>From: "aiaif" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >----- Original Message ----- >From: Rajesh >To: viren ; ALL INDIA ANTI-IMPERIALIST FORUM >Sent: Monday, November 27, 2000 12:04 AM >Subject: Dharna for Education > > >A Dharna For Education >The newspapers of 25th November carried photographs and extensive reports of a >small but noisy Shiv Sena demonstration at Delhi's Parliament Street the >previous day. This was political theatre at its most idiotic, as >saffron-bandanaed Shiv Sainik goons beat their breasts, clambered on police >barricades and burnt an effigy of the Prime Minister to register their protest >against the BJP's "betrayal" of Hindu interests by declaring a unilateral >ceasefire in Kashmir. Batteries of press cameras whirred and clicked and >moronic soundbites were dutifully recorded. > >But after the press had departed, a demonstration that was unique by >Parliament Street's own standards took place and went largely unreported. Over >two thousand rallyists of the All India Save Education Committee marched in an >orderly procession from Ramlila Maidan for what their banners proclaimed as a >"Dharna for Education". Students, teachers and parents from at least 16 >states, holding placards that protested against the commercialisation and >communalisation of education, reached Parliament Street where a temporary >stage had been swiftly erected. For the next three hours, speakers described >the condition of education in their respective states and demanded that the >Government cease its twin attacks of commercialisation and communalisation of >education. A number of eminent educationists including Professor Sushil >Mukherjee, former Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University and Dr. N.A. Karim, >former Pro-Vice Chancellor of Kerala University participated in the Dharna. >Compared to the cheap histrionics of the Shiv Sena demonstration that preceded >it and which was clearly an exercise of self-aggrandisement, this Dharna for >Education was a reflection of one of the real concerns of the common man: the >increasing inaccessibility of quality education. Just a few days earlier, >Delhi's Education Minister Narender Nath had brazenly proclaimed that parents >who could not bear fee hikes and demands for donation in private schools >should shift their wards to Government schools as his Ministry would do >nothing to curb this menace. > >The All India Save Education Committee was a product of the widespread >students' and teachers' movement in the wake of the sudden and secretive >unveiling of the National Policy on Education in 1986 by the Congress >Government. (The Policy openly proclaimed for the first time that the >provision of education was not the duty of the State, that private investment >was essential and that citizens would have to bear the ensuing rising costs). >Since then, the Committee, under the Presidentship of Justice V.R. Krishna >Iyer, has been mobilising public opinion for the cause of education. Apart >from holding two national-level conventions and several regional meetings of >citizens concerned about education, the Committee has carried out signature >campaigns and has published several booklets on the condition of education, >including an outline People's Policy on Education as an alternative to the >1986 National Policy on Education. > >The text of a memorandum to the Prime Minister submitted by a delegation of >the All India Save Education Committee during the dharna is appended here: > > >Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee >Prime Minister of India > > >November 24th, 2000 > >Dear Prime Minister > >Realising the importance of education for the establishment of a democratic >society, social reformers of the Indian renaissance and stalwarts of the >freedom struggle had stressed on the importance of establishing free and >compulsory education for all. Subsequently, this idea was incorporated in the >Constitution. > >But in the 52 years after independence, we have witnessed a systematic process >of curtailment of education rather than expansion of educational >opportunities. The Kothari Commission had recommended that the Central and >State Governments should invest 6% of the national income in education. But >the actual investment has always been far lower regardless of the party in >power. This has resulted in educational institutions being perpetually short >of funds, equipment, infrastructure and teachers. Regular fee hikes have >resulted in education becoming a privilege for the better-off rather than >being accessible to all. The number of seats in institutions has been >curtailed leading to an admissions crisis every year. The task of education is >such a massive one that only the Government has the necessary resources for >it. However, the National Policy of Education in 1986 openly declared that >education could not be seen as the responsibility of the government alone, it >would have to be privatised and commercialised. This Policy has resulted in >the further deprivation of education for millions of underprivileged students. >Moreover, making education more expensive will not make students more >responsible as claimed by the votaries of privatisation and commercialisation. >If education becomes expensive, it further loses its independent, >truth-seeking character. Instead of being a means of applying knowledge for >the welfare of society, it increasingly becomes a means of livelihood, or >worse, an investment to recover and earn profit from. > >This policy of commercialisation and privatisation of education and reducing >Government funding is being continued by the NDA government as well. While all >the important Education Commissions set up in the past have recommended an >allocation of 10% of the Union Budget for education, the last two budgets of >your Government have allotted a mere 2.5 %, and that too, to Education, Sports >and Youth Affairs (Revenue + Capital) put together. Your Government has also >continued using the false contradiction between expenditure on elementary and >higher education to reduce Government expenditure on higher education. Your >HRD Minister, > Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi has reduced