Professor Anand Teltumbde of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, on Saturday said the country’s education system is plagued by several ills.
Rural areas continue to be deprived of quality education. It is still difficult for youngsters from villages to move out and reach a reputed higher education institution. “All talk of reservation has become meaningless as it has become the monopoly of the urban beneficiary,” he said.
Delivering the convocation address at the 14th annual convocation of the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), Prof. Teltumbde said education has become a “commodity” to be bought by students to fit the needs of the corporate world.
There has been a distinct tendency towards privatisation and commercialisation of higher education, he observed.
Arguing that neo-liberal ethos has entered the education system to the detriment of those from the lower social strata, Prof. Teltumbde said the education sector is a 50 billion-dollar industry and hence the focus of global capital.
“If the child is provided with equal education, much of the inequality on account of caste and class would be taken care of,” Prof. Teltumbde observed.
Earlier, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj declared the convocation open and Vice-Chancellor M.G. Krishnan presented the annual report. Mushirul Hasan, former Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia University, New Delhi, was expected to deliver the convocation address but could not attend due to ill health.
