Skip to main content

One of Gujarat Children’s University jobs is to send a functionary to the house of a pregnant woman to read out scriptures!

By Prof Rohit Shukla*
Gujarat is one of the fastest urbanising states. With increase in population and rising aspirations, a large number of young people are in search of good education. But this whole process is nipped in the bud with wrong policy set up, poor administration and prejudiced behaviour.
At the primary level there is a very high drop out rate. The infrastructure is poor and even many centrally sponsored schemes are not fully and properly utilised. According to a survey undertaken by the State Government, it is found that hardly 10 percent of the schools qualify for quality education.
There are ill‐conceived efforts at privatisation at all levels of education. The schools run by the private and ‘only for profit’ individuals or institutions charge exorbitant fees. There are many agitations by the parents, which remain unfruitful. The rumour has it that many of such institutions are run by the people who are in close proximity to the seats of power.
Higher education, which is to be viewed as a harbinger of the future of the country is under stress and is a worst victim of short‐sightedness and antipathy. Some of the main symptoms are as follows: o In most of the grant‐in‐colleges, the staff recruitment is under suspended animation for almost two decades. This has resulted in loss of quality education.
The mindset of the government is not forward looking as, in schools as well as colleges very little encouragement is provided for scientific way of thinking. There is an effort to homogenise the thought and disagreement or discourse is disallowed. Orthodoxy and exclusivity are used to divide the society.
While education is privatised and exorbitant fees are charged, appointment of faculty with good and commensurate salary is a day dream. There are many bright careers which are lingering either as part timers or daily wagers, despite possessing degrees and qualifications prescribed by the Universities Grant Commission (UGC).
While old and established colleges are feeling suffocated, the Government keeps on establishing newer universities. It is even hard to decipher the purpose of some such universities. For example, there is Children’s University, which is perhaps the only one of its kind in the entire world. Under the scheme of the things, a functionary of the university goes to the house of a pregnant woman and reads out from the scriptures! Such process of giving “Sanskaras” is continued till the child reaches the age of 18. Is this a process of creating some super race?
We also have yoga, petroleum and Sanskrit universities. Does one require special universities subject‐wise? This is an avoidable waste of resources. Function of the education is to equip the society and its members to become more productive. Education is expected to provide a framework and a perspective for future and balanced development of society. That way this sector is expected to generate externalities such that the dreams of our constitution are realised.
There is a feeling of nostalgia when one thinks of the decades of sixties and seventies. Education atmosphere was more democratic and progressive. Control of feudal mind set and influence of money bags was on the wane. A very large number of poor and deprived class students could take advantage of the inexpensive education.
Gujarat has lost the trail. It has become less and less democratic and more and more monolithic. People who work very closely in this field and have a long trail of experience behind them find that it requires an immediate course correction. Future of an entire generation is under siege.
---
*President, Save Education, Gujarat Chapter; Editor, “Abhidrashti”, a monthly journal devoted to education for the past almost 50 years; President, Gujarat Economic Association; formerly with the Sardar Patel Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ahmedabad

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.