President SIO of India Nahas Mala said, according to various surveys, reports educational institutions across the nation are in worst condition, due to lack of funds, infrastructure, and vacant seats of permanent faculties which are the basic need to run any institutions. In such time UGC decision to grant autonomy to 60 institutions shows governments failure.
A liberalised regime in the education sector and autonomy would not facilitate education system but its towards commercialization of education, where privatizations is its first step added, Nahas.

Mr. Nahas further said, it is a step towards commercialisation of public-funded institutes and government’s withdrawal from financial support towards higher education. Expenditure of prestigious institutions has already been slashed and it will adversely affect students from economically poor background.

The ‘autonomy’ move in future may dominated by corporate sector, where they may run market friendly and self finance courses which produces skilled labours and significantly affect diversity within university spaces, which may further shrink space for dissent, Nahas concluded.

Syed Azharuddin
National Secretary, SIO of India.