UPA Intensifies Attacks on Education 2 ..............
SPURIOUS ARGUMENTS:
The first argument of the preachers of neo-liberal dogma is that the education sector would expand with the entry of foreign institutes, followed by improvements in its quality as well. Such an argument is infantile for the simple reason that today private institutes account for one thirds of the higher education sector of our country, and yet there seems to be not much increase in enrolment and not much improvement in quality. Apart from that, we must not forget the counter-argument which institutes like the IIPM have advanced to the government’s move towards rejecting their sub-standard MBA courses. They have claimed that they are outside the university system of the country and hence it is not necessary for them to follow the UGC guidelines. If the private institutes of our own country show such arrogance, one can well imagine what extent their foreign counterparts are likely to go to, in order to pursue their more aggressive agenda. We all know how private institutions in the US violate the laws of the land with impunity. According to the Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2009, “some for-profit schools are already bypassing the bureaucratic roadblocks,” “given the US economy and shrinking endowments, (US) colleges may need incentives from the government of India to be able to afford to open.” In this situation, can we expect from these ‘foreign guests’ anything else?
Education has a definite role in nation-building. Especially in countries like ours, which has a colonial past, this role assumes even more critical importance. People of different nationalities and identities fought together in the liberation struggle and it was while keeping this legacy in view that the independent India’s constitution makers set out the goals of education. Apart from working towards skill development, this education system also struck to an extent against the divisive ideologies of caste, regionalism and communalism and against gender discrimination. It is needless to say that the process of nation building is still far from over. Can this social and welfare agenda as well as nation building be the agenda of these ‘foreign guests’? one can only reply in an emphatic No! For them, it is profit which is the core of their agenda.
Today Australia is one of the major providers of educational services in the world, but it is still engulfed by ‘racism.’ Several thousands of students from our country go every year to study there but, instead of a quality education, what awaits them is humiliation. The message on the wall is clear. Every country has its own cultural characteristics and education reflects them. Hence our education system cannot be a clone of the western ones. How effective are these ‘foreign guests’ then going to be?
FAUDULENT
CLAIM & REALITY
The government has been arguing that the proposed bill would bring foreign education providers of quality to India. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Earlier they tried under the GATS and failed. After they faced the resistance put up by people’s movements, now they pursuing the same goal outside the GATS. As a matter of fact, most of the foreign education providers which are seeking entry in India are substandard institutions in their own countries and will only cater to the professional or vocational courses. We can judge the kind of fraudulent claims in regard to higher education from the fact that of the 144 foreign providers advertising tertiary education in the newspapers, 44 were neither recognised nor accredited in their countries of origin. As many as 110 foreign education providers are already operating in this country without the government’s permission, violating the UGC’s and the AICTE’s guidelines. But no action has so far been taken against them.
Another argument that has been doing the rounds is that every year up to 1,50,000 students go abroad for higher education and this leads to a huge loss of foreign exchange to the country. The claim is thus that with foreign institutes coming to India, a huge sum of money would remain within the country.
Here, one can’t help ask the UPA 2: Is the passage of the bill going to stop the students from going abroad? Certainly not! Those who want to go abroad, will go in any case. The government cannot solve the problems facing our education sector by giving the private Indian and foreign players a free run. What is, instead, required is a significant increase in the government’s spending on education. It is a different matter though that the government has been comfortably neglecting this aspect time and again.
SPURIOUS
ARGUMENTS
The first argument of the preachers of neo-liberal dogma is that the education sector would expand with the entry of foreign institutes, followed by improvements in its quality as well. Such an argument is infantile for the simple reason that today private institutes account for one thirds of the higher education sector of our country, and yet there seems to be not much increase in enrolment and not much improvement in quality. Apart from that, we must not forget the counter-argument which institutes like the IIPM have advanced to the government’s move towards rejecting their sub-standard MBA courses. They have claimed that they are outside the university system of the country and hence it is not necessary for them to follow the UGC guidelines. If the private institutes of our own country show such arrogance, one can well imagine what extent their foreign counterparts are likely to go to, in order to pursue their more aggressive agenda. We all know how private institutions in the US violate the laws of the land with impunity. According to the Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2009, “some for-profit schools are already bypassing the bureaucratic roadblocks,” “given the US economy and shrinking endowments, (US) colleges may need incentives from the government of India to be able to afford to open.” In this situation, can we expect from these ‘foreign guests’ anything else?
Education has a definite role in nation-building. Especially in countries like ours, which has a colonial past, this role assumes even more critical importance. People of different nationalities and identities fought together in the liberation struggle and it was while keeping this legacy in view that the independent India’s constitution makers set out the goals of education. Apart from working towards skill development, this education system also struck to an extent against the divisive ideologies of caste, regionalism and communalism and against gender discrimination. It is needless to say that the process of nation building is still far from over. Can this social and welfare agenda as well as nation building be the agenda of these ‘foreign guests’? one can only reply in an emphatic No! For them, it is profit which is the core of their agenda.
Today Australia is one of the major providers of educational services in the world, but it is still engulfed by ‘racism.’ Several thousands of students from our country go every year to study there but, instead of a quality education, what awaits them is humiliation. The message on the wall is clear. Every country has its own cultural characteristics and education reflects them. Hence our education system cannot be a clone of the western ones. How effective are these ‘foreign guests’ then going to be?
FAUDULENT
CLAIM & REALITY
The government has been arguing that the proposed bill would bring foreign education providers of quality to India. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Earlier they tried under the GATS and failed. After they faced the resistance put up by people’s movements, now they pursuing the same goal outside the GATS. As a matter of fact, most of the foreign education providers which are seeking entry in India are substandard institutions in their own countries and will only cater to the professional or vocational courses. We can judge the kind of fraudulent claims in regard to higher education from the fact that of the 144 foreign providers advertising tertiary education in the newspapers, 44 were neither recognised nor accredited in their countries of origin. As many as 110 foreign education providers are already operating in this country without the government’s permission, violating the UGC’s and the AICTE’s guidelines. But no action has so far been taken against them.
Another argument that has been doing the rounds is that every year up to 1,50,000 students go abroad for higher education and this leads to a huge loss of foreign exchange to the country. The claim is thus that with foreign institutes coming to India, a huge sum of money would remain within the country.
Here, one can’t help ask the UPA 2: Is the passage of the bill going to stop the students from going abroad? Certainly not! Those who want to go abroad, will go in any case. The government cannot solve the problems facing our education sector by giving the private Indian and foreign players a free run. What is, instead, required is a significant increase in the government’s spending on education. It is a different matter though that the government has been comfortably neglecting this aspect time and again.
UPA Intensifies Attacks on Education
CONT. ON......... 3 ..............
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