Oppn voices concern over developments of central varsities

Opposition parties today voiced concern over the developments in central universities like JNU and Hyderabad University and regretted that educational institutions have become political arena, which needs to be stopped.
As the House took up discussion on functioning of HRD Ministry, members also voiced concern over the quality of education, saying it is deteriorating.
Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal alleged that students are being targeted in central universities and vice chancellors are being used for it.
"This has never happened before that vice chancellors of central universities are being used to target students. This has happened in JNU, Hyderabad and now in Allahabad," he said.

This is a wrong precedent and needs to be checked, he said, asking "Why are such incidents happening in central universities?"
Agrawal claimed that an RSS leader is said to be running the organisations such as AICTE, which drew strong reaction from the BJP members.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said allegations cannot be levelled against a person who is not present in the House.
At this, Agrawal asked, "Then why were names and allegations levelled in the House yesterday on AgustaWestland?"
He also raised the issue of "rampant corruption" in mid-day meal scheme.
"I want to urge you to check the rampant corruption in the mid-day meal schemes. This is concerning. If we are able to check this, it will help in enhancing the status of primary education in the country," he added.

Agrawal said there is a need to look into the issue that several states have not lifted the share of foodgrains allocated to them for running the scheme.
He suggested that government should set up a recruitment board to fill the vacancies in the universities.
He said that only 3 per cent of GDP is being spent on education. "We need to spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education, as is recommended, so that more and more children can be educated. This will also help is educating them about the population explosion," he added.
Agrawal said the quality of education in the country is deteriorating, which is a worrying trend.

Taking a dig at HRD Minister Smriti Irani, he said: "There is a debate over the degree of HRD Minister, but this issue of fake degrees is dangerous. It has to be checked at the earliest."
He also said the government should bring in a legislation to check cheating by students during exams.
The SP leader said Governors in the states have a control over higher education as it is a Central subject.
Earlier states were consulted while appointing vice chancellors, but now they are not being concluded.
Participating in the debate, Viplove Thakur (Cong)
expressed concern over weak foundation of the country's education especially at primary and elementary level, and urged the government to ensure sufficient number of teachers in schools and other infrastructure facilities.

She said that with mushrooming of colleges, the quality of education has deteriorated. The government should put in place a mechanism to permit those colleges which have all necessary infrastructure to provide higher education.
"You cannot wash your hands saying education is a state subject. You allocate lands for setting up of colleges and universities. There should be some criteria for giving permission for new colleges," she added.
Referring to recent incidents in JNU and Hyderbad University, Thakur said, "The education has become political arena. Don't link students with politics. ...Colleges and universities should not have divisive tactics. Don't disintegrate."

She also said that the history written by well known historians and intellectuals should be not be interpreted in the current context and books banned.
Asking the government to change its mindset, Thakur said, "Save yourself from those who talk divisive tactics. In the name of religion, don't get bad name to the country. Bring new revolution to boost the education sector that will help the country grow."
Harivansh (JD-U) attacked the government for cutting the budget for the HRD Ministry and said the government made big announcements in the Budget 2016 but these cannot be implemented without adequate funds and investment.

The Budget for the education sector to the total GDP has come down to 3.8 per cent in 2015-16 from 4.1 per cent in 2014-15 and 4.67 per cent in 2013-14, he said.
Noting that both primary and secondary education are in bad state due to shortage of teachers and inadequate facilities, Harivansh said except for Kerala, the student- teacher ratio in schools is very low in other states.
Instead of addressing this problem, the government has reduced the budget for teachers training programme this year, he said airing concerns about rising school drop outs.
He alleged that the new IITs have been planned without proper preparation and sought the government to present a white paper on the status of these new intitutes.

Thakur said the government should not interfere in the autonomy of institutes like JNU and appointment of vice chancellors should be made based on talent.
Highlighting various measures taken by the NDA government, Prabhat Jha (BJP) urged the Opposition members to "cooperate and contribute" and not to politicise the issue.
"NDA government does not believe in politicising education. Congress and Opposition charge NDA of saffronisation. But the PM believes only in one religion, that is, Constitution of India," he said.
Sharing about the steps taken in education sector, Jha said that the government is coming out with new National Education Policy, which will change the sector in a big way.

Md Moinul Haque (Trinamool Congress) stressed the need
for quality check of mid-day meals in schools, saying that as many as 280 complaints took place about poisonous and poor quality of meals between 2013 and 2016.
He said it was unfortunate that in one of the cases, even 23 children had died.
He also demanded addressing the issue of dropouts and shortages of teachers.
Haque said that IIM draft bill threatens the autonomous structure of IIMs and referring to JNU episode said "a child must be taught how to think but not what to think."
SC Misra (BSP) said 41 per cent population of India was below 19 years and hence went to schools but sadly 22 million children in the country can not study due to economic onstraints.

The rate of dropout was so high that only 33 per cent children could reach class 12 and said Right To Education Act could not ensure compuslory education to children.
While the condition of government schools was poor, a large number of private schools had closed due to wrong policies, he said and demanded introducing teaching of English in government schools from class I instead of Class VI.
He said there was no dearth of funds for education with the government as every taxpayer paid 1 per cent education cess.
CP Narayanan (CPI-M) said any step to withdraw the mid-day meal scheme would not be good as poor children could be retained only through nutrititive food.
Dileep Kumar Tirkey (BJD) lamented that 10 lakh schoool chilren were going outside the country for education every year which was not good.
He also stressed the need to introduce national sports fitnss programmes in schools and allocating marks for excellence in sports while lamenting that lack of sports activities was forcing children to become victims of diabetes and other serious diseases at a very young age.
Dr K Keshava Rao (TRS) stressed that entire education syllabus of schools needed an overhaul as it was not suited to the needs of the children in India
"If education fails a generation is destroyed," he said and demanded that curriculum of students should include what is relevant in India and not only what is happening in Australia and US.
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Shwait Malik (BJP), in his maiden speech, demanded stern action against such elements raising anti-India sentiment and slogans in campuses. Referring to JNU, he said strict action should be taken against the guilty and no compromise should be done.
He also sought strict supervision of the mid-day meal schemes and asked elected representatives to do vigilant supervision for its effective functioning.
Malik also demanded strict action against private schools carrying out malpractices for exploiting students.
He also lauded the various initiatives taken by the country. He said the country which was once considered as "Vishwa Guru" had been attacked many times and its education system tinkered with.
K P Ramalingham (DMK) said voice must be raised to strengthen the education system. He said there is a need to set up a mechanism to ensure that 25 per cent admissions are done for lower sections of society.
Basawaraj Patil (BJP) suggested bringing vital changes in the education policy that is embedded with country's culture and serve its interests.
He asked the HRD Minister to give a new thought to the country's education policy and sought focus on searching talent among the country's tribals, who have a lot of skills. He also suggested doubling the number of Kendriya, Navodaya and Kasturba Vidyalayas in the country.
Ram Kumar Kashyap (INLD) said despite large number of schools, colleges and universities, the level of education in the country was going down.
Palvai Givardhan Reddy (Cong) and Anil Desai (Shiv Sena) also gave some suggestions for improving and strengthening the education system in the country.