MYSORE: The district unit of the All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) has urged the Union Government to reconsider its decision to include education under tradable services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

In a release, AIDSO said this would hasten the process of commercialisation of education and would benefit only the corporate sector and a minuscule section of society.

AIDSO activists submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister expressing concern that commercialisation and privatisation of higher education would be accelerated under the bulldozing effect of the global market economy and result in an exorbitant fee structure that would be beyond the reach of a majority of students.

It said education would cease to be an exercise in character building, and the entire teaching and learning process would be tailored to suit the interests of local and foreign monopolies, which would reduce education to a profitable investment.

Drawing attention to the perceived negative impact of liberalisation on education, AIDSO president Umadevi and secretary Ravi said the process would shrink the Government's responsibility of providing education to its citizens as the provisions of GATS were opposed to any government subsidy or budgetary allocation.

UNESCO document

Pointing to a UNESCO document that highlighted the standard of education in the branches of well-known universities that had proliferated all over the world, AIDSO quoted relevant sections from it and said these branches were badly managed and had poor rating resulting in rapid fall in standards as their sole purpose was to reap maximum profit by using their reputation.

"We have already witnessed the chaotic conditions due to the proliferation of the so-called deemed universities and autonomous colleges that have converted education into a business," AIDSO said.

It argued that the gains to be accrued to India would be marginal and only a small segment of skilled professionals would stand to benefit at the expense of the overwhelming majority of the people and urged the Government to desist from submitting itself to the GATS stipulation on including education under tradable services.

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