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Commercialising Education- perspectives
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seeking more private investment in higher education, educationists want privatisation to be restricted "to the minimum desirable level."
Also, they have called for a tax on the industry to raise resources for higher education. One of their grouses against privatisation was its market orientation. "Commodification of education may lead to excessive emphasis on skill, employment and corporate-oriented education" at the cost of basic sciences and the vast pool of traditional knowledge, thereby creating an imbalance among various streams of learning.
Another concern was the failure of private institutes to provide access to the marginalised sections.
Commercialisation of education "could also mean marginalisation of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, women and vulnerable sections of society." Though not in as many words, their recommendations dwell on reservation — an issue prised open by the proposed move to reserve seats in all central educational institutions for the Other Backward Classes. "It is important to develop effective and implementable ways of increasing the access of socially marginalised groups as well as more needy students to higher education."
Investments made by schools were in building auditoriums, swimming pools, multimedia/audiovisual rooms and mini-golf courses. Libraries and science labs didn't benefit as much as they could have because you can't demonstrate much in a well-stocked library and, well, only accidents in labs make good photo ops. Emphasis was on recruiting nutritionists and counsellors, on holding personality workshops and ironing out creases where there were none. All this needs good hard cash. Fees couldn't be raised beyond a point. State guidelines suffocated the opening up of additional revenue streams. The stress was on presentation and developing inter-personal skills. No one, the State included, complained about education getting commercialised. Parents were transformed into clients and bringing up children was outsourced to schools. We never questioned the paradigm shift. The much-acclaimed Navodaya schools are an excellent chain, as are the Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas. This is not to say that 'contact' does not work in these schools. But they focus mainly on academics.
Even commercialisation of education is welcome. The poor need education for which there is demand in the market. Commercialisation will provide them with such education.
The budgetary stress on state governments will be much relieved by such a measure. The entire collection of sales tax in most states is being used to merely pay salaries to government teachers.
A cursory look at schools across the country shows that while the 'haves' can access state-of-art learning techniques and facilities, for the 'have nots', especially in rural areas, schools are devoid of even basic infrastructure. The Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE) found that in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, 31 per cent of the primary schools did not have a building and 20 per cent were single-teacher schools.
Nearly 56 per cent did not have potable water and 70 per cent were without toilet facilities and even blackboards.
Interestingly the government itself created a divide among children by introducing a new layer of schooling for select sections euphemistically described as 'pace setting' schools - Navodaya Vidyalayas, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Sainik Schools and other such schemes. Under-qualified and underpaid "para teachers" will impart education to several million first generation learners.
(These are excerpts taken from various articles published or presented in newspapers and news media. I have simply put up a compilation of the diverse thoughts expressed. These are not my words or necessarily my opinion.)
DO WE NEED TO COMMERCIALISE EDUCATION? ARE THERE CONCRETE BENEFITS?
Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seeking more private investment in higher education, educationists want privatisation to be restricted "to the minimum desirable level."
Also, they have called for a tax on the industry to raise resources for higher education. One of their grouses against privatisation was its market orientation. "Commodification of education may lead to excessive emphasis on skill, employment and corporate-oriented education" at the cost of basic sciences and the vast pool of traditional knowledge, thereby creating an imbalance among various streams of learning.
Another concern was the failure of private institutes to provide access to the marginalised sections.
Commercialisation of education "could also mean marginalisation of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, women and vulnerable sections of society." Though not in as many words, their recommendations dwell on reservation — an issue prised open by the proposed move to reserve seats in all central educational institutions for the Other Backward Classes. "It is important to develop effective and implementable ways of increasing the access of socially marginalised groups as well as more needy students to higher education."
Investments made by schools were in building auditoriums, swimming pools, multimedia/audiovisual rooms and mini-golf courses. Libraries and science labs didn't benefit as much as they could have because you can't demonstrate much in a well-stocked library and, well, only accidents in labs make good photo ops. Emphasis was on recruiting nutritionists and counsellors, on holding personality workshops and ironing out creases where there were none. All this needs good hard cash. Fees couldn't be raised beyond a point. State guidelines suffocated the opening up of additional revenue streams. The stress was on presentation and developing inter-personal skills. No one, the State included, complained about education getting commercialised. Parents were transformed into clients and bringing up children was outsourced to schools. We never questioned the paradigm shift. The much-acclaimed Navodaya schools are an excellent chain, as are the Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalayas. This is not to say that 'contact' does not work in these schools. But they focus mainly on academics.
Even commercialisation of education is welcome. The poor need education for which there is demand in the market. Commercialisation will provide them with such education.
The budgetary stress on state governments will be much relieved by such a measure. The entire collection of sales tax in most states is being used to merely pay salaries to government teachers.
A cursory look at schools across the country shows that while the 'haves' can access state-of-art learning techniques and facilities, for the 'have nots', especially in rural areas, schools are devoid of even basic infrastructure. The Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE) found that in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, 31 per cent of the primary schools did not have a building and 20 per cent were single-teacher schools.
Nearly 56 per cent did not have potable water and 70 per cent were without toilet facilities and even blackboards.
Interestingly the government itself created a divide among children by introducing a new layer of schooling for select sections euphemistically described as 'pace setting' schools - Navodaya Vidyalayas, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Sainik Schools and other such schemes. Under-qualified and underpaid "para teachers" will impart education to several million first generation learners.
(These are excerpts taken from various articles published or presented in newspapers and news media. I have simply put up a compilation of the diverse thoughts expressed. These are not my words or necessarily my opinion.)
DO WE NEED TO COMMERCIALISE EDUCATION? ARE THERE CONCRETE BENEFITS?
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