The very theme is not
only important in present context but also it will also create the foundation
stone of our posterity. We cannot express importance of education in a single
line or some paragraphs because it is concept, a miracle, a differentiator
which makes us different and elite from all other animal of this planet and
also equally it makes us responsible towards sustainability of this planet.
Again the marketisation
of education having some benefits however these benefits are concentrated to a
small segment of people like coaching owners,
elite industrialists and some other Bourzua (As the term coined by Great Social
Scientist and philosopher Karl Marx) while on the other side of the coin a
large section of students and their parents whose eyes are full of hope and
expectations that their wards will get a service or employment and will become
their liabilities holder or popularly called in Hindi as “Budhape ki Lathi”
,remain in the waiting lines in search for opportunities and correct timing in
spite of their good education background followed my professional and
competitive skills.
If we discuss about the
present topic in the locus of one of the most important region of North India
termed as Purvanchal which is consisted of two words Purva or East and Anchal
i.e. region. It covers the areas of eastern end of state of Uttar Pradesh and
western end of state of Bihar. It is said that the route of power in Centre or
Delhi crosses through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which having 80 and 40 Lok Sabha
seats respectively. But if we talk about the discussed topic the locus and
focus of education, employment, skill and other development indicators
associated with education this region is at the bottom of literacy pyramid in
the country which is called as Viswaguru because of its enriched education and
sea of knowledge followed by birth place of a large number of dignitaries like Mahamana
and others.
Also in this Purvanchal
the marketisation of education and affected the entire dimension whether it is
social, cultural, linguistic, religious and others as such.
Further the changing nature of State from Welfare to Retreating or Facilitator have intense the gap which lied in education and associated sectors.
Further the changing nature of State from Welfare to Retreating or Facilitator have intense the gap which lied in education and associated sectors.
In this moment or
juncture it remind me of a popular Hindi hymn or slok
Kalam Desh Ki Weh Sakti
Hai Bhag Jagane Wali,
Dil Hin Nhin Dimago
Mein bhi Aag Lagane wali
Which literally proves
that the power of pen is the most important for laying foundation stone of any
movement whether youth movement or education movement?
However the very power
embedded in pen has been diminished particularly post LPG i.e.
Liberalization,Globalisation and Privatization era and presently the government
is claiming about Minimum Government and Maximum Governance, Digital
India,PMKVY and many such initiative which looks eye catching and pleasant
mainly on papers but the same schemes die in most of the cases or areas just
because of reluctance of government whether Centre or at state level ,the
bureaucracy or momocracy and other stakeholders
. I am not against the
westernization of education but before all those promises and policy we just
have to ask following question as a policy formulators:
Whether this education
policy will be implementable on ground?
What about our cultural,
socialistic, linguistic heritage, values and ethics, will it preserve these or
will predate these important values as character formation is the back bone of
national unity and integration?
Whether these policies
will help poor students or students coming from rural background, lower middle
class or needy one?
Whether we have a
control string before these coaching institutions over matters like fee,
facilities, qualitative and quantitative education, employment related education,
skill enhancement and others important attributes?
If I share my personal
experience as recently I have visited the state of Kerala which is regarded as
one of the most developed state if we put it on literacy parameter. I found
that there they have a strong local government and strong decentralization at
ground level which act as a catalyst for educational excellence without marketisation
or less share of market in education sector.
And also I remember my
first day at Lanka here in Varanasi and the banners and posters of many private
institutions and many of those are claiming that they will provide guidance,
education and training under one roof whether CGL/Railway/Civil
Services/Banking/Defense and so on. And further they claim that they will
nurture you in a short span of time say 6 months however in the very poster or
pamphlet they do not mention the high amount of fee which they are charging at
those institutions and after admission they will mainly focus on syllabus
coverage by hook and crook and forget all those wonderful manifesto depicted on
their advertisements.
And at final juncture I
have to express my concern that we have to not only raise our voices against
this prevalent issues but also will be actively involve into solution of these
problems as we student and association are an important part of the fifth
pillar of democracy and future of India.
ü At
first we have to make education in control and guidance of local stakeholders
or in other words educational decentralization where important stakeholders say
student association based on democratic consensus and representation, skilled
and intellectual people in locality, Urban and Rural local bodies ,
Academician,Technocrates and other important stakeholder as such
ü We
have to stop this marketisation or at least put a restriction based on shared representation
ü We
have to promote government run education while lifting the skill and knowledge
level at these institution at primary, intermediate and higher studies levels
ü Increase
the share of Education in budget expenditure followed by use of modern
technologies like Block chain, GPS tracking and other advanced means. Also we
have to pay our attention of improving infrastructure at educational
institution and self drive at weekend on cleanliness and sanitation as taking
idea from Japan a small country in Pacific but having qualitative education
model
ü Regularly
organize these sorts of discussion, debate and experience sharing platforms not
only to strengthen education but also democracy
Shonit Nayan
BHU,Varanasi
Mail-Id- shonitnayan123@gmail.com
