Education Reform must not be made without debates and discussions–SIO

by | Feb 11, 2010

New Delhi,28/06/09: The central secretariat of Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) said in a press statement that the Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal should not be in hurry and that Major shifts in education system must be made after consultation and debates. The union minister has declared of doing away with the Class X board exams setting up of a single school board at the national level, winding up of the University Grants Commission and opening up FDI in the education sector. Such major decisions should not be made on the basis of personal ambitions. Government must learn from its past mistake while it tried to impose sex education without debate or consulting with experts. Though we are not great admirers of the present system of board exams for Class X, in a federal country like India where education is a vital part of society this is not the way to bring changes.
By allowing private investment including from abroad, in education, the state must not abandon its role as a social welfare guarantor to every section of the society. Before making public his intent to invite foreign direct investment (FDI) in education, one must think, why reputed Universities like Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard is not coming to India? It’s the duty of government to regulate the entry and also the fees of profit based foreign education providers, reserve seats for socially and economically backward class and protect students from receiving sub-standard education offered by foreign institutions. FDI can only be welcomed to develop the educational standard of the country but not treating education as “industry”. In India, institutions of higher learning like the IITs, the IIMs, JNU, and most reputable medical and engineering colleges are government-owned. So we strongly believe that education at the primary, secondary and tertiary level in a developing country like ours will be served, both qualitatively and quantitatively, if only the state itself seriously consider education as an important social activity. Before taking any major reform in Madrassa education Major Muslim Organisations, Madrassa teachers, students must be consulted to arrive at a consensus.

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