The All India Forum for the Right to Education (AIFRTE) held a vibrant protest against the hastily implemented New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that has undermined the Constitutional provisions of Article 21A and 46 of the Indian Constitution, allowed the State to withdraw from its constitutional obligations to all citizens especially SC, STs and Minorities. The sharp cuts in recently introduced scholarships for marginalised sections have further pushed away the hard earned access to education and higher education for all.

Photographs of the dharna may be seen here:

The detailed statement of the AIFRTE is below:

With the coming in of NEP 2020, the process of privatization and commodification of education which had begun in the preceding decades has taken on a new and rapid form. From school mergers, to rapid de-funding of higher education institutions, to roll back of different scholarship schemes in school and higher education, accessible education is today being made a dream for the vast majority of this country.

Demands of the Forum:

• Pre-Matric Scholarships for SC/ST/Minority/Girl students be reinstated. Not only is this scholarship essential to aide majority of students in completion of education, it is also key in preventing children from marginalized and oppressed backgrounds from being pushed into child labour.
• Extend scholarship to oppressed and marginalized sections of students up to class 12.
• School Teacher vacancies along with principal positions in schools are filled on a permanent basis. No contract based appointments in our education institutions.
• Scrapping of the school merger program which has been reinforced through the NEP 2020, with lakhs of schools already being shut in areas which need educational institutions more urgently than ever before.
• Of the children admitted in class 1, only about six percent of STs, eight percent of SCs, nine percent of Muslims and ten percent of OBCs are able to complete schooling till class 12. This means that more than 90% of these sections already stand outside the ‘shrinking’ public education system. Mergers need to be stopped, and more schools and teacher appointments along with scholarships are required to bridge this enormous gap.
• There needs to be uniformity in school syllabi across boards, with all schools teaching all subjects to students.
• Children’s nutritional needs ought to be met in school.

In Higher Education:

• Withdraw CUET as the mode of getting admitted to undergraduate programmes. CUET’s pattern places CBSE students at a massive advantage over other state boards, which has been reflected in the rise in CBSE intake this year in DU.
• Funding of higher education institutions must be undertaken through grants and not the loan model. Loan based funding will push expenses on to students who will themselves have to take up loans to pursue higher education, a model which has already been proven to have disastrous consequences, as is evident from the United States experience.
• Scholarships for marginalized students need to be increased. In the past few years, scholarship schemes have been officially discontinued or made ineffective in insidious ways. There has been a massive downward trend in funding for different scholarship schemes catering to SC/ST, OBC and minority students. If we look at the pre-matric scholarship scheme for students from Scheduled Castes (SC), offered by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE), its funding has been cut by Rs 225 crore (from Rs 725 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 500 crore in 2022-23). Similarly, allocation for the National Fellowship for SC students has been cut by Rs 127 crore, from Rs 300 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 173 crore in 2022-23.
• The allocation for the post-matric scholarship for Other Backward Classes (OBC) students has been cut by Rs 217 crore, from Rs 1,300 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 1,083 crore in 2022-23. For the Scholarships for Higher Education for Young Achievers Scheme (SHREYAS) for SC students, it has been reduced from Rs 450 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 364 crore in 2022-23. The Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship for Students with Disabilities has also seen rapid decrease in seats allocated each year. 
• Increase in budgetary allocation  on education as per the need and requirements of the sector to enable free, quality and universal education.
• The Right to Unionise must be guaranteed to students as well as all stakeholders of the university. Running universities like private enterprises through the Board of Governors goes against the idea of public education.
• These changes are required even more in present times, where inequality is at its highest historically, particularly after the Covid-19 crisis. Since the pandemic began in Nov 2022, billionaires in India have seen their wealth surge by 121. Just five percent of Indians own more than 60 percent of the country’s wealth while the bottom 50 percent of India’s population possess only three percent of wealth.

In multiple ways the right to education is being attacked ceaselessly by the ruling regime. Since the rise of BJP in power, there has been a clear indication that the Government would no longer support education as a fundamental right, as it is enshrined in our constitution under article 21A. 

