Lack of education policy flayed

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Educationist and IIT Kanpur chairman M. Anandakrishnan on Thursday said that India didn’t have a credible and sustainable public policy on higher education even after 64 years of the country’s independence.

Mr Anandakrishnan was delivering the keynote address at a symposium on Public Policy and Governance organised by the School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP), Mahatma Gandhi University.

He said some of the persisting problems of higher education included lack of academic leadership, lack of transparency in decision-making and interference of government representatives.

He pointed out that neo-liberal policies stressing on privatisation in many spheres of social life has also generated a lot of repercussions.

Mushrooming of private universities through state legislations is a trend that would affect the credibility of the education system, he said.

He was critical about the back door entry of foreign universities in the country and said that the proposed Foreign Educational Institution Bill might curb unhealthy practices.

Mr Anandakrishnan spoke about the lack of budgetary support for state universities. “Red-tapism and corruption are more in state universities as compared to the central ones,” he said adding that the Yashpal Committee had recommended there shouldn’t be any discrimination in the allocation of funds to the universities.

Former administrator and policy maker D. Babu Paul said any discussion on public policy must address the question of sovereignty of nations. “Sovereignty is a now a highly negotiated product because of pressures stemming from global trade and arms regimes,” Dr Paul said.