Sibal unites Trinamool, Left

Nothing, it had ever seemed, could make the Trinamool and the CPM see eye to eye in West Bengal. Then human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal came along. His idea of education in the country not only created a storm everywhere, it brought together the Trinamool and the Left Front on common ground. Both parties are opposed to the Sibal’s proposals.

The Trinamool Congress feels “it’s the minister’s stand and not the government’s … The Cabinet has not taken a decision on this issue.” Saugata Roy, minister of state for urban development and Trinamool MP, said, “Education is a concurrent subject and all states need to be consulted on this. There’s a need to set up a ‘central advisory board of education’ where each state should participate in a national debate on the ideas.”

Roy, a professor, said though Sibal’s idea is good — that the burden on children should be reduced — how this should be done needs to be discussed. “The key is to dispel the fear of exams in children,” he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the CPI(M) said the Left will oppose the proposals on constitutional grounds and also try to coordinate with other parties who want Class X board exams to remain.

 What’s more, the Left is starting a campaign to make people aware of the pitfalls of Sibal’s proposals. “We are against scrapping class X exams or making them optional, forming a single board and FDI in education,” said Parth Dey, the school education minister in the state.

According to Dey, a single board will result in centralisation of education, which is “constitutionally absurd.”