Education

National Students’ Parliament Held in Kerala

THE first national students’ parliament on the theme ‘Higher Education: Emerging Issues and Challenges’, was held from October 9-11, 2015 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It attempted to address the critical domain of higher education bearing on the present and future of our democratic republic and chart out a blue print for future action and deliberations.  It has given a new vigour and was an enriching experience to the leaders of student community for combating centralisation, commercialisation and communalisation policies of the governments.

SFI – TSF - DSU Alliance Sweeps UoH Polls with Huge Majority

IN the University of Hyderabad Students’ Union elections 2015, the alliance of Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Tribal Student’s Forum (TSF) and Dalit Students’ Union (DSU) with an unconditional support of Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika (TVV) emerged victorious by defeating Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and United Democratic alliance (UDA) by a huge margin. UDA primarily consists of Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) and National Students’ Union (NSUI).

India’s Higher Education: Threat of Commercialisation

THERE are clear signals that India’s higher and technical education is being thrown open to ‘for profit’ private entities. The threat of global competition via the WTO route is already here, and it is likely to aggravate in future.Under WTO, educational services, particularly the tertiary educational services like higher education, are treated as globally tradable services.

Reckless Privatisation of Professional Education

THE All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to cut over 6,00,000 seats in engineering colleges across the country from the current 16.7 lakh to around 11 lakh. This move is being supposedly made due to the poor quality of engineering education, low ‘employability’ of the students graduating from these institutions, and the huge increase in the number of vacant seats.

On Students’ Union Elections in Delhi

ELECTIONS to both Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) were held on 11th September. Both these elections were being held at time when, after the first 500 days of the Modi regime, all the tall claims of ‘achhe din’ have withered away. The assaults on people’s rights and livelihood continue unabated, with unrelenting price rise and attempts to dilute various labour laws.

Brutal Attack on Students in Vizag

THE brutal attack on students, including girls, in Visakhapatnam on September 15 is a desperate attempt on part of the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government to muzzle the voice of those who oppose its policies. Ever since coming to power, Chandrababu has repeatedly showed contempt towards public education. The problems of  social welfare hostels are not being addressed in the state for many months. Girl students are facing acute problems due to non-availability of toilets, drinking water facility and permanent buildings in majority of welfare hostels.

DTF Emerges Victorious in DUTA Elections

THE Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) has secured a historic victory in the elections to the Delhi University Teachers' Association, held in the last week of August. DTF's Nandita Narain was re-elected to the post of the DUTA president for the second consecutive term. For DTF, this election marked the third consecutive win and mandate for the leadership of the DUTA. Besides Narain, the entire panel of four DTF candidates for the DUTA Executive Committee was also elected with a handsome vote-share.

Modi Govt's Trident Attack on School Education

IN the run up to last year's general elections, BJP had promised the country a government that would have natural empathy towards the underprivileged and work for their empowerment as it would be run by a "poor chaiwala". However, three major steps taken by the BJP-led government within one year of assuming office make it clear that its policy is to ensure that the children of "chaiwalas" across the country never get a chance to go to school. As part of the "achhe din" policies of the Modi government, the education sector witnessed a budget cut of more than Rs 13,000 crore.

Education: The Threat of Unfreedom

OF late, news headlines have been hogged by the continuing struggle by the students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).  The students’ protest was in opposition to imposition of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institute and three other members in the governing council.  The outrage has, of course, gone far beyond this exalted institute and shared by large number of film professionals and the creative community.

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