The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Comprehensive education policy sought

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Comprehensive education policy sought

Special Correspondent

Deve Gowda calls for appropriate legislation to protect the interests of student community

RECOGNITION: Former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda with a young chess player who was presented with the Achiever's certificate at Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennai on Thursday. Velammal Educational Trust chairman M.V.M. Muthu ramalingam (right) and trust secretary M.V.M. Velmurugan look on. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI: The Centre should evolve a common and comprehensive policy on education covering all aspectswhere confusion existed, the former Prime Minister, Deve Gowda, said here on Thursday.

The policy should cover Common Entrance Tests, standardisation of the fee structure, admissions and infrastructure, he said.

"There must be a legislation," he said. It should be based on the several verdicts of the Supreme Court. "Parliament is the highest body which has to discharge its responsibility taking [into account] the overall effect of what would happen to the student community," he said.

There could be instances of States and the Centre differing on many of the issues in education. "I would like to sincerely draw the attention of the people who are at the helm of affairs ... there should not be any confusion and the student community should not be in any [kind of] tension," he said.

Private sector

The private sector, he said, had a major role to play. "The private sector also needs to be provided with some support." At the same time, the commercialisation of education needed to be addressed. The quality of teaching and infrastructure in rural areas at the primary and secondary levels was poor.

"Nobody wants to go to the rural areas. The quality of education in rural areas must be taken care of. Otherwise there will be inequality between rural boys and urban boys," he said.

He called upon the Central and State Governments to provide adequate support and infrastructure in rural areas.

Mr. Gowda was speaking at the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School here.

Mr. Gowda commended The Hindu for maintaining high values in journalism for more than 125 years. He said the newspaper laid great emphasis on accuracy and ethics that others could learn from.

Weak system

Quoting economist Amartya Sen, the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , N. Ram, said the base of the educational system was weak and not broad enough. "He [Prof. Sen] has pointed out that India can never become a developed country unless you strengthen the base of the [educational] pyramid by paying attention to ... every level in that pyramid. You cannot have a top-heavy pyramid where higher education is very well developed and the base is neglected. You will get into trouble sooner or later. This has been an important point in Prof. Amartya Sen's analysis," he said.

Pointing to the mass deprivation that existed in the country, Mr. Ram said the situation was better in south India when compared to the Hindi-speaking States.

"The point is that you cannot allow two Indias to develop simultaneously. One India relatively developed, the other tremendously underdeveloped.

This is a dangerous thing socially, economically and politically and the idea that the benefits of growth, of economic liberalisation and globalisation will trickle down is a completely false claim." Mr. Ram commended the Velammal Educational Trust for its contribution to the educational development of south India in general and Tamil Nadu in particular.

The Velammal Educational Trust chairman, M.V. Muthuramalingam, said the Trust was established in 1986 with 186 students. The total number of students now is about 24,000. It plans to start a medical college in 2007 and a school in Madurai next year.

The Trust secretary, M.V.M. Velmurugan, said the aim of the Trust was to ensure that quality education reached everyone. C. Balaraman, industrialist, offered felicitations.

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