“The scrapping of these scholarships is also violative  of article 46 of the constitution which ensures the promotion of the educational interests of SC,ST OBC, minorities, women and disabled persons.  

“The faulty and flawed design of NEP 2020 along with it’s hasty implementation which meant to openall educational institutions to private entities need to be examined and necessarily linked with the dilution and scrapping of these scholarships along with the promotion of the process of closer and merger of the school at various levels. 

“The turn towards privatization under NEP is evident further when we look at the case of non-NET fellowships for research scholars which have seen reduced allocation at the level of departments across universities. 

“These changes and rapid de-funding from scholarships is occuring at a moment when fees are simultaneously being hiked and the overall cost of education is rising everywhere. It follows the doctrine of making education a saleable commodity which has framed education policy since the early 2000s and is now being even more rapidly implemented. 

“All these attacks seemed to affect only the SC, ST or minorities, especially the Muslims, against whom the Government rides on populist support. However, this is merely a blueprint for the large-scale overhaul in education being brought about through the NEP. 

The Modi  Government is trying to  privatise the education sector, leading to huge increments in fees and limited seats across schools and colleges; a concern no longer limited to minorities and affecting all.”

Related:

51 Reasons to say goodbye to NEP 2020: AIFRTE

ABVP gang run riot disrupt academic session on Constitution & NEP: Odisha

Tripura: Hundreds Join SFI, TSF Jatha Against NEP, ‘Save India, Save Constitution’

The post Towards Quality Universal and Accessible Education for All!  Protests against NEP 2020 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Continuing with the virtual campaign against the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, organisers circulated a document listing 51 reasons for rejecting the policy on August 11, 2021.

The All India Forum for Right To Education (AIFRTE) shared an open letter to government authorities decrying the NEP 2020 for its “unconstitutional” approach to education on the first day of the NEP Quit India campaign on Tuesday.

Primary among those reasons is that the NEP 2020 overrides rights of state governments for taking decisions about education – a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution. Academicians, teachers, students worried that this imposes centralised regulatory bodies, centralised eligibility, evaluation tests and even centrally coordinated tests at classes 3, 5, and 8 in schools.

“[NEP 2020] actually reduces the scope of mother tongues as the medium of Education: while the RTE Act provided for mother tongues as a medium of education up to grade VIII, the NEP 2020 reduces it to grade V only; and like the former act, this document also applies similar provisions like ‘except wherever not possible’ making the whole provision ineffectual,” said the AIFRTE.

Individuals and organisations on social media shared various points in the Bill on Wednesday to give a bullet-view of why they rejected the policy.

शिक्षा की जिम्मेदारी सरकार की होनी चाहिए लेकिन नई शिक्षा नीति कह रही हो कि सरकार की कोई जिम्मेदारी नहीं है।
जिसपर जितना ज्यादा पैसा होगा वही शिक्षा लेगा।
बाजारीकरण के खिलाफ सड़कों पर निकलना जरूरी है#NEPQuitIndia @Sonia96131312 @PJkanojia @NavMDU @TheAlternate3 @FirozAl97509171 pic.twitter.com/MCLRws8KoF

— Sangeeta Geet (@SangeetaGeet2) August 11, 2021

#NEPQuitIndia pic.twitter.com/TcAv81sEbT

— Gangadhar M (@Gangadh41417242) August 11, 2021

The document also mentions how instead of acknowledging the Tapas Mazumdar Committee’s (2005) suggestion to provide educational expenditure only from government sources, the NEP 2020 calls for not only so-called ‘private philanthropic’ activity but also Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the education sector.

The full list of reasons can be viewed below:

Others drafted a copy of the AIFRTE’s open letter in their local language to officials like the Joint Collector in Andhra Pradesh.

