PaRCha - JNU - AISA chits - 2010 ID-10917

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Agenda for Higher Education - Scripted by Whom, in Whose Interests?.

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The UPA-II regime and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal have a whole range of neoliberal prescriptions waiting to transform the very.

fabric of higher education in India. Which forces are scripting these changes?.

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The Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative and the Indo-US Business Council's `Higher Education Mission to India'.

are indications of the US eagerness that India deregulate education and allow foreign players to tap the Indian education.

market. This market, according to ASSOCHAM's estimates, stands at $25 billion and is projected to reach $50 billion by 2015..

Echoing the US diktat, Sam Pitroda, adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on innovation and infrastructure has recom-.

mended that we "do to our education what we did to our economy" in the 1990s - i.e deregulate, withdraw state support and.

let the market have a free hand..

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Ironically in the US itself (as in other advanced capitalist countries like the UK, which are preaching that India liberalise ed-.

ucation and economy), teachers and students have been on the war path protesting against the massive fund cuts and fee.

hikes. What the US (and Britain) are seeking to do is to rejuvenate their own education business by opening up shops in India..

And a series of education-related Bills in the UPA's pipeline are all geared to open up our education for their profit. Some of.

these Bills are as below:.

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· The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010: This Bill is being introduced.

on the pretext that "global educational institutions" will be brought to the Indian students' doorstep. Instead, interna-.

tional experience indicates that such legislation can neither attract truly `world-class' institutions, but can only allow.

unreliable educations shops to sell sub-standard wares (relatively free of regulation) to Indian students..

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· The Universities for Innovation Bill 2010: This Bill proposes to set up 14 "Universities for Innovation" in India, which.

will enjoy Government funding but be totally free from any kind of regulation of standards or fees! These Universities,.

in the name of being `free to innovate", will be free to have foreign VCs; `merit-based' admission process free from.

any obligations to reserve seats for SC/STs and OBCs; fix their own free structures; pay differential fees to faculty;.

and admit up to 50% foreign students (in contrast to ordinary universities which have a 15% cap on foreign students)..

These Universities, while enjoying Government funding in the shape of grants of land, fellowships etc, will be free.

from supervision by regulatory authorities like the UGC. There are no norms for curriculum, teaching quality, students'.

assessment etc spelled out for the promoters of these universities, and no penalty for making false claims or failing.

to provide quality education..

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· The Educational Tribunals Bill 2010 - In the name of setting up educational tribunals at national and state level to.

resolve disputes among stakeholders in the education sector and penalise unfair practices, the aim of this Bill seems.

to be to restrict the recourse of teachers, employees and students to courts. This would facilitate foreign and.

private players in the education sector who would like to be free from the prospect of being taken to court..

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· The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill 2010: This Bill proposes.

to make accreditation compulsory. It may be that fund cuts can follow in case an institution fails to achieve sufficient.

credits. However, the central government will have the power to offer exemptions. Private or otherwise influential.

players can therefore secure such exemption, which is an open invitation to graft and corruption..

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Higher education is being privatised in the name of ridding it of problems like corruption and capitation fees and ensuring higher.

standards. However, the telecom scam is a reminder that privatisation and greed for profit go hand-in-hand with corruption..

The US-backed agenda for India's higher education will not only further exclude the poor and underprivileged, it will increase.

the scale of chaos and corruption in education manifold..

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An Agenda for Democratising the Campus, Defending and Expanding Our Rights.

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Fighting adverse service conditions and bu- load, refuses to extend them the due rights and benefits..

reaucratisation The services of adhoc teachers must be duly recognised.

towards promotion and maternity leave benefits be extended.

In line with neoliberal agenda to corporatise higher edu- to ad- hoc teachers..

cation, the DU Administration is hell bent on policing and.

denigrating the teaching community by attempting to impose Discrimination against librarians, other academic staff.

a corporate culture with `biometric smart cards' and com- and system programmers must end and the long-stand-.

pulsory attendance registers. ing demand of parity with the teaching community must be.

ensured..

The pretext of 6th pay commission has been used to curtail.

hard-earned promotional opportunities through imposition The Government must be pressurised to allow around 400.

of arbitrary bureaucratic service conditions and illogical teachers left under CPF scheme to opt for GPF scheme as.

point systems that benefits neither teaching nor research. their post retirement benefit stands seriously compromised..

Also the teachers under NPS (after 2004) must be ensured.

These moves must be strongly resisted to defend the au- a steady pension..

tonomy and dignity of the entire academic space..

Strict Implementation of Reservation in.

Rights of new and ad-hoc teachers must be admissions and appointments.

defended - The AGPs at the initial stages must be upgrad-.

ed. It is a shame that DU, which employs adhoc teachers on Roster system for SC/ST, OBC and PH reservations in.

such a large scale to bear a major burden of the teaching teaching posts must be transparently and strictly adhered to..

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Done