By TCN News,
New Delhi: Campus Front of India has expressed its concerns at the new education policy of the central government, terming it a way toward union government’s monopoly on education with states having little stake. Education is currently in the Concurrent List but newly announced National Commission for Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010 will gradually take away the authority of states, said Campus Front General Secretary Md Anisujjaman.
Last month during the current session of the parliament the Central government has announced to setup a new panel for Higher Education. It was announced by Mr. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for HRD as ‘National Commission for Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010. It is the neo-liberal assault on Indian Education System. The nature of the Commission is against the federal principle of our nation. As per the Commission, all of the Higher Education system will come under one umbrella. The centre will only be the deciding authority. No State governments can interfere into the power of the centre, he said.
Already, the higher education was in the State List. But, after emergency, it was shifted to the Concurrent List. Even the education is in the Concurrent List, the State governments can be mere silent spectators. They can’t do anything after a certain limit. If any student is affected by the private institutes in the level of higher education, in their States, in which immediate action is required, nothing can be done by the respective States.
“Campus Front of India feels that the new education policy is the assault on Indian higher education system by the neo-liberal interests of the ruling class. We feel that setting up National Commission for Higher Education is nothing but the tactics of the Centre to shift the education from the Concurrent List to Union List.”
“Inviting foreign universities with red carpet will further increase the commercialization of education. Foreign universities are not coming to provide free educational service for the rural or poor students. They are bringing the education as a commodity for sale. We should be aware of it. We demand for radical changes in education, in favour of downtrodden sections of society, who constitutes the majority of the nation,” Campus Front leader said.