#NEPQuitIndia ఈరోజు శ్రీకాకుళం జిల్లా జేసీ కి వినతి ఇస్తున్న ఏపీ విద్యా పరిరక్షణ కమిటీ శ్రీకాకుళం జిల్లా నాయకత్వం…*Srikakulam unit of APSEC submitted a memorandum to the joint collector against implementation of NEP 2020 in Andhra Pradesh pic.twitter.com/bMPJeHxNTN

— Ramesh Patnaik (@drameshchandra1) August 11, 2021

In Kamareddy district of Telangana, the State Save Education committee observed a physical protest and submitted a memorandum to the District Collector.

Similarly, the women’s student collective Pinjra Tod published their second statement on “blended learning” and the NEP 2020. In it, they condemned the UGC’s draft syllabi that included pro-establishment books by Baba Ram Dev and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ajay Singh Bisht “Adityanath.”

Statement on Blended Learning & #NEP2020 – Part 2

“These WTO-GATS policies have increasingly shaped the Indian policy for higher education, and NEP is the tragic climax of this turn to commercialisation and commodification…” https://t.co/rhWWcmMh61 pic.twitter.com/8YUdo2Xx4V

— Pinjra Tod (@PinjraTod) August 11, 2021

The NEP Quit India campaign continues on Thursday. The AIFRTE once again appealed to all people to draw attention towards the policy that threatens to undermine the Right to Education.

Reject NEP-2020 which is intended to pull back to Pre Mediaval Slavery byImposing VocationalEducation onCast based profession to keep the students out side theirChoice of gettingHigher Education.#NEPQuitIndia @nep2020 @AISFofficial @VickyMahesari @AisfOdisha @SonuSanghamitra pic.twitter.com/h5y8uYLJ1x

— JAYANTA DAS (@JAYANTA62725480) August 11, 2021

Related:

‘NEP Quit India’ campaign begins
AIFRTE announces NEP Quit India campaign
Activists, intellectuals discuss the threat of NEP 2020 on Constitution Day
Modi and Sangh shape education in their own mould

The post 51 Reasons to say goodbye to NEP 2020: AIFRTE appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Students, teachers, academicians and many other groups working in the field of education have responded to the call for a Quit India campaign against the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 by the All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE). 

AIFRTE is a united platform of academics, students, teachers and activists in defence of democratic rights and struggles. It had rejected the NEP 2020 for its push towards the Centre’s “neoliberal and fascist agenda” amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. As per an open letter circulated by AIFRTE, the policy violates constitutional rights, principles and goals of Indians with public-private ‘partnership’ (PPP) schemes that promote the merger and closure of existing government schools. Further, the AIFRTE said the NEP 2020 seeks to centralise the education system by denying the federal structure of India.

“It claims that the neoliberal strategy of privatisation, corporatisation and centralisation of education will provide “universal access” to “quality education” for all. However… the inequalities in people’s life conditions are so extreme that this is not feasible at all… NEP 2020 is [currently being] implemented most anti-democratically through government orders in the absence of open debate amongst parliamentarians in the Parliament. It will lead to a denial of any meaningful education for over ninety percent of children,” said the AIFRTE.

This open letter was shared by many organisations like Delhi’s women students collective Pinjra Tod. Later the collective published its own statement denouncing the evils of the “blended learning” of the NEP 2020.

Excerpt from @AllIndiaForumf1‘s open letter #NEPQuitIndia pic.twitter.com/P039LXWZXl

— Pinjra Tod (@PinjraTod) August 10, 2021

Statement on Blended Learning & #NEP2020 – Part 1

“..Deepening fault lines that deter people’s equal participation in education was not enough distress to get UGC to intervene..rather it makes such failure permanent..”https://t.co/ntn0m8kpZi@AllIndiaForumf1 #NEPQuitIndia
1/4 pic.twitter.com/f2uOZr4mUV

— Pinjra Tod (@PinjraTod) August 10, 2021

The AIFRTE said that the policy is aimed at ensuring that education suffers just like the right to work and to health. It alleged the schemes convert education into a market commodity to be sold and traded for corporate profit. This particularly hinders the education of communities crippled by caste, class, gender, and disability, religion, non-Hindi/ non-English language.

