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dahiyars
December 12th, 2004, 10:51 PM
Against Commercialisation of education
The enactment of a central legislation to empower state governments to control rampant self-financing institutions is need of the day. Such a legislation is necessary to set right the utter chaos prevailing in the field of private-run higher education in our country today. At present there is no set criterion to regulate fee, mode of admission or the appointment of teachers etc in such institutions. Exorbitant fee is being charged in many institutions, thereby making education out of reach of common students.
Deemed universities which are running various sub-standard courses across our country be brought under government control.
The Supreme Court judgment in the TMA Pai vs State of Karnataka case has resulted in chaos in the arena of higher and professional education. The judgement had ruled against the control of government on the private unaided self-financing institutes. This has given a free hand to the private management’s to decide the mode of admission, the fee to be collected and the appointment of teachers. The private management’s started collecting exorbitant fee and merit was replaced by money in deciding the fate of admissions. Many deserving and qualified students are thus being deprived of their right to education. If the trend towards privatisation of education is not reversed, this rampant commercialisation of education cannot be checked, they stated.

In the field of higher education – the permission given to many private institutions to start deemed universities, it has been observed that many private deemed universities are bereft of infrastructure and fail to maintain the norms required of a university. “Professional institutions are vying to obtain permission to convert their institutions into deemed universities as it further absolves them from social responsibility and government control. This unhealthy trend is ruining the future of thousands of students studying in such sub-standard institutions. All institutes with dubious credentials should be immediately derecognised. The government should take the responsibility of the students studying in these institutes and ensure that they are suitably given admission in other institutes”.

The policies of globalisation and liberalisation being pursued by the government are leading to large-scale privatisation and commercialisation of education in the country thus shutting off entry to students from poor and middle class background, something very urgent and concrete is required:
· To enact a central legislation empowering the state governments to control the unaided self-financing institutions.
· To control the deemed universities
· To halt the process of commercialisation of education

Dr.R.S.Dahiya