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December     Last updated: December 23 : 7:00 p.m.

We should resist commercialisation of education

Dr Murli Manohar Joshi Minister for HRD

From Our Correspondent

"In the last three years, there was rapid progress in literacy and school participation. According to the second round of the National Family Health Survey (1998-99), 80 per cent of all boys aged 11-14 and 67 per cent of all girls in the same age group go to school. The drop-out rate has considerably reduced", said Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister for Human Resources development at a function held at Thiruananthpuram recently. He was addressing a group of students on the occasion of Gita Jayanti. Pointing out that the Prime Minister's stress on poverty eradication, literacy and science and IT education had shown the way the country would progress in the coming decades, Dr Joshi said: We are planning to launch a campaign for total literacy titled "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. We are still a long way from the Constitutional objective of universal education till the age of 14. Nevertheless, the rising tide of school participation is a welcome development. It is a heartening fact that girls are rapidly catching up with boys. In fact the rate of enrolment of girls is more than that of boys.

As a part of promoting open schools and non-formal education, the government is planing to start a separate FM Channel for education. Also, to increase community participation in literacy mission, the government has started an interaction between the UGC, corporate sector and various science and technology institutions. Considering the literacy campaign "an important input of development if India has to win in this knowledge age", the HRD Minister emphasised the need for making vigorous efforts for achieving the goal of total literacy at the earliest. "We are at present maintaining an annual rate of literacy growth of 2 per cent. If this rate were maintained India would reach a level of nearly 68 per cent literacy by 2001. Assuming as literacy experts hold that full literacy for India means the sustainable threshold level of 75 per cent, then India could be expected to touch this level by 2005", said Dr Joshi. India's position in literacy level has moved several points in the global list. It is much ahead of most of the developing countries and leading in the region, ahead of its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and China. In fact, India is making efforts to coordinate with other countries in the region on tackling the illiteracy problem. Dr Joshi said that he had had a detailed discussion with the Chinese Vice Minister for Education, Dr (Ms) Smt Wei Yu and opined that there was a broad realisation that the developing countries have to resist commercialisation of education at all fora, including the WTO.

Clearly defining the goal of education-to create a non-violent and non-exploitative society-the general feeling is that such a task cannot be left to the market force, the HRD Minister observed and stressed the need for sustaining our gains in literacy levels. "Kerala which is now one of the most literate States is showing signs of slipping in percentage during the last three years. Equally disturbing is the fact that the State Government is not taking adequate interest in the spread of IT education. The unemployment problem in Kerala could be tackled only through a large-scale campaign to make educated people IT literate, pointed out Dr Joshi. The NDA Government made its priority clear by setting up a separate Ministry for IT. It has announced several schemes. But sadly, the Kerala Government's priority seems to be different. It is a telling commentary that Kerala was among the very few States that did not have a IT section in its pavilion at the annual International Trade Fair held in Delhi last month. Dr Joshi came down heavily on the Left Front Government in Kerala for playing politics with education and observed: The Kalady Adi Sankara Sanskrit University was established for the very purpose of promoting Sanskrit studies. The CPM has appointed a vice-chancellor who has no knowledge of Sanskrit and has only a myopic idea of Indian history and philosophy. While the world is moving ahead with knowledge, the CPM is caught in a time trap of its Stalinist moorings. It cannot tolerate ideological dissent or democratic tradition. It is doing everything to stifle the autonomous growth of educational institutions. Its opposition to Sanskrit defies all logic.

It encourages its cadre to liquidate its political opponents whenever they lose out in intellectual discourse. The latest instance is the violence in Kannur. Successive LDF and UDF governments have failed to control the situation. These parties have turned even a peaceful state like Kerala into a war zone. The police force itself is subjected to political victimisation and settling personal scores. Kannur, today is a sad reminder of the politics of hatred practised by the CPM. The Centre has taken a very serious view of this. The Home Minister has made a statement that he was seeking a report. The BJP is sending a Central team for the on-the-spot study of the situation in Kannur while the State Government is sitting pretty. "It would be better if the CPM had diverted its energies more into developmental activities and building up social harmony. Industrial and economic growth of the State should take precedence over ideas of political domination", Dr Joshi said.

The liquor tragedy that claimed 35 lives in the State has become a matter of hot debate, with the Left Front and the Congress accusing each other of sheltering the liquor Mafia. What is of concern for the common man is that both the Fronts were not able to rein in the liquor Mafia who fill their coffers, caring little for the life of millions of Keralites. That there is little difference between the two Fronts is further illustrated by the latest developments in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu the CPM has entered into an alliance with the AIADMK-Congress Front to fight next years assembly election. In Kerala they claim to be adversaries. It must be now be clear to the politically wise people of the State that the LDF and UDF are indulging in shadowboxing.