Education is for SALE!!!!

                                               

"Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man" 

                                                                  -Swami Vivekananda 

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

                                                                                                    -Nelson Mandela

Some important facts about Indian education:

• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to the world. Developed this system some 2500 years back. 
• Takshila was the first university of world established in 700 B.C. 
• Nalanda University, built in 4 AD, was considered to be the honor of ancient Indian system of education as it was one of the best Universities of its time in the subcontinent. 
• India was the country, which invented number system. 
• Trigonometry, algebra and calculus studies were originated in India. 
• India’s first education minister Maulana Azad.

Before starting the article I want to make very clear that “The names of the institutions, persons, concerned authorities are not revealed as my intention is to expose and correct the system not to target individuals.” 

Education in India has been a service of humanity throughout history. In India we have come a long way from Gurukula system (Traditional) to Kulguru (Vice Chancellor) system of education. Western education became ingrained into Indian society with the establishment of the British Raj. 

The various articles of the Indian constitution provide for education as a fundamental right. Right of children to free and compulsory education Act came into force on April 1st 2010. This is a historic day for the people of India as from this day the right to education will be accorded the legal status. 

Education in India falls under the control of both central government and the states, with some responsibilities lying with union and the states having autonomy for others. Education in India is provided by both private and public sectors. 

According to current estimates, 80% of the schools are govt schools the major provider of education. Because of the poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated. A study found that 65% 0f school children in Hyderabad’s slum attend private schools!! 

But Education is on the sale today. Right from the infancy this rat race to produce earning machines starts. The brain washing by the parents starts from the cradle saying “my sweet little baby, you should study well to become a doctor or an engineer to earn allot”! 

What about moral values of education?? 

Education today is an unbalanced growth of modernism. The student who come out of colleges are said to be intellectually absent, uninformed, unmotivated and morally incontinent. They walk away from college in the end with McDonald’s, pizza hut’s educations. This kind of education prepares them only for a life of unhealthy competitions and selfishness. 

This is all because in India education is given into the hands of private managements who mint money through profitable means of business methods. 

The country’s education sector is showing an increase appetite for the dirty money (black money). 

“The major source of unaccounted money is the capitation fee used for getting admission to medical engineering and the professional courses”. – A senior finance ministry official. 

It is estimated that the total money that is illegal collected by the institution in the name of donation by the private management in an academic year is about One Lakh Crore!!! This is approximately equal to the entire Education budget of India. 

While during the financial year 2011-12, the central government of India has allocated Rs 38,957 crores for the department of school education. According to the United Nation Educational, scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO), India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student in the world. 

India’s higher education system is the third largest in the world, after china and the United States. As of 2009, India has 20 central universities, 225 state universities, 130 deemed universities and 33 national institutions. Private higher education is the fastest growing sector of Indian higher Education today, but it is often viewed with suspicion. Besides top rated universities which provide highly competitive world class education to their pupils, India is also home to many universities which have been founded with sole objective of making easy money. 

Some Important Facts!!! 

KAUN BANEGA KARODPATHI? 

When chairman of Medical Council of India Mr.Khetan Desai was arrested, his assets shocked everyone. Houses in Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab more than 100kgs gold, hundreds of crore of cash, share certificates and other assets. This was only a tip of ice berg! Similarly AICTE chairman Mr. Yadav was arrested in Hyderabad on corruption charges whose assets might be a little less than that of Desai’s!! 

CORPORATE COLLEGES: 

The Andhra culture – colleges like Chaitanya and Narayan have branches across the country. They admit only meritious students; such institutions’ financial transactions are worth thousands of crores. It is they who decide the education Minister in Andra Pradesh – Educational Mafia!!! 

THE NUMBER GAME 

Total Engineering Colleges --- 3419, (Govt -184, Private – 3235) 

Total Medical colleges --- 278, (Govt – 123, Private – 153) 

Total Dental Colleges --- 228, (Govt – 31, Private – 197) 

Total MBA Colleges --- 2849, (Govt – 139, Private – 2512). 

LUCKY SON OF WHICH STATE? 

Student must be lucky enough to be born in a particular state not because of its history, culture or heritage but because of its fee structure in professional education! Otherwise how do you account for Rs. 2000 fee for BE in Gujarat while it is Rs. 80,000 in Punjab? 

SIX STIGMAS! 

A parent has to shell out his earnings to pay the capitation six times before his son/daughter gets graduated. 

1. KG classes 2. Primary school 3. High School 4. +2 educations 

5. BE/MBBS 6. Post Graduation. 

SHOPPERS STOP!!! 

The height of commercialisation could be seen now a day in many educational institutions which have become partly stationery shops and garment shops. Students are not allowed to buy shoes, note books, uniforms, laptops, in outside shops, they should purchase in the college only. 

All these painstaking efforts in writing this article are to prevail upon our governments and policy makers to take stock of the situation and accordingly formulate policies to control the situation. 

· Central and state legislation's should be enacted to curb commercialisation of education.

· The state govt should levy the service tax under the regular taxes as imposed on other occupation.

· Single window admission should be followed and a state level CET must be framed in every state.

· Government should take measures to open more number of Govt Medical, Dental, Engineering and Management colleges.

· Government should ensure transparency in every act of private/aided/Govt colleges to avoid malpractices and exploitations.

· Government should bring Centralised admission from +2 and all the above classes to avoid donations.

YOUTH IS THE REVOLUTION

YOUTH IS THE SOLUTION

Let's join hands to route out the corrupt practice of commercialization from the education scenario of our country. 

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       Warm Regards,

       Balaji S

       Member, National Executive Council,

       ABVP, Bangalore.