“Those from well-to-do families, educated in elite English medium schools and economically equipped to benefit from expensive private coaching centres, are allowed to further consolidate their economic and social advantages. It is no wonder that NEP 2020 makes no mention of the promotion of diversity and social justice through the Reservation policy,” said the AIFRTE.

Along with students, organisations like the Telangana Progressive Teachers Federation (TPTF) also protested the NEP 2020 on Tuesday. Other groups and individuals also joined the protest with their own banners and messages. The Twitter storm will continue on August 11 and August 12 as well.

#NEPQuitIndia pic.twitter.com/4rW74hMn5A

— M. Srinivasulu. Gen. sec. TPTF (@SrinivasuliM) August 10, 2021

#nepquitindia
2/5
It would impart skills which ease their early entry into the informal labour market, and thereby preclude a majority from entering higher education. At the higher education level too, there is an overt emphasis on vocational education.#NationalExclusionPolicy pic.twitter.com/STKJICtLPA

— KYS – Delhi University (@DelhiKys) August 10, 2021

#NEPQuitIndia@AllIndiaForumf1
Fight against saffronisation of education. Keep Brahmanism and Manuvaad away from Indian education. Fight against NEP2020. – @AirsoCenter @ranjanshishu86
@PMOIndia @EduMinOfIndia @rashtrapatibhvn @thewire_in @TheQuint @the_hindu @BBCHindi @epw_in pic.twitter.com/oFoU1nhadR

— Shishu Ranjan (شیشو رنجن) (@ranjanshishu86) August 10, 2021

#NEPQuitIndia@AllIndiaForumf1

Education is not a fish that is sold in the market. It is a basic right. @sumitraj222 @AirsoCenter@PMOIndia @EduMinOfIndia @rashtrapatibhvn @ndtv @thewire_in @TheQuint @the_hindu @BBCHindi @epw_in pic.twitter.com/nvE7Xgvktg

— niranjan koickal (@niranjankoickal) August 10, 2021

The full letter by the AIFRTE can be viewed below:

Related:

AIFRTE announces NEP Quit India campaign
Activists, intellectuals discuss the threat of NEP 2020 on Constitution Day
AIFRTE condemns arrest of Save Education Committee members over NEP 2020
Modi and Sangh shape education in their own mould

The post ‘NEP Quit India’ campaign begins appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On November 26, the  All India Forum for Right To Education (AIFRTE) organised a webinar titled  ‘Reclaim Social Justice Day’ where its member denounced the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and demand the for immediate release of Prof. Anand Teltumbde and other intellectuals arrested on trumped-up charges. 

During the event, AIFRTE organising Secretary Vikas Gupta read a resolution that denounced the NEP for its impact on social justice.

“NEP 2020 is a policy which demands to be rejected because it sees education only as a means of indoctrinating the mass of children and youth to fall in line with the government’s agenda of preparing a work-force that will labour in the low-paid jobs market and satisfy corporate requirements,” said the resolution.

The complete resolution can be viewed below:

Gupta said that the notion of social justice is enshrined in the Indian Constitution. However, over the last six years, there is increasing intention to demolish the constitutional values by demolishing the public sector of health, food, employment.

“To tackle this, the AIFRTE began organising state-level meetings to start a nation-wide centralised campaign for the protection of such constitutional values. The organisation will finalise a calendar from November 26 to December 26 that will list campaign days,” he said.

Similarly, AIFRTE Presidium Member Professor G. Hargopal read another resolution that demanded the immediate release of intellectuals and activists arrested for Bhima-Koregaon violence. Remembering Anand Teltumbde as an important member of the AIFRTE, he said the arrest of one of India’s best analysts shows the current state of an individual’s fundamental rights.

He also talked about the role of the NEP 2020 after considering laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA.)

“The NEP comes at a critical point in time. Education and knowledge raise critical questions. The government wants to stifle voices of university students and teachers. JNU has become a test case. Soon, this will happen to all universities. The AIFRTE is intervening to reclaim the purpose of education, reclaiming production of knowledge because knowledge has to help people in realising their rights and justice,” he said.

