The Hindu : Subsidies in higher education ought to go, says PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 29, 2002

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Subsidies in higher education ought to go, says PM

By Our Special Correspondent

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, being welcomed by the UGC Chairman, Arun Nigavekar, at the UGC Golden Jubilee function in New Delhi on Saturday. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI DEC. 28. Advocating far-reaching reforms in higher education, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said subsidies in higher education ought to make way for a system wherein the rich paid for education so that it became more accessible to the poor through the ``merit-cum-means'' scholarships or educational loans.

Inaugurating the golden jubilee celebrations of the University Grants Commission here, Mr. Vajpayee said that unless the rich — who spent more on private tuition and pocket money than on college fees — were made to pay fair value for education,'' how can we make it widely available to the poor''. And, to generate resources for higher education, he said the scope of public-private partnership ought to be expanded.

The fee structure apart, the Prime Minister made out a strong case for administrative reforms and greater discipline within the teaching community. Lamenting that vice-chancellors and principals were pre-occupied with administrative issues, he urged the university community to learn from the ``best practices abroad in management of higher education''.

Evidently upset with the ``atmosphere of indiscipline and non-seriousness that pervades many college and university campuses'', Mr. Vajpayee said that quality education was not merely a product of greater resources and better facilities. Calling for serious introspection, he said: ``If teachers do not show a sense of purpose and commitment, if they do not set — and demand — high standards for the pursuit of academic excellence, how can they expect students to behave differently?''

Earlier, in his address, the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, said the combined access parameter of formal and non-formal education in the country was 6.9 while in the developed countries it was in the range of 30 to 55. During the Tenth Plan, efforts would be made to reach a combined access parameter of 10 which would still be far short of that of the developed world.

The function saw the release of ``Indian Universities Technology Database'' which showcases the emerging technologies and potential researchers from Indian universities, activation of the UGC Information Network, inauguration of the Inter-University Centre for International Studies, Hyderabad, and the laying of the foundation stone for a new UGC campus; the last two were done by remote control.

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