ABVP slams entry of foreign universities

Prof Milind S Marathe, the national president of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Saturday disapproved of the bill that allows foreign universities to set up institutes in the country.

At Think India, a two-day conference for the youth at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), he said the Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, seemed like a back-door entry to commercialise education. He said the government was unnecessarily giving red-carpet treatment to the foreign varsities. He noted that these varsities require no accreditation and the ABVP was opposed to this.

Further, Marathe said the bill would be of no use unless the incoming varsities are among top 100 in the world. He said all the rules, like regarding quota, that apply to the Indian universities should be applicable even to the foreign varsities setting up campuses in the country.

If India has to reach its target of doubling its current gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education, the government should revise key policies at the state and Central level. “This matter of the low GER in the country is a policy issue. The budget for higher education should be at least doubled at the Centre and state-government levels if we are to see an improvement,” he said.

RTE a flop

Not mincing his words, Marathe declared that the Right to Education (RTE) Act is a noble idea, but is ultimately a “flop”. “This concept of RTE is not new to the world. India is 103rd country to introduce something like this. But while the document is excellent, the government has not supported the respective starts in the implementation of the Act financially,” he said.

Reservation is a need

Marathe also spoke about the issue of reservation, saying that while it is necessary for a diverse country like India, the government should also devise a policy that will revise reservation on a more regular basis.