Over the course of the webinar, many artists and professionals in the field of education talked about their concerns regarding the current government and its educational policies.

Member of Maharashtra’s Insaaniyat Ki Pathshala Lokshahir Sambhaji Bhagat said, “You very well know who has changed the NEP. Their nature, their personality, you know that. This government is clearly a fascist government. They want to uplift brahmanvad and other uppercaste-mentalities. They are willing to allow the corporate to usurp this country. The government cannot bring about democratic changes because of their Brahmanical nature,” before singing the song to indicate the devious nature of the central government.

Later, former Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women Prof. V. Vasanthi Devi talked about caste and Tamil Nadu in the context of the NEP. She said that the policy threatens Ambedkar’s vision of caste.

“Upper class soc is trying to build a single Hindu majority while marginalising religious minorities particularly Muslim.  Dalits are treated as less than humans, tribals are looted. Education has fully come into the market. The underprivileged have no scope of buying the product from these exorbitant markets,” said Vasanthi Devi.

She pointed out that Tamil Nadu stood as the biggest challenge towards the realization of a Hindu rashtravad since it has the highest level of reservation in higher education.

Nation Convener of the Safai Karamchari Andolan Bezwada Wilson also warned that the NEP along with recent new economic policies worked to strengthen an anti-minority environment that only caters to corporate companies.

“We can’t say that policies and politics are separate. Sanitation workers’ children are becoming available as cheap manual labour because they can’t afford to go to colleges. Children were forced to engage in online education. How will a large number of children who do not have a smartphone avail education?” he said.

To illustrate his point, he talked about the LSR student who died by suicide because she could not afford to pay her fees or keep up with online education due to a lack of amenities such as a laptop.

“Minority children can change their social status only through education. But now this manusmriti attitude is making clear that we will be restricted to menial jobs,” he said.

Building on this concern of a lack of proper educational facilities, member of Jan Jagaran Abhiyan Madhusudan Sethy from Odisha said that the government should introduce a system of accountability that makes education available to all. Further, the government should also employ more teachers and build roads leading to schools. Yet schools continue to close down in the state.

“Education should consider the entire population of India. Considering that, understand the disparity wherein a farmer’s child gets a different education from a politician’s child. The NEP that only talks about privatization will lead to destruction,” he said.

Sethy also said that he witnessed six protests in Odisha on Thursday that demanded the withdrawal of NEP 2020.

Madhya Pradesh’s Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathan Madhuri pointed out the current formal education system compels Adivasis to abandon their traditional manners to become more like urban folk.

“When an Adivasi child enters educational premises, the first thing they learn is that their own community is uneducated and superstitious. The educated people encourage Adivasi children to abandon their traditional ways and become like urban people,” she said.

Near identical sentiments were voiced by former Vice President of Naga Student Federation K. Elu Ndang who talked about the exclusion of North-East people from the education system.

He pointed out that India has no idea about its topography or about northeast culture. Many Northeast states lag in the field of transport, communication and internet connectivity. He questions how online education would develop in such situations.

“Till today India fails to refer to Northeast states for any decisions and thus fails in overall development. We are not considered an integral part or equal partner of this country,” said Ndang referring to the lack of Northeast representation in the national curriculum.

Another educational activist Firoz Ahmed from Delhi associated with the Lok Shikshak Manch talked about how the NEP 2020 would complicate the already precarious process of affirmative action in Muslim communities.

“The NEP uses the word ‘merit’ many times but it does not talk about integration and scholarships,” he said, pointing out that this sharply contrasted results of a recent survey conducted by the organisation that showed most families in Delhi hoped for integrated schools despite the violence in February 2020.

Highlighting yet another flaw in the new policy, the webinar also welcomed a teacher from Lokayat, Chandigarh and a student activist to talk about women’s issues and the lack of their mention in the document.

