Higher Education council: The Agenda of anti-Nationalism

Dr. TS Girishkumar

Prof. KN Panickar, the former JNU Professor of History and erstwhile Vice Chancellor of Sree Sanakaracharya University of Sanskrit was asked by the Kerala Government to give a studied report on the idea of a Higher Education council. Dr. Panickar gave the report, and recently was in my department, giving a talk about the same, which gave us an opportunity to hear and know more about the whole idea.

The Government wants a three tier system in higher education. At the apex shall be the governor, as the Chancellor, right below him the Education minister as a Pro-Chancellor with the Higher Education Council  with him as a body for ‘democratic’ discussions and decision making, then below shall be the vice-Chancellors of the universities and another body of a Syndicate for again ’Democratic’ discussions and decision making.

The finer Side

 This Higher Education Council is actually a proposal made by the University Grants Commission itself, to make education more meaningful. Some State Governments had also implemented this before Kerala. How a Higher Education council shall make Education more meaningful, and what must have prompted the UGC under what condition etc. are questions pending answer, but in the process of ‘democratisation’ the UGC had not asked to include people ‘from all walks of life’ as members to Education Council. How this is functioning in some States where this is implemented also remains to be studied.

Some questions

One basic question shall be what is the need of Higher Education Council? How is it going to change or improve Education? The Syndicate of universities itself is an anachronism, and it had been repeatedly proving the same, and with changing governments the Syndicate also changes, it had long become an asylum for hapless politicians to anker. And what do they do as members of the Syndicate? Individually they have nothing to do with the running of the Universities, but collectively their approval is needed for anything. Why do hapless politicians do boot licking to become Syndicate members? This is precisely so since these lots could not be accommodated as members of Legislatives, Parliaments, into some boards and the like. It is here that the whole game becomes interesting. People try to make a living out of such membership, by way of getting things done for those who pay, starting from finding different jobs for people to getting things done for people, and to receive “service charges” for such things. It is here that a membership to syndicate can become attractive, and should the requirement of some one who is willing to pay service charges is a big one, in perfect democratic understanding, the members share what they receive. Any Vice Chancellor is helplessly forced under the thumb of the Syndicate, and if the VC is practical in a mundane manner, then there shall be good co operation of sharing and co existing. And it is here, that universities become corrupt, contrary to many people’s belief and faith in such institutions. In a word, the syndicates had already rendered universities a farce, and with the coming of this Higher Education Council, it shall go beyond imagination. Till date, I found just no one at all, who could meaningfully explain the need of a Syndicate to a University as well as what do these people do by way of any kind of Contribution to Education and Knowledge. All that any one could say is simply this; this is democracy, and Syndicate Democratises Universities. Do they mean to treat Democracy as the “panacea”? Is it a necessity to anything and everything? Undoubtedly, Democracy is the best for of Government man had ever experienced, but then, that shall not make democracy a panacea, as some people seem to think. At least in the cases of Armed Forces, this panacea is known not to work, and none shall say till now that it should be extended to the Army as well.

The Hidden Agenda

Petty and worthless politicians are the inevitable hazard to any Democratic system. And it is these people who thrive, leaving some good nationalists far behind. They find ways and means to make money and luxurious living out of Party Politics. Their Logic shall be, since every one does this, why should I stand back leaving all luxuries behind, and staying away from the comfort of caucus? Universities had been out of their area of operation in a significant manner, and they had been longing to put their dirty hands in to this as well for long. Even with the Syndicates, Education Ministers could not directly involve in the affairs of the Universities, and they had to operate through the syndicate members, and they had been effective to some good extent, except in situations where the Vice-Chancellors do not put up with such follies. So far, the Syndicate had been an asylum for the hapless politicians who shall become members to make some money out of their terms. Now, with the Higher Education Council, the Education Minister can directly involve and dictate terms and conditions to the Vice Chancellors, and pattern the running of Universities. They can formulate Curriculum and decide what to teach and what not to teach. One ought to remember the qualities of our politicians in a normal run, and remember that they shall be running our Universities in future.

The Kerala Context

Kerala is a state, where there had been 22 Ministers for Education till date. Out of these 22, 16 had been Muslims (Most of them not much Educated), 5 had been Christians, and there had been just One Hindu. Nearly 85% of Education in Kerala is already in the hands of the Christians and the rest is shared between Muslims and Hindus. Hindus continue to be insignificant, and this is evident from the numbers of ministers, as well as from the numbers of Education Institutions. The unholy Communist+Christian+Muslim trio shall ever try to keep the Hindus away, for their own continued existence. This secret agenda is getting fortified through the higher Education Council, and it is going to be the rule of the State. What ever they had been doing in the field of education underhandedly can now be done explicitly and in a more formidable manner.

Future of Keralites

If Keralites do well in life when they go out side, it is not at all due to the training they received in Kerala pattern of Education, it is just due to their individual capacity and hard work. The training what they get is appalling and completely miserable; it even fails to function as a background to further studies. I do not know if there could be any other Government in the world who so collectively and organisingly cheat their young generation through the education they provide. The Government of Kerala give extra marks to students who fail in the examination to make them get through, just to make the pass percentage to a desired level, for the Education Minister to claim that we gave so many marks as “moderation” to increase the pass percentage from eight to eighty! And these people seem to take much pride in it, their government ‘made’ the pass percentage so much, as though it had been some kind of harvesting of some paddy field, with so much extra grains in the granary. What really happens is this; you issue certificates to youngsters saying that you have such and such qualities, where as these youngsters do not have them. Such process is utter lie to younger generation and gross deception, and this had been going on for years. No one thinks what shall happen to these unfortunate bearers of certificates which wrongly convinces them that