The Hindu : CPI flays Centre's education policy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 17, 2003

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CPI flays Centre's education policy

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 16. The Communist Party of India has charged the Centre with putting in place policies on education even before the WTO's September meet on General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiations, which includes health and other service sectors in its agenda.

Referring to the `steep rise' in the fee structure in higher education, specially in professional colleges, the CPI's National Council has observed that "privatisation and commercialisation of education as proposed by the Birla-Ambani report is now being put in practice with such vigour, practically all over the country, that thousands and lakhs of full-time teaching and auxiliary posts are becoming redundant.''

In a resolution adopted at its recent meeting, the party said para-teachers and unqualified contract teachers were being appointed and that the fee increase varies from 10 to 30 times.

"The regressive steps to withdraw free education to girls up to graduation are being taken — as in the case of Punjab. The withdrawal of State from the responsibility of providing education is on the anvil,'' it said.

The policy of exclusion of not only weaker sections, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes is being pursued aggressively, and the middle class in general has been severely hit with this rise in fee and other educational expenses.

The changes in fee structure in professional colleges are unprecedented. The proposed fee rise in engineering and medical colleges in the government sector in unpaid seats was five to 10 times, which has been halted in many States after stiff opposition from the people, it said.

But the decision of the Supreme Court to allow to abolish any unpaid seat in private colleges of engineering and medical studies has "come as a big setback'' to the lower and middle classes, the resolution said, adding that the latest judgment of the apex court has "bolstered the private entrepreneur lobby in the field of education. The party said after this judgment the Government was permitting to not only open up many more colleges in the private sector but was also pushing its agenda of privatising existing Government colleges. This trend would soon result in private colleges overtaking the Government-run colleges''.

The impact of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation on education has been "so severe in India today that quality education, especially in professional courses has gone out of reach of students from poor and the middle class and is becoming the exclusive privilege of the elite and the affluent."

"This is bound to not only strengthen the policy of exclusion of a vast majority of people from higher education in professional courses but would have a very negative social impact, and will also worsen the already deteriorating public health system,'' the CPI warned.

Opposing the opening up of new private colleges, the CPI demanded that the Government bring forward a law for fixing unpaid seats in these colleges, rollback rise in fee to reasonable levels and stop the practice of capitation fee.

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