process.

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A delegation of the Nationalist Students Congress today met the Union Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, and demanded that all students appearing for competitive examinations and interviews in distant States be given free rail travel facility on producing the examination admit card.

Some of the other demands put forward by the group include job opportunities in Railways for students by making railway concession available to students for tours, excursions and other educational programmes when travelling a distance below 300 km.

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A workshop on ``Language, Cognition and Brain'' was organised by the Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi in collaboration with the Central Institute of Indian Languages from February 4 to 15.

The first of its kind, the workshop saw experts from the Universities in Germany and the U.S. conduct the classes. ``Naturalism is not just lip service any more. Linguistic theories can now be verified with respect to naturally occurring phenomenon in the brain. Students from outside linguistics participated to advance their research by infusing new techniques and counseling for higher studies,'' believes Dr. Tanmoy Bhattacharya.

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Teachers to resist privatisation