During general
election of 2014, students of our country were hoping for a change in the
policies at the centre because there was great anger against the UPA
government’s policies during the last ten years. New government came to office
on a high note and media was busy in projecting a new era in Indian History.
Our prime Minister on various occasions in his vibrant and imaginary speeches also
promised big changes. Gradually time has passed but nothing has changed on
ground, apart from repetition of speeches and declarations. After this span of
six months public of the country along with students’ community is facing the
heat of the same anti-people policies like the UPA government which are being
pursued with even greater pace by the BJP-led NDA.
Our
Prime minister is mostly busy in foreign visits and state elections. But even
in his busy schedule whenever he finds time he attends parliament to introduce
anti people polices. Generally he loves to do this through ordinance passed in
cabinet without discussing it in the parliament. It suits their ideology as
well as saves them from the discussions and questions of representatives of
largest democracy of world. In the last six months there has not been any
appreciable growth in GDP, problem of price hike remains unaddressed. BJP
government has showed its commitment to foreign finance capital and cap on
foreign direct investment has been increased in defence, insurance, health,
while coal, railways and other sectors are on privatisation agenda as
well.
BJP
is busy to distract the attention of common public from these agendas through
religious polarisation, issues like Love Jehad and Ghar Vapsi. In fact RSS lead
BJP is creating such an environment throughout the country where people are not
able to identify root cause of their sufferings. Leaving aside all present
problems there is an emphasis to glorify our past. For this they are ready to rewrite
history. To hide the weaknesses of our social composition, blame is given to
the invaders or more precisely to other religions. This is the reason when RSS
family is championing the idea that root cause of sufferings of the dalits in
India is the miuslim invaders in our past. Otherwise it is known fact that this
saffron brigade is very much committed to the Chatur Varna and Manu
Samriti.
In
the education sector also BJP government is pursuing the same agenda of
commercialisation. But more dangerously central government is also taking
agenda of communalisation of education very seriously.
State of education
Enrolment levels
are high in primary education covered under Right to Education (i.e. 6 to 14
years), but there is high dropout. 15.9% of boys and 17.3% of girls of age 15
to 16 year olds are currently out of school. 27% students drop out after V, and
41% drop out after VIII. According to the official census of 2011, 8 Crore
children are out of school.
Students who are going to school even those can’t be said to in the right
track of educating themselves. This is reflected buy the achievement level of
students revealed in ‘The Annual Status on education Report 2014’ of NGO
Pratham. According to ASER in 2014, in class III, only a fourth of all children
can read a class II text fluently. This number rises to just under half in
class V. Even in Standard VIII, close to 75% children can read class II level
text (which implies that 25% still cannot).
For
maths also in 2014, at 25.3% of class III children could do a two digit
subtraction. For Standard V children, the ability to do division is 26.1%
in 2014. The percentage of children in class II who still cannot recognize
numbers up to 9 has increased over time, from 11.3% in 2009 to 19.5% in 2014.
In 2014, about 25% of children enrolled in Std V could read simple English
sentences. This number is virtually unchanged since 2009. Std VIII could read
simple sentences in English (2014,) this figure is 46.8%.
In higher
studies Gross enrolment rate is 20.7%. The GER for males (22.1) is higher than
GER for females (19.4), resulting in the gender parity index (GPI) of 0.88.
There are a total of 687 universities across the country, with state public
universities constituting the highest share (44.5%). Out of this 344 are
general universities (55.4% of total), 88 technical universities (14.2%), 68
other universities (11.1%), 38 agricultural universities (6.1%), 29 medical
universities (4.7%) and 18 law universities (2.9%) with all other universities
comprising (5.6%). India has a total of 34,852 colleges (7.7%). Apart from this
there are 11,157 stand-alone institutions. Stand-alone Institutions are those
that are outside the purview of the university & college and they require
recognition from one or other statutory bodies. As can be inferred, the highest
share of enrolment (81.7%) is at under-graduate level, followed by
post-graduate (9.1%) and Diploma (7.6%), with all other levels forming only
1.6%.
