“These look like out-of-the-box ideas of an ambitious minister who has acted overenthusiastically and arbitrarily,” an All-India Congress Committee general secretary said.
A day after Union human resources development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal’s grandiose announcement of a new education scheme for the country, the move has invited sharp reactions from not just the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left, but also from a section of the Congress.
“These look like out-of-the-box ideas of an ambitious minister who has acted overenthusiastically and arbitrarily,” an All-India Congress Committee general secretary said.
The criticism emanating from a section of the Congress to Sibal’s plans is significant and can put the brakes on attempts to bring in fast-paced changes. The issue may face stiff opposition when it comes up for discussion in parliamentary committees.
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who was HRD minister in the NDA government, accused the government of botching up the education system. “The mess the UPA government is creating in education in its 100-day haste is extremely worrisome. On what basis, on whose advice did Sibal take the decision,” he asked.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) was unsparing in its criticism. Education ministers of the Left-ruled states of West Bengal and Kerala went public with their criticism, as did central leaders. “How will students move on to plus two classes without taking the Standard X exam? How can the HRD minister make such a statement without consultations?” asked Kerala education minister MA Baby.
Left leader Nilotpal Basu felt education and exams were subjects that required wider consultation across the board and could not be decided “in 100 days”.
The upshot of the opposition to some measures announced by Sibal means that his attempt to restructure the system may face opposition within his own party and in Parliament. Opposition parties view his idea of having an all-India board for all schools in the country as an encroachment on the rights of the states.
“We have a federal structure and education is in the concurrent list. Announcing such a decision without consulting state education ministers, the State Council for Educational Research and Training, and state boards is unprecedented,” said Joshi.
“The minister knows the law. How can the centre form a board for the country without the states’ consent,” he asked.
Joshi felt that having a uniform pattern for the country was ill-conceived and impractical as every region and state has its own requirements, situation and culture. What is relevant for northeastern states is useless for the south. Besides, what will happen to regional languages? What will be the scope and nature of vocational education, asked Joshi.
Two of the ideas suggested by Sibal — the scrapping of the Standard X board or making it optional and the idea of implementing the recommendations of the Yash Pal committee report in the present form — came in for criticism from the Rajasthan government. “We have no plans to scrap the Std X exams. The Rajashthan board of secondary education does not fall under the HRD ministry,” said state education minister Master Bhawarlal.
Senior Congress functionaries were also critical of the Yash Pal committee report. “It seems like the HRD minister has mistaken the report for a Supreme Court judgement and acted overenthusiastically. The report only has recommendations and is not binding,” said a senior leader.
The Left is particularly unhappy with Sibal’s proposal to do away with the Std X exam. “In many states, Std X board exams are significant for jobs and further studies. One cannot generalise. It is the first centralised evaluation of how a student is faring. How can you have one board for the entire country? This will be like turning the clock back on federalism,” said Baby.
Sibal’s proposal to bring in FDI in education came in for criticism from the BJP. Joshi termed it as an attempt at commercialisation of education. “I request the PM to prevent the minister (Sibal) from destroying the country’s education system,” said Joshi.
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