PDSU decries foreign influence in education

Indian higher education system has suffered a setback due to the government policies, felt the speakers at the inaugural session of the two-day conference of the Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU) at the Osmania University Engineering College Auditorium on Saturday.

Addressing the gathering, Pradeep, national secretary, Indian Federation of Trade Unions, said that the corporatisation of our education system had its roots back in the government policies of 1986, when the national policy recognised higher education as ‘a unique investment’.

According to him, the loans which were taken from the World Bank by the State and Central governments at that time had resulted in the entry of foreign influence on our educational system.

He said that a committee headed by Birla and Ambani, constituted way back in 1994-95, suggested opening up of our education sector to more private institutions and reducing the emphasis on state-run educational institutions.

He felt that the education system of our country was promoting career-conscious selfishness and greed. Observing the vulnerability of the youth of India to layoffs in IT sector, he said that Indian IT employees had become puppets in the hands of the government of America, which controls the outsourcing needs according to its convenience.

He informed that the foreign loan burden on India was pegged at $ 390 billion and the trade deficit between 2011 and 2012 amounted to $ 180 billion.

Several PDSU leaders, including Gautam Prasad, Moinuddin, Satya, SL Padma, Vinod and Jhansi (POW), were present at the event. Corporatisation of higher education and its relation to India’s loans from the World Bank were the focus of discussion on the first day of the two-day conference.