If
we analyse this enrolment in relation to our social structure we will find a
different picture. Females are 48.5% of the population of India but their
enrolment as student is only 44.6%. The GER of SCs is 12.2% which are having
19.9% share of population and STs is 4.5% having 8.6% share of population. Same
trend is seen for OBC and Muslim minorities, OBC’s are 42.3% of population
having 30.1% of enrolment and Muslims are 12.9% of population having 7.0% of
enrolment as student. Not only in enrolment as students but as faculty and non
teaching staff, these social differences are reflected. Females are only 39.0%
of teaching and 26.8% of non teaching staff (48.5% of population). SC’s have
6.9% of teaching and 12.4% of non teaching staff. ST’s have 2% of teaching and
3.5 % of non teaching staff. Muslims are 3.1% of teaching and 3.2 % of non
teaching staff (Annual Status of Higher Education of states and UT’s in India,
2014).
New Education Policy of BJP
Our
MHRD minister is continuously campaigning for new education policy. But till
now there has been no discussion on the form and structure of this new
education policy. May be it is being planned in closed doors under the
chairmanship of Dina Nath Batra. But primary indications are conveying that
this so called New Education Policy will only be the extension of old agenda of
privatisation adding a fresh flavour of saffronisation. After the withdrawal of
Four Year Under graduation Programme in Delhi University with active
involvement of UGC and MHRD, there were impression that long struggle of
students and teachers of Delhi University will be successful. Next step this
process was the removal of Vice Chancellor of Delhi University as enough proves
were provided to UGC and MHRD about his financial and administrative corruption
along with his undemocratic style of functioning. But quite amazingly VC has
managed the ministry by pleasing RSS persons through various social functions,
where these RSS functionary were invited as guests. Also it looks like VC has
given commitment to implement the agenda of safronisation of education.
MHRD has taken a U turn on his position and has issued a notice to
universities to strengthen semester system and to implement ‘Choice Based
Credit System’. This CBCS is nothing but the blue print of the provisions of
FYUP to be completed in three years. This reflects the commitment of this
government to the same agenda and withdrawal of FYUP only a political stunt.
The CBCS is only a cafeteria-approach based system which is designed
facilitates “seamless student-mobility” between courses and universities. It is
identical in its course structure to the FYUP (repeat pattern of Foundation,
Core and Elective Courses), except the fourth year. It will lead to continuous
fluctuation and flux in workload, particularly in light of the fact that there
is no proposal to change the rigid workload norms for creating teaching posts.
Basically this system is designed on the basis of American system which runs on
students’ loan and on the shoulders of add-on professors (contractual). This is
only to woo and facilitate the foreign institution in India.
RUSA
Any
discussion education is not complete without the mush problematic campaign
‘RUSA’. There is much discussion on the provisions of RUSA. But the experience
of its implementation has proved our concerns. In the states where it is fully
implemented like Himachal Pradesh and Assam, there a colossal discontentment is
there in student and teaching faculty. whole of the education process right
from class room teaching to evaluation of examination is in pathetic condition.
In Himachal Pradesh students have been awarded scores of 70% without even
appearing in the exams. There are gross irregularities. Numbers of teaching
hours have drastically reduced. There is very less time for co curricular
activities like sports, culture, NCC and NSS. We have already witnesses a broad
based and very strong opposition to this scheme. But BJP government is not
ready to take any lessons and is on the same way of last central government.
Implementation of CBCS is also a step in this direction.
Commercialisation of education
Indian education system is already over commercialised, which is having
adverse impact on the reach of students from poor and middle class. An
important step for commercialisation of education was taken by the last NDA
government when in 2004, just before its electoral defeat, the BJP-led
coalition compromised a constitutional right and offered education as a
consumable commodity to the World Trade Organisation General Agreement on Trade
and Tariff process, thereby drastically diluting the state’s responsibility in
education and opening the door to privatisation.
Presently contrary to the general belief our education system is running
by the private players whose motive is only to cater degrees and earn profits.
