“Rid education of political interference”-Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce 1/8/10

Sunday, August 1, 2010

“Rid education of political interference”-Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce 1/8/10
01/08/2010

“Rid education of political interference”

Education Minister for increasing higher education enrollment to 30% and common syllabus for commerce



Mumbai: Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said on Saturday said universities should be given more freedom to function independently without any political interference.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Indo-US Summit on Higher Education by the Indo-American Society, Sibal said politicians always tried to control everything. "We want to control everything... who will be appointed the Vice-Chancellor, for how long will he stay there. The universities should be given freedom to function and make choices in teaching or functioning."




Sibal refused to elaborate on the issue of inevitable political interference in educational institutions run by politicians. He said his comment should not be misconstrued. "Politics could be in the form of outside forces like industry/business house controlled also." He slammed college unions, which, he said, formed 'the bedrock' of political and other forces. "They have to be constructive rather than obstructive."




He reiterated the need for expanding educational system, particularly at the higher level. "Only 12.4 per cent students are enrolled for higher studies... it needs to be increased to 30 per cent by 2020. We will need collaborations, joint ventures and public private partnership to fill the enormous space of educational institutes."



Core curriculum for commerce

After announcing a core curriculum for science and mathematics at the higher secondary Sibal said there would be a similar effort in commerce, wherein the core of the curriculum would be set as per national standards giving students across the country a level playing field. The new curriculum along with physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics will come into effect from 2011-'12 academic year.

Source: Indian Express
Posted by vibha tailang at 10:07 AM