Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said that commercialisation of education has been a consistent policy of the Central government.
The Chief Minister made the observation while inaugurating the 52nd State conference of the Association of Kerala Government College Teachers (AKGCT) here on Monday. He said that protection of the public education system was the need of the hour. “Proliferation of institutions in the unaided sector will ruin the public education system. One of the main reasons for the progress of the State is the public education system being pursued here,” he said. He called upon college teachers to engage in a serious campaign for the protection of the public education system.
Concern
Mr. Achuthanandan said he understood the concern of the college teachers over the issue of implementing the recommendations of the University Grants Commission. “The UGC recommendation for salary hike has been cleared by the State. The government is for providing higher pay scales for the college teachers. This is mainly to attract qualified persons to the profession. But the UGC recommendation for raising the pension age of the college teachers cannot be considered in today's situation. The high rate of unemployment among the educated youth in the State is the main reason,” he said.
The Chief Minister expressed the hope that the teachers would understand the situation.
The Chief Minister expressed concern over the growing trend for professional courses. This was at the cost of courses taught at arts and science colleges. The government had taken various measures to make the courses at arts and science colleges more attractive to students.
AKGCT president V.N. Chandramohan presided.