There is rampant privatisation of education in India which is replacing the
government education system. It is quite deliberate on the part of successive
governments which provided favourable environment to flourish these private
players and extract huge amounts from the students. Even after the
implementation of Right to Education through long struggles the pace of
privatisation is on increase. This private education is not only commercial but
also unequal as private schools never follows the norms of social justice. This
privatisation is on continuous rise. In the year 2005 there were 17% private
school in rural India. This percentage rouse up to 27% in 2013 and this number
has reached to 30.8% in 2014. Percentage of girls and boys clearly conveys the
impact of privatisation of education on girls. In 2014, in the age group 7-10
years, 35.6% of boys are enrolled in private schools as compared with 27.7% of
girls. For the age group of 11-14 years, 33.5% of boys are in private schools
as compared to 25.9% of girls.
The
pace of privatisation is more rapid in the area of higher studies. More than
half of the students’ enrolled in higher education today are under private
educational institutions. 66% of students in general education and 75-80% in technical
education are enrolled in private, self-financing institutions (Planning
Commission document, 2013). These institutions are taking huge fees from the
students apparently students from the backward and poor sections are not able
to access these institution. These private institutions either in primary
sector or higher education are not ready to implement the provisions of social
justice like reservation. There is no control over the admission process and
fee structure by the governments. Recently in Delhi NCR, court has given
freedom to schools to decide their admission parameters. There is a provision
of admission of economically backward candidates in these schools but it has
become another way for money making. Most of the seats are vacant in the schools.
Commercialization of education has already led to huge distortions in the
educational landscape, both social as well as spatial. Education priorities
cannot be left to vagaries of market forces. Commercialization entails that
quality education becomes synonymous with affordability. The goals of equity
and inclusion, the fundamental pillars of policy making in any democracy, might
be the first casualties if unbridled profit making is instituted as a norm for
the educational institutions in the private sector.
This is a very dangerous condition in a social welfare state where
through different committees it is suggested that fee hike should not be there
but at the same time it is there. One of such recommendation came from Kothari
Commission. It stated, “It is undesirable to regard fees as a source of
revenue. They are the most regressive form of taxation; fall more heavily on
the poorer classes of society and act as an anti-egalitarian force.”
Private
education widens inequalities not only in education, but also in economic and
social spheres. After all, no private institution in India will be ready to
promote equity on a satisfactory level, grant access to the weaker section, or
provide liberal scholarships. Education loans have replaced scholarships in
policy discourses on higher education. It is argued that even needy students
need not be given scholarships; instead, they can be asked to go for education
loans.
Communalisation
of education
Communalisation of education for communalising the whole society is an
integral part of the New Education Policy of Human Resource Development
Minister Smriti Irani as introduced by her in a symposium titled 'Restructuring
of our education system with Bharatiya perspective of values' in Hyderabad.
According to her Indian education policy is not relevant in present time so “a
new education policy is required to build a resurgent nation which would be
stronger, resilient and humane”. This new education policy is much inspired by
the ideological source of RSS i.e. Hitler who believed in the phrase 'catch
them young'. The Nazis lead by Hitler also had done similar experiments with
education system and had changed the entire educational syllabus to pursue
their agenda of racial hatred and Aryan supremacy.
If
we analyse the developments of last six months this intension of RSS/BJP
becomes clear. Much has been discussed about the political commitment of BJP to
this agenda and acceptance by BJP leaders in open and even in parliament.
Using education to corrupt the future generations is an art that Hitler
had perfected with the phrase, 'catch them young'. The Nazis had changed the
entire educational syllabus to pursue their agenda of racial hatred and Aryan
supremacy. It is the same phrase and similar ideology that inspires RSS and BJP
to use education as a tool to indoctrinate the young minds with communal venom.
Leaders of the BJP are on record announcing their intention to change the
textbooks and syllabus. Special incharge for this project is Dinanath Batra,
National President of the RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN).
We are not discussing here Batra’s views and content of books written by him
which are presenting a whole new science and history in front of students with
a specific communal agenda.
In
the last NDA government these kinds of efforts were also there. But present BJP
government is much more aggressive and staunch. Because presently Prime
Minister is heading the comparing and teaching new science not only to general
public but also to the topmost doctors and scientists of India. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, while addressing a group of scientists in Mumbai, claimed that
organ transplantation was known in ancient India-he gave Ganesha with his
elephant head and human torso as an example. Surprisingly nobody was there to
resist the statement. Second example is of 102nd Indian Science Congress in
Mumbai, in front of top most scientists in a symposium on “Ancient Sciences
through Sanskrit” he said that India had jumbo aircraft that flew between
continents and planets 9,000 years ago (some 4,500 years before Harappa and
Mohen Jodaro). Message is very clear, when scientific fraternity can’t resist
all this rubbish, a new science will be taught to young minds which will
gradually convert them into a creature without any rational content and a mere
follower, ready weapon for religious war.
