NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seeking more private investment in higher education, educationists want privatisation to be restricted "to the minimum desirable level." Also, they have called for a tax on the industry to raise resources for higher education.

Such is their angst against privatisation and commercialisation of higher education that the majority view at a recent meeting on the issue — organised by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration — favoured a law banning such commercialisation. "All commercialisation of education, which should be unambiguously defined, should be banned by a suitable act of Parliament." This was one of the recommendations of the meeting of 64 eminent educationists here earlier this week.

However, they are not closed to the idea of private participation. "Private investors in education may be encouraged. However, it must be made clear that this cannot be for profit-making purposes, in however disguised a form. Further, the entry of the private sector cannot be seen as a solution to all the various problems of quantity and quality," the educationists noted in their recommendations submitted to the Government.

One of their grouses against privatisation was its market-orientation. "Commodification of education may lead to excessive emphasis on skill, employment and corporate-oriented education" at the cost of basic sciences and the vast pool of traditional knowledge, thereby creating an imbalance among various streams of learning.

For holistic development

Given the inevitability of private initiative in the Indian context, they said Article 19(6) of the Constitution should be invoked to ensure a holistic development of higher education, and prevent commodification and profiteering. Article 19(6) allows the State to put "reasonable restrictions" on the exercise of the right to establish and run educational institutions conferred under Article 19(g) — the freedom to practise any profession, carry on any occupation, trade or business.

Another concern was the failure of private institutes to provide access to the marginalised sections. Commercialisation of education "could also mean marginalisation of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, women and vulnerable sections of society." Though not in as many words, their recommendations dwell on reservation — an issue prised open by the proposed move to reserve seats in all central educational institutions for the Other Backward Classes. "It is important to develop effective and implementable ways of increasing the access of socially marginalised groups as well as more needy students to higher education."

Among those who participated in the meeting were the vice-president of the National Knowledge Commission, P.M. Bhargava, and member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council G.K. Chadha.

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