ACADEMIC ISSUES

Unrest in academe

University teachers stage protests across the country as part of their campaign against the state's move towards withdrawing from education, leading to the commercialisation of the sector.

T.K RAJALAKSHMI

TEACHERS across the country observed an All-India Educational Bandh on August 13 as part of their ongoing battle against the growing assaults on the education system in the form of government policies. A call to "save education to save the country" was issued by the All India Federation of University and College Teachers' Organisations (AIFUCTO) and the Federation of Central Universities Teachers Associations (FEDCUTA). These two organisations were joined by organisations of schoolteachers and the non-teaching employees of universities. The combined action reflected the state of discontent among the teaching community. In New Delhi, thousands of teachers braved a heavy downpour to stage an impressive march from the Red Fort grounds to Parliament gates, where a huge contingent of the police was readied to stop them.

RAVEENDRAN/ AP
At a demonstration by university teachers in New Delhi on August 13.

The teachers, who came from Haryana, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam and other States felt that the current education policy was oriented towards a fundamental reconstruction and reorientation of the education system, whose objective was to transform the sector into an industry geared to private profit. The gradual withdrawal of the state from its responsibility of funding education and the increased scope for private commercial activity in this sphere had transformed rapidly what was to be an important instrument of achieving national progress into a tradable commodity, they said. This reorientation, it was felt, would have adverse consequences not only with regard to access to education by different sections of society but to the quality and content of education. Such trends were already visible at all levels of education, they pointed out.

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, the teachers' organisations emphasised that the government's policy was helping international business interests who were attempting through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to bind Third World countries to a policy regime where public investment in higher education would be restricted and the sector would be open to exploitation by foreign educational enterprises that were not subject to any form of national control with regard to quality and content of education and the fee structure. The memorandum pointed out that a study conducted by the Association of Indian Universities found that a large number of such foreign enterprises were already operating in India, and nearly 40 per cent of them were not affiliated to any university.

The role of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the University Grants Commission (UGC), the two key agencies that implement government policy in the field of higher education, came in for criticism. Their specific actions on the service conditions of teachers were highlighted as being indicative of the consequences of the education policy. The organisations pointed out that the teaching profession needed to attract and retain talent if quality education was to be provided. This required an improvement in the service conditions of teachers, so that teaching was perceived as an attractive career option. But the HRD Ministry and the UGC were taking measures that caused systematic degradation of the profession, the organisations said. They pointed out that while the Fifth Pay Commission's recommendations guaranteed at least three promotions in government services (under the career advancement scheme), a maximum of only two promotions were available to college teachers. A scheme for promotions, duly notified by the UGC in 1998, was withdrawn. In addition, while promotional benefits in other government services came into effect retrospectively with the new pay scales from January 1, 1996, promotional benefits for teachers were implemented only from December 24, 1998, the day the new pay scales and promotional benefits were notified by the UGC. In Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab, among other States, these notifications are yet to be implemented fully.

It was precisely such measures, the teachers' organisations argued, that made it increasingly difficult to attract and retain talent in the teaching profession. They also pointed to the increasing trend of employing teachers on contract as indicative of the way the profession was heading. According to figures provided by AIFUCTO, despite the ostensible expansion of higher education in the country only 6 per cent of the Indian youth reach the level of higher education.

Meanwhile, Delhi University teachers have joined issue with the UGC regarding a series of circulars that were communicated to the university and colleges affiliated to it. The UGC, teacher representatives allege, has been attempting to coerce the university into increasing the workload of individual teachers so that 35 per cent of the present teaching staff became redundant. According to the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), this amounted to undue interference in the working of the university bodies such as the Academic Council.