Budget
Education is not priority for any government at centre whether it UPA or
present BJP government. That is reflected by the by the allocation for
education in the successive central and state budgets. The 10% budgetary
allocation and 6% of GDP expenditure on education continues to remain an
elusive dream and tall claims of expansion in terms of numbers fall flat when
we see the actual allocations, which have remained more or less stagnant in the
absolute monetary terms.
Same trend is also followed by the Modi led BJP government in their first
general budget. The UGC has borne the brunt of a serious assault by the
government with a drastic 32% cut even in absolute terms. Even after adding the
allocation for the Rashtriya Uchcha Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) (a problematic
scheme in itself) along with the allocation for the UGC, the fund cut amounts
to nearly 5% in real terms. Technical education has suffered a 12% fund cut in
real terms. Science education and research would suffer as the allocation for
the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research has been cut by 15%.
The direct result of such fund cuts will be the deterioration in the quality of
public education in the country, and can be seen only as a precursor to further
commercialisation and privatisation of education, thus rendering education
inaccessible to the vast majority of students in the country. Even in the
revised budget estimates for year 14-15 government has reduced the funds on
higher education to the extent of Rs. 3900 crore.
Per
student public expenditure on higher education in nominal terms has increased
in the post-independence period but the real expenditure has registered a
negative growth for the period from 1990-91 to 2002-03. States such as Tamil
Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa show consistent increase in
expenditure, while Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh show declining
expenditure.
Democratic rights and Lyngdoh
Political activism of students will always remain an essential part of a
healthy university. University administrations should actively encourage
student participation in university affairs. University faculties need to do
more to cultivate critical and heretical ideas about the world we live in. And
students need to participate actively in asserting their critical role in the
university.
Democratic rights of the students in the campuses are facing a very
serious threat with the onset of the neo-liberal era. The Birla Ambani Report
(2000) and the proposed Model Act for Universities during the tenure of the
BJP-led NDA government viewed students’ unions as an impediment in the path of
implementing the privatisation and commercialisation agenda. In the name of
preserving the academic ethos, they took a stand against elections. Due to
widespread opposition, both these initiatives were eventually dropped.
Lyngdoh committee, in its report submitted on May 23, 2006 upheld the
right of student organisations to work freely among students. It advised
flexibility in the conduct of elections to students’ unions as per the
requirements of different campuses. In fact, the Lyngdoh committee made it
mandatory for all educational institutions, including private ones, to hold
students’ union elections in some form or the other.
However, most educational institutions in our country continue to ignore
these basic recommendations of the Lyngdoh committee. Even at the stage of
preparing its report, the committee anticipated this problem. It felt that
certain state governments prohibit political activity or students’ union
elections and that it would “be prudent for the central government and/or the
Hon’ble Supreme Court to lead the way in the matter, and to impress upon the
concerned state governments the need for a healthy student democracy, and,
consequently, the need to amend any prohibitory statutes that may be in place.”
Unfortunately, no proactive measure has been undertaken by the judiciary or the
central government against the violation of this basic recommendation. Student
union elections are currently held in only few states and 10 central
Universities. Recently elections in Himachal Pradesh University and affiliated
colleges have been banned. Erosion of the democratic rights of teachers and
students has become an indispensable part of the neo-liberal assault on public
education. We have to take this issue of democracy seriously in university
centres. There is also a need to review the recommendations of Lyngdoh
committee itself.
This is the burning situation of Indian education system which is n more
deteriorating in the BJP regime. Being a responsible students’ organisation
it’s our responsible to take the challenge and organise students against these
policies to wage a strong struggle. Keeping this in mind Central Committee of
Students’ Federation of India will be organising a national protest on 26ht
February at Parliament with a slogan “Combat commercialisation and
Communalisation of education- Intensify Struggles”.