the budgetary allocation to higher >education by Rs. 138 crore this year. He has aired a view that students spend >over Rs. 50 daily on movie tickets and hence should be able to pay higher >fees. The Rahman Commission has recommended an exorbitant fee-hike at all >stages of education. Dr. Joshi is referring to a small minority of privileged >students in colleges, he does not see the large invisible majority that is >dropping out of higher education due to these fee hikes. The Ministry of Human >Resource Development and the University Grants Commission are inviting college >managements to take one-time grants and become so-called autonomous >institutions with freedom to determine their own fee structures, design course >syllabi, conduct examinations and award degrees. This will result in colleges >becoming commercial institutions that are totally beyond any democratic >control. This step will be a deathblow to universities, which are already >fund-starved, and whose democracy has been undermined by prolonged >bureaucratic and political interference. The UGC has already declared that >grants to general colleges and universities in the tenth Plan period will be >reduced by 35% compared to the ninth Plan period. As a result, we can expect >the annual college admissions crisis to intensify. > >For all the rhetoric, the condition of elementary education is no better. Dr. >Joshi is in no hurry to table the long-pending 83rd Constitutional Amendment >Bill that will make elementary education a Fundamental Right. Recent National >Sample Survey reports show that 70 million of the 6-14 age group are either >school drop-outs or are not enrolled at all. The Saikia Committee Report had >recommended an average of Rs. 14000 crore per year for ten years to achieve >universal elementary education. Continuing the tradition of previous >governments, the NDA Government too has provided far less than this figure. >Further, your Government has reduced the allocation for special assistance to >states to implement compulsory elementary education as well as the allocation >for mid-day meals that help keep hungry children in schools. The NCERT has >gone to the extent of proposing that the school infrastructure-building >programme Operation Blackboard be scrapped. At the same time, the already high >military budget of Rs. 45000 crore has been enhanced by Rs. 13000 crore in a >single year. Where is the NDA Government's sense of priority? > >To fill the gap in expenditure on education, your Government is inviting >international development agencies and private capital. Both these moves are >detrimental to the cause of education. The World Bank-funded District Primary >Education Programme (DPEP) is expanding. While millions of students are >languishing due to lack of educational infrastructure and teachers, the DPEP >is focussing on curricula, text books and teaching methods. The concept behind >DPEP is that education should finally be seen as the responsibility of >students and their guardians, and not of the State. This is a far cry from the >concept of education that our social reformers and freedom fighters had >cherished. The DPEP is discarding time-tested educational theories and methods >and is carrying out dangerous pedagogical experiments using hapless students >of government schools as guinea-pigs. The emphasis is supposedly on >child-centred learning, but is in fact leading to continuous play and >entertainment in classrooms. The content of language and logic in syllabi are >being diluted. In the most literate state of Kerala, parents who can afford it >are in fact transferring their wards to private schools to escape from DPEP. > >Education is being converted into a field for the investment of national and >international capital, the exploitation of guardians through capitation and >other fees and reaping of huge profits. Domestic corporate houses, MNCs and >foreign universities are establishing extremely costly institutions and >courses in technical subjects. Dr. Joshi has pledged to enact the Private >Universities Bill which was introduced by the UF Government. In essence, the >Bill requires only a financing body which can put up Rs. 10 crore. The posts >of the Board of Governors, the Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor are so >constituted that they are completely under the control of the financing body. > >Not only is access to education being curtailed, its content is being tampered >with to dilute its revolutionary truth-seeking character. Language, the >vehicle of thought and medium of expression, is being undervalued and >neglected, especially in higher education. The technical aspects of knowledge >are being stressed, to the detriment of pure science and the humanities. This >is very evident in the Discussion Document on the National Curriculum >Framework for School Education prepared by the NCERT. The Document openly >proposes a dual stream of education for the haves and the have-nots. For the >latter, English language, mathematics and science learning are to be truncated >and substituted with vocational courses, for they are destined to drop out >after Class X and join the workforce. > >At the same time, we observe with great concern that there is a planned effort >to introduce religious instruction in course curricula under the guise of >"value education". Rejecting the correct classical concept of secularism in >education as the separation of religion from educational content and as >pertaining to matters of this world alone, the NCERT is harping on >"Sarvadharma Samabhava". In its Discussion Document, the NCERT has proposed, >from the elementary stage itself, religious education, religious group >singing, lives and teachings of prophets and saints of different religions >etc. The experience of independent India has shown us that "Sarvadharma >Samabhava" cannot but degenerate into hegemony of the majority religion. When >religious characters, along with the myths about supernatural powers >associated with them, are placed before immature minds of elementary and >secondary school children, it will only foster an unquestioning >belief-oriented mindset. Dr. Joshi and the NCERT proclaim a known fact of >history that the