Amandeep Kaur who has worked as a professor in a university in Amritsar, Punjab warned that the corporatisation of education as stated in the NEP 2020 would only exclude women from the field. During her lectures, she said girls were heavily monitored and berated by their parents for working on their phones for a long period of time.

“Parents would not let girls talk on the phone for long hours thinking they would be talking to boys. We received calls from parents who complained about the long lecture sessions. Many girls were unable to attend classes due to financial constraints,” she said.

Thus, she argued that the idea of online education with a larger reach used an incomplete picture of what is actually happening in society.

Similarly, member of Delhi’s Pinjra Tod organisation Supriya Kumar criticised the new education policy for failing to address the inequalities in society.

“We are fighting the State’s attempts to apply NEP 2020 that will produce a mass of students as cheap labour in society. New liberalism is reshaping brahmanism and patriarchy. Social justice needs to prepare against it,” she said.

She said that this also threatens campus democracy. Public universities serve as a space where larger casteist patriarchal exclusionary state of government can be reproduced. She alluded to the many attacks on JNU students warning that the universities’ insistence that students not go beyond what is taught in classrooms is particularly alarming.

Related:

AIFRTE condemns arrest of Save Education Committee members over NEP 2020
21st century brand of India’s Language Policy – NEP 2020
Modi and Sangh shape education in their own mould
‘NEP Is Meant for Commercialisation of Education’ 

The post Activists, intellectuals discuss the threat of NEP 2020 on Constitution Day appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Observing Constitution Day on November 26, the All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE), a federal platform of students, teachers, educational right organisations from different states and Union Territories has condemned the arrest of Professor Vidmahe, Dr Gangadhar, Mettu Ravinder and T. Sudarshan of Telangana Save Education Committee (TSEC) for opposing the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

AIFRTE, which observed Constitution Day on November 26 as Reclaiming Social Justice Day, held a large number of programmes to oppose the “dilution of Constitutional framework of social justice and equality” by the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, accusing the “right-wing Brahmanical/ Hindutva and patriarchal forces” of seeking to “destroy the Constitutional guarantees of equality, social justice and measures for affirmative action like reservations and other welfare measures.”

In August, 2020, AIFRTE had also expressed deep anguish and shock over State Governments, especially North East India’s action of invoking Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules to prevent and intimidate teachers from protesting against the new educational policies.

According to the media, the Union Cabinet on November 25, approved the New National Education Policy and renamed the HRD Ministry as the Education Ministry. The AIFRTE along with SEC have been fighting this new policy because they claim that this new plan aims at centralising, corporatising and communalising the entire education system thereby leading to massive exclusion of students from oppressive and poor backgrounds who anyway struggle with accessibility issues.

The National Education Policy, announced, without debate in Indian Parliament and without adequate inclusion of concerns and criticisms sent in by diverse Indian groups has raised several questions of concern, especially with related to access to education for all, democratisation of education, the language formula articulated, diversity concerns and worst of all, the all-out privatisation of higher education. 

SabrangIndia has reported on the salient features of the NEP 2020, which may be read here.

Related:

Modi and Sangh shape education in their own mould
‘NEP Is Meant for Commercialisation of Education’  

The post AIFRTE condemns arrest of Save Education Committee members over NEP 2020 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It was in April 2015, that an MHRD panel first recommended the complete scrapping of the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the setting up of a new body which would be under the direct control of the MHRD.  The autonomy of the UGC would undoubtedly be severely affected by such a move. It was perceived that the panel recommendation were  preparations for pushing through highly centralised policy measures that may not even be deliberately upon in the public domain.
 
Simultaneously, the last Central Budget already saw a jaw dropping budgetary cut of 17% in Education! In the revised estimates for 2014-15, while school education allocation was cut by around Rs. 80,000 crores that of higher education was slashed by Rs. 4,000 crore.
 
This year’s budget saw a 55 per cent budgetary cut in the UGC’s own outlay. The biggest casualties of these measures are of course going to be students from marginalized caste, gender and religious backgrounds.
 
