Governments have been reluctant to continue their involvement in funding education but retain control of sector for social justice as well as electoral politics. To suit this, quick fix methods are employed and a comprehensive policy framework for regulation and delivery of services is not in place. Current agencies such as the UGC, AICTE, NCTE, and MCI etc. are engaged in routine tasks of overseeing rules for permissions to start institutions; their contribution to standards, quality, content and delivery mechanisms is not fully visible yet, said Dr. Madhu Kumar, secretary and correspondent of Dr. L. Bullayya College at the monthly round table of Centre for Policy Studies on Thursday. In a comprehensive presentation he covered a wide and complex area of higher education involving parents, students and teachers.
It was noteworthy that the elite institutions are government funded but big money is channelled to ordinary private institutions, he said.
Referring to pressure students are undergoing, he said: “Students have come under extreme pressure in this reality of parental expectations and their inability to cope with either because of lack of aptitude or improper delivery from deficient colleges.” Some have taken the extreme step of suicides but a good number have taken refuse in substance abuse or social media abuse”.
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The solution lies in a calm and dispassionate study of the situation by parents, teachers and the larger society to enable our younger generation to display their potential and contribute to national development.
Intervening, K.C. Reddy, former APSCHE chairman, stressed the need for evolving strategies to make the public-private models integral part of the system keeping in mind the changing objectives in the emerging knowledge economy.” Centre director A. Prasanna Kumar spoke.