British introduced an educational system that would produce >Indians who would occupy low-level posts in the colonial administration. But >in suggesting that the present system of education and subjects taught too are >alien to the Indian ethos and by prescribing a large dose of religious values >in the school curriculum, we see a clever distortion of history. While the >British promoted the Macaulay model for a small minority, for the vast >majority, they continued to emphasise traditional models like Toles and >Madrasas. In fact, it was our Renaissance leaders like Phule, Rammohan Roy and >Vidyasagar who led the battle for abolition of religious and obscurantist >education and promotion of English, logic, science, humanities and Western >philosophy. Inspired by the ideas of liberty, equality, fraternity and >democracy as found in the French, American and Italian Revolutions, they >sought to lay a new foundation for democratic and secular education in India. >The classical definition of secularism was not the product of fanciful >imagination, but emerged from the historical need to unite a people divided by >regional, religious and caste barriers. It remains relevant, but Dr. Joshi and >the NCERT are seeking to put the clock back once again by making the learning >of science optional, but of religion compulsory. > >Equally reprehensible are the moves to distort history and to place >individuals sympathetic to the Sangh Parivar in high positions in academic >institutions. The latter has emerged as a clear trend judging from >appointments made to the ICHR, ICSSR, NCERT, IIAS, Maulana Azad Institute of >Asian Studies and the Gandhian Institute of Studies. The distortion of history >is evident in the fantastic claims made, with inadequate or false >substantiation, about the Harappan Civilisation being a part of Vedic culture. >It is also seen in the unseemly controversy over two volumes of the ICHR >"Towards Freedom" Project. The NCERT, before it came under the Directorship of >its present incumbent, had itself come down heavily on the communalisation of >textbooks particularly in the BJP-ruled states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP >and in the Sangh Parivar's Vidya Bharati chain of schools. Equating the >Harappan and Vedic civilisations, reviling Islam as the religion of violent >invaders in medieval times, presenting the Babri Masjid as Ram Janmabhoomi and >extolling the virtues of Hitler and Nazism are some of the concrete instances >we have of this trend of communalisation. Crores of rupees of public money are >finding their way into ill-conceived projects of locating the mythical river >Saraswati, and a large part of the greatly enhanced budget for promotion of >Sanskrit is finding its way into the Sangh Parivar network of institutions. >The Vidya Bharati network of schools continues to mix up Hindu mythology with >history in its textbooks, particularly in its portrayal of Akhand Bharat and >heaps venom on Christianity and Islam as being responsible for the division of >Akhand Bharat. > >The UGC, for its part, is promoting certificate courses in Vedic rituals, >Vedic astrology and Sanskrit. Its Chairman has said that these courses will >serve to promote Hindu culture among NRIs and will improve foreign exchange >earnings. This is happening in the context of declining grants to universities >for science and humanities courses. In short, bigoted, communal and >obscurantist ideas, which have nothing to do even with Hindu culture and >philosophy, are finding their way into education. > >We also note with concern that, for all the tall talk of promoting Indian >culture, your Government has done nothing to arrest the propagation of >obscenity and vulgarity through magazines, cinema, cable TV and the Internet. >On the other hand, the situation is going to worsen with the advent of DTH >broadcasting that your Government has recently allowed. > >As a platform of students, guardians, teachers, educationists and >intellectuals deeply concerned about the deteriorating educational situation, >the All India Save Education Committee has examined these trends and has >concluded that the net result of such tampering with the content of education, >accompanied by the spread of obscenity and vulgarity through the media, is to >destroy the power of systematic thought and reasoning, and instead to promote >regimentation of thought among youth. If this continues, the educational >system will churn out human robots able to do technical work, completely >self-centred, unquestioningly obedient to the State and devoid of human values >and emotions. In short, this will enhance the danger of fascism, the enemy of >democracy and civilisation. > >We therefore urge you to act upon the following demands immediately: > >1. Provide opportunities for education up to the highest level for all >aspirant students. Solve the admissions crisis at all levels of education by >opening schools and colleges commensurate with the number of applicants. >2. Withdraw fee hikes at all levels of education and provide education to all. >3. Withdraw the National Policy on Education 1986 and commercialisation, >privatisation and communalisation of education. Promote secular, democratic >and scientific education. Support the development of all our languages so that >instruction in the mother tongue may be possible up to the highest levels of >education, simultaneously providing for English language teaching from Class >I. >4. Provide full Government funding for schools, colleges and universities, >starting with the allocation of at least 10% of the Union Budget for >education. >5. Withdraw the scheme of commercialised and decentralised autonomous >colleges. >6. Stop political and bureaucratic interference in the functioning of schools, >colleges, universities and academic bodies. Bring school and higher education >under autonomous boards with a democratic set-up. >7. Stop propagation of obscenity and vulgarity through the media which is >corrupting the minds of students and youth. > > > > >V. R. Krishna Iyer >President >All India Save Education Committee _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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