The Hindu : Karnataka News : `Entry of foreign universities not a good idea'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 04, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

`Entry of foreign universities not a good idea'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, FEB. 3. Entry of foreign universities in higher education will kill local universities, the former Education Minister B.K. Chandrashekar said here on Thursday.

Inaugurating a three-day national seminar on "Higher education: challenges and responses," Mr. Chandrashekar said though he is not against the entry of foreign universities, such universities will not be of help to poor students. "How will these universities manage the large number of first generation learners," he asked.

On the talk of foreign universities bringing in global competitiveness, he said, "Education is not like any other field. It is linked to the economy and culture of a society. It is difficult for our people to come out of this and face the new paradigm of foreign universities."

`Varsities ill equipped'

The universities here, he said, are ill equipped to match the facilities provided by foreign universities, which have good student facilities, excellent resources and are technically superior. Apart from having experienced teachers, they recruit "the cream of our postgraduates" as lecturers. "The universities here, with several constraints, cannot provide such facilities."

The State Government, Mr. Chandrashekar said, should urgently modify the working of the universities and make them work independently. The statutes and Acts should be amended to give them freedom and to remove the political control that exists now. The Government, before providing autonomy to private educational institutions, should ensure that the managements pay better salary to the teachers, he said.

Aid

The Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University, M.S. Thimmappa, said the State Government should continue to give aid to higher education. He termed "foolish" the moves to stop it.

The Government, he said, should announce a network of financial aid, including asking universities to tie up with private enterprises for running new courses. "Such measures will help the Government to enforce its social policies."

The Minister for Higher Education, D. Manjunath, said the Government is holding discussions with the managements of private professional colleges to make the admission process smooth. He also expressed the need for Central legislation on this issue.

Autonomy

Regarding giving autonomy to 10 colleges in the State, Mr. Manjunath said the matter is before the committee constituted by the Human Resource Development Ministry. "The matter will be considered after a final report is received from the committee, which is headed the Higher Education Minister of West Bengal," Mr. Manjunath said. He is one of the members of the committee.

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