Ten educational institutions each in the public and private sectors would be supported to make them world-class, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said today, as Rajya Sabha members expressed concern that Indian institutions did not figure in the global top ranking list.
She also said that national ranking framework was being designed and some standards being set up for Indian institutions, with over 5,000 of them adding themselves to the framework.
Irani said the government has announced in the latest budget that 10 institutions each in the public and private sectors will be supported to make them world class.
Replying to a private member's bill seeking to regulate private professional educational institutions moved by CPI(M) member K K Ragesh, she said "unfortunately, many in this House and across the country will accept that education has become more or less a pursuit of certification and less about pursuit of excellence."
Regarding the exorbitant fees charged particularly by the private engineering and other colleges, she said a regulatory mechanism was already in place to keep a check on such institutions and the issue was being further addressed in the proposed New Education Policy (NEP).
She also said that UGC had last year identified 21 fake universities in the country and a public notice was put up warning students about them.
"Irrespective of us giving strict guidelines, if any violation brought to our notice, the regulator in the state concerned does take action against those institutions. There is a measure already in place," Irani said.
To ensure that technical courses are offered at lower fees for disadvantaged communities, she said the government would launch 'SWAYAM', a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform from the next academic year.
Stating that regulatory powers for technical institutions rested with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), she said the law had provisions to penalise those institutions that charge higher fees than permitted.
She further said that the recommendations of the national fee committee, headed by Justice Sri Krishna, has already been approved by the AICTE.
The Minister said the two regulators - AICTE and UGC, have started "Know Your College" initiative, a mobile app, giving details of registered academic institutions and professionals engaged.
"If any intitution is lying or misleading the public with regard to information, but they have registered with regulators, then the concerned student or citizen or parent can bring it to the notice of the regulator and the regulator takes the appropriate action," she added.
T Subbarami Raddy (Cong), Basawaraj Patil (BJP) and Bhupinder Singh (BJD) also participated in the debate.
Initiating the discussion, Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said
centralisation, commercialisation and communalisation are the running threads of the draft education policy.
"This draft actually contains a prescription for three Cs -- that is centralisation, commercialisation and communalisation. These three Cs are the running thread of this draft if you examine it," Yechury said.
Emphasising the importance of the education policy, he said it defines the manner in which the country is able to realise its full potential.
"54 per cent of our population is below the age of 25 and if this youth is properly nurtured, given proper education and given a healthy life and employment opportunities nobody can stop us from creating a better India than what we have today," Yechury said.
He said the potential cannot be achieved if the country does not have universalisation of education.
Attacking the government for lack of direction in the policy draft, Yechury said it is a complete lift from an RSS document.
"We are in a completely directionless situation today and on top of that comes this education policy...In Indian conditions there is a triangle between which we have to build a balance--quality, quantity and equity how you balance that defines the strenth our education system and its potential," Yechury said.
"In all these three aspects what we see today instead of going in for balance between these three aspects what we have today is unbridled privatisation," he added.
He said 62 per cent of the students currently in higher education were in the private institutions.
"Why are government schools closing? The commercial shops which are coming in the name of education are all pervasive and we have seen what kind of education they are providing," Yechury said.
"You are talking of India emerging as a power, global power, and instread of modernising where are you taking this country," he asked, adding the government is converting study of history into study of Hindu mythology and study of philosophy into Hindu theology.
"The whole structure of administration of higher education, school education, technical education is being revamped in order to centralise it...Which is unacacpetable," Yechury said.
