The Hindu Business Line : `Private sector cannot replace role of States in higher education'

THE Union Minster for Human Resources, Mr Arjun Singh, on Monday said the States' role in higher education cannot be replaced by the private sector, albeit the latter could have a significant role in supplementing the efforts of the government.

The participation of the private sector in higher and technical education could, for the bulk of the population of India, be only at the margins of a major involvement of the State.

"The withdrawal of the State from higher education will neither be in the interest of the country nor of the private sector, which itself will keep swinging between booms and busts of activities in the educational sector, making it uncertain as any other business," Mr Singh said.

Inaugurating the two-day National Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Technical Education here, Mr Singh said the issues before the Government, Centre and the States, are those of ensuring equity and access to higher education, regional balance in the spread of educational institutions, mobilising resources for higher education and breaking insularity of the sector from newer ideas.

Earlier, reading out the speech of the Chief Minster, Mr N. Dharam Singh, the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Mr Siddaramaiah, saidIndia was passing through the impact of globalisation of higher education, which has seen 50 per cent rise, between 1990-2003, in students pursuing foreign education. However, he said, though India has yet to sign the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) it has to agree to trade in education. "In doing so we should act from a position of strength for which there was need for major policy reforms in the higher education sector".

"With our education system not easily marketable in the international forum because of its poor quality and the apprehension that education would not be considered as a `public good' but as a trade with potential to making a good profit, the Association of Indian Universities has advised against signing the GATS for education."

He expressed hope that the conference would find solutions to all tricky issues, particularly on reforms within the educational system since domestic reform was a necessary first step to collaborating or competing with foreign or private universities.

Privatisation of education cannot be done without strengthening the Government's role as provider, regulator and facilitator, he said adding that in order to built a vibrant and healthy education system it was necessary to access new idea, to adapt technology that was developed elsewhere and to provide skills, which would help people earn a decent livelihood.

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