People's Democracy

Resist Commercialisation Of Education: Buddhadeb

B Prasant

BENGAL chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has issued a rousing call for resisting the erosion of education through its commercialisation. All moves by the private operators to try to pull down the high standards of education in Bengal would be rejected. The state Left Front government shall continue to strive towards further enhancing the level, spread, and depth of the education movement in the state, and at all levels of functioning. Buddhadeb was recently addressing a packed meeting of the Bengal college principals’ council at the industrial township of Barrackpore in north 24 Parganas.

Buddhadeb pointed out that private colleges were coming up like mushrooms all over the country. The concomitant and alarming slide in the level of education itself was quite apparent as ‘short cuts’ were put in place and itinerant compromises were struck with the quality of the lessons imparted. The rich might well ‘buy their way’ into the world of education through the private route. This, however, would not mean that there was any increase or even sustaining of the level of education prevailing.

‘We are not against the investment of non-government capital in education,’ said Buddhadeb who also pointed out that ‘the government alone, too, should not try to take every kind of responsibility in the realm of education.’ The best solution would be a ‘close cooperation between the state and the private sectors with no compromise made with the commercialisation of the process of learning.’

The commercialisation of education would militate from the very beginning against the interests of the pupils, the majority of whom come from the poorer sections of the populace. Today, the number of students who represent financially disadvantaged families has increased in a remarkable way in Bengal where a pro-people and pro-poor Left Front government has been in office for three decades and more.

First generation students have done remarkably well in the examinations of late although they are bereft largely of the economic means to purchase such basic educational tools as books, exercise notebooks, and even school bags, and school dresses. The state LF government has been directly involved in providing all-inclusive scholarships of ample measure to 1700 meritorious students all over the state.

Coming down heavily on the ‘sale of education’ via ‘private tuition’ that teachers indulge themselves in as a lucrative avenue, Buddhadeb said that this was something that ‘had been unthinkable when we were students.’ The reality of a neo-liberal world is that the rich routinely set apart large sums of money for providing ‘special’ private tuition for their kids. The demand for an easy way out is there and so is the supply of ‘private coaching.’

The parents who are financially advantaged would not really care that the amount they spend in getting their wards ‘privately prepared’ is much more than what they have to pay as school fees, especially in government-run institutions. What will the students from the poor families do? It devolves on the moral integrity and commitment to education of the teachers, especially those at work in government-run schools, colleges, and universities, to ensure that no student stands deprived of education in full measure just because of his or her financial handicap.

Buddhadeb assured that many centres of excellence in education would be set up in Bengal. The general standard of education, too, will be brought up further in the days to come. Buddhadeb explained the arguments behind providing autonomy to the two leading and internationally known, Kolkata colleges, Presidency and St Xavier’s. Stressing that the Left Front government has always attached equal importance to the level and spread of education, the Bengal chief minister pointed out that there was need to strengthen the base by attaining 100 per cent literacy.

Buddhadeb recalled that the way towards development of the Third World countries lay through land reforms and mass education. A nation is made strong not by how many nuclear warheads it possesses but by its standard of educational achievements. Buddhadeb regretted that the union government would not be moved to spending at least 6 per cent of the GDP in education, and that this was proving to be a big handicap for the states.

Attending the meeting were CPI(M) MP Tarit Topdar, and madrasah education minister Abdus Sattar.