Dr. Karan Singh Vinayak : It seems inevitable to question or to ask that why education quality and teaching standards are declining? Why the sanctity of teaching profession considered a noble job since ancient times is losing sheen with each passing day? It also seems imperative to explore that why only teachers are held accused and responsible for this steadily degrading education system? Here I need to add something that it is easy to put onus on the teachers and hand a clean chit to government, its policies, decisions, social set up, and all other stake holders for the shabby state of affairs. It is likely convenient to target the educationists and shift the onus on them, than to question and blame the officials. Setting aside of unjustified bias and bureaucratic interventions to avoid any possible backlash is easy. Let us have an insight into the actual reality and ground check. So that we may acknowledge the facts and take a look over few vital issues pertaining to the current education system.
National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 proposed by the current regime is one such example which unveils the government vision and intentions for the future education set-up. It signify toward the ignorance of tenets and ideology of our ancient “Gurukul” culture. It looks in contrast to what has been repeatedly claimed. It displays governments ambitions allow a free run of corporate and industrial lobby into the education sector. NEP 2019 is prima facie a recipe to fulfill and satisfy the designs of powerful, influential private education lobby. It is appalling that the draft is suspiciously silent over many vital issues and core aspects for the up-lifting of education quality, reforms and welfare of teachers as well as students. It gives a notion that successive governments want to set aside from their primarily duty to support and fund the education system. Same seems the case with health department and public sector hospitals. Grants have already been reduced to the government and government aided institutes by central government. The central government’s support to the state governments for the implementation of new pay commission has already been reduced. The private sector and corporate infrastructure is taking over the service due to huge financial gains involved in this ever-expanding education market.
Many unwarranted apprehensions and speculations are in the air. Arguments stating teaching fraternity accountable for shabby state of affairs cease to acknowledge the reality. Public sentiment and governments contention is reluctant and unwilling to understand the prevailing condition’s. The privatization (commercialization) has uprooted our traditional value based education system. How the current policies and government apathy has distorted the sole motive of education by converting it into a money minting business. This immense hostile environment has evolved due to unjustified and uncontrolled commercialization for social sectors which has deliberately usurped the dignity of teachers as well as arrested the academic freedom and sacred connect of the teachers with education. The one who is responsible for nation building and inculcating skills, values into young minds for the development of nation is himself a victim of uncertainty and ignorance.
Recently, in Ludhiana three teachers were reprimanded and expelled from the college for raising their voice against the huge injustice and highhandedness meted out to them by management and higher authorities. After huge abuzz in media and deliberations in senate, again many teachers were punished in retaliation to raise voice against issues pertaining to meager salaries, refusal for granting leave to attend refresher courses, increments, grim violation of UGC norms and teaching ethos. It is an open secret that the utter dictatorship by private managements, industrial bigwigs has pushed the sanctity and spirit of teaching profession to an extreme edge. Devotion, dedication, disciplines and decorum of this noble service has faded considerably. Seems such managements are willingly drifting towards disaffiliation so that they could run institutes according to their own whims and fancies with hefty tuition charges and precariously stricter norms, unabated exploitation of teachers. That is why, the Private and private aided managements are asking for full autonomy and complete freedom. Such developments instill an impression that colleges attempting to do away with any affiliations or accountability towards any regulatory body. Government is unable to address the odds and curb the deteriorating ecosystem of education. Private education industry is expanding and spreading its wings. Education policies of successive governments, bureaucratic set-up, and higher rung officials are covertly or overtly supporting private education lobby for the reasons best known to them. A regulatory body as that like of a task force must be constituted to check the functioning of private Universities, colleges. It needs to be checked that do they comply with UGC norms for salaries, teaching standards, proper academic freedom, admission rules and set guidelines of MHRD, and government.
Society, government as well as other stake holders are posing as ignorant, insensitive and a mute spectator to such imminently destructive and unwarranted developments. Then how could the teaching fraternity be solely held responsible for the every wrong going on in the system and society? Public representatives ought to be sensitive towards the problems and sentiments of teaching fraternity. Teaching profession cannot be casually compared to other professions, especially where profit and financial benefit is the only parameter to access the efficiency and capability. It is a collective responsibility of all stake holders to strengthen the idea of value based teaching, fight against unabated commercialization of education and save the fundamentals of education setup in the best interest of the nation as well as society.
Dr. Karan Singh Vinayak
Chandigarh