 Sabrangindia has been closely following these developments in the field of education

Columnist  with Sabrangindia, Madhu Prasad, who is also on the Presidium of the All India Forum for the Right to Education (AIFRTE) while commenting upon the December 2015 WTO-GAT negotiations at Nairobi https://sabrangindia.in/column/nairobi-and-after that
 
“Instead of fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide free and compulsory school education of quality to all children and take steps to expand and democratise higher education, the state is retreating from its responsibility. In August 2005, the Government of India (GOI) made an `offer’ to provide Market Access to higher education as a `tradable service’ under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS). This offer was made in spite of the conclave of state education ministers having warned against the move in January 2005, citing fears of conflict with national values and goals. If the offer is not withdrawn before the conclusion of the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the Doha Round being held from December 15- 18, 2015 at Nairobi, Kenya, it will become a commitment in perpetuity.
 
In this analysis, Prasad had further said, “However, the struggle in defence of higher education is already being fought on the ground. As privatisation and marketisation of education are being vigorously promoted by government policies the situation is rapidly deteriorating and attacks on the education system and on academic inquiry and freedom are becoming noticeably fiercer. In order to transform education into a commodity and a tradable service as the GATS regime demands, its character as a vibrant space for socially aware critical inquiry and expression needs to be first destroyed. This means that its constituent, freedoms of thought, opinion, expression, association and instruction can no longer be tolerated. Since academic communities both inhabit and define this space which is so essential to any free, open and stable society they become targets, systemically and individually, of governments and forces that seek to oppress people in the interests of the exploiters and profiteers.”
 
 On December 14, 2015, the Presidium of the All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) wrote a strong appeal to the President of India.
 
Text of the  Appeal:
 
Appeal to advise central government to immediately withdraw the higher education ‘offer’ to WTO-GATS and protect India’s Constitution and sovereignty.
 
Dear Honourable Mr. President,
 
All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) is a federated platform of about 70 students’ and teachers’ organisations and educational rights groups working in 25 states/UTs. On behalf of AIFRTE, Justice (Retd.) Rajinder Sachar sought an appointment with you on 4th November 2015 in order to submit our Memorandum and the signatures of tens of thousands of people from different parts of the country, appealing to the central government to withdraw its ‘offer’ of committing higher education for ‘market access’ to WTO-GATS before the 10th Ministerial Conference at Nairobi (15th to 18th December 2015). We are deeply disappointed that the opportunity to put forth our concerns before you was denied. Due to this denial, people have submitted their signatures to your office/PMO through District Collectors; those received by us at the last minute are annexed herewith.
 
The central government’s unwillingness to withdraw its ‘offer’ of committing higher education to WTO-GATS before the Nairobi Conference, despite nation-wide protests, is a clear evidence of the government plans to convert India’s higher education from a democratic entitlement into a tradeable commodity in the global market. Rampant privatisation and commercialisation has already excluded more than 90% of the deprived sections, especially the SCs, STs, OBCs and the minorities, with women and disabled in each of these sections suffering further exclusion. Once the WTO-GATS regime is allowed to operate in this sector, the doors of higher education will be permanently closed for the aforesaid sections. WTO-GATS will also impact upon the very character of knowledge and values in the higher education system to suit the corporate vested interest at the cost of the needs of our people. Even the Constitutional commitment to equal opportunity in education and the social justice agenda will be dismantled under the WTO-GATS regime as it will be viewed being against ‘level playing field’ for the corporate profits! Thus, committing higher education to WTO-GATS will erode our capacity to formulate educational policies. It is an assault on the sovereignty of the nation. 
 
As President of our Republic, you are oath-bound to protect the Constitution. We take this opportunity to appeal to you to advise and intervene to ensure that the central government withdraws its ‘offer’ of higher education from the WTO negotiating table of the 10th Ministerial at Nairobi before it is too late!’
 
On April 6, 2016, the Forum received a reply from the Commerce Ministry (an Office Memorandum) addressed to the Under Secretary of the International Cooperation Cell, MHRD, AK Gopal.   Through this reply to the MHRD, the Commerce Ministry of the Government of India has sought to clarify that ‘there had there has been no agreement on ‘Education sector’ at the 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Nairobi, Kenya. Further the reply states that,
 
‘I am directed to refer to your OM No. 11-1/2015-ICC dated 29th January, 2016 on the subject mentioned above and to inform that India’s draft offers in ‘Higher Education Services’ submitted in the WTO in 2005 are wounded in such a manner as to allow for future evolution of regulations and policies. Moreover, it is still at ‘offer’ stage with no legal validity and still needs to be negotiated. Subsidies have been kept out of its purview, implying that we may continue to grant subsidies to domestic (Indian) service suppliers.
 
2.All scholarships / financial support to students in higher education sector may be continued of discontinued and such schemes may be introduced independent of the obligations under the WTO.
 
3.As regards the issue of FDI, you may like to note that as per the FDI policy of the GOI, 100% FDI is already allowed in the Higher Education Sector under automatic route, subject to necessary sectoral regulations.

4.The philosophy behind making offers in ‘Higher Education Services’ in the WTO is to attract foreign investment, technology and best global practices. The estimated market size of Indian students studying abroad is around USD 15-20 billion. While this is a huge demand on India’s scare foreign exchange resources, it also implies that there is a huge opportunity for Foreign Universities to set up campuses in India. However, the government shall have full flexibility to regulate these Foreign Universities as per its domestic regulations.
 
5.It is also informed that there has been no agreement on ‘Education sector’ at the 10th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Nairobi, Kenya.’

See also:

1. The Nairobi Surrender

2.Why higher education in India must not bow to the market
 

The post Slashes in Education due to Iniquitous WTO-GATS Regime? No, says Modi Government appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Hundreds of students, teachers and educational rights activists from different organisations and groups in Delhi and outside assembled on the 4rth day of All India Resistance Camp Against Committing Higher Education to WTO at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi organised by AIFRTE (All India Forum for Right To Education). Eminent intellectuals, academicians and activists from across the country including Prof G Hargopal, Prof. Anil Sadgopal, Prof. Nandita Narain, Prof Anand Teltumbde, Dr Sukumar, Dr Nikhil Jain, Sri Ramesh Patnaik, Prof. Joga Singh Virk, Prof. Saraswat, Prof. Sanat Kar, Sri Surjit Thokchom, Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Com. Kuldeep, Prof. O K Yadav, Prof Abha Dev Habib, Sri Pankaj Pushkar, Prof C Sadashiva, Prof Viraj Kafle, Prof Panditaradhya, Com Sivaram, Com Jahangir Aman, Prof Ashok Mukherjee, Com Shatru Ghosh, Com Jyoti Bhushan, Com Ramesh Bijekar, Com Manoj Kumar, Prof Zhatsoe Humtsoe, Sri Pankaj Tyagi, Com Firoz, Com Daman addressed the gathering mobilised by member- and fraternal-organisations of AIFRTE.

The public meet deliberated on the impact of WTO-GATS onslaught on diversity of the country and social justice agenda of the Constitution. It was highlighted by the speakers that once higher education is opened for global trade under WTO regime, whatever gains have been made by the dalit, backward, adivasi and minority communities will be washed away as public-funded system will be dismantled in interests of corporate houses and global capital. Already the public higher education system is reeling under budget cuts. It was pointed out that the agenda of reservations, scholarships and fee concessions for the backward communities would be withdrawn. In addition, the rich diversity of the country will find no place in the academic universe as our institutions will be downgraded with uniform and homogenous curriculum to fit in the needs of global markets.

The Resistance Camp was enlivened by the stirring cultural performances including poetry recital and revolutionary songs sung by several groups from Delhi and outside. A Hindi book on onslaught of WTO on education was also released on the occasion.
The Resistance Camp which started on 7^th Dec will continue till 14^th December. Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) will mobilize its activists and general public tomorrow.
With Greetings,

The post Education is for All, keep out WTO-GATS appeared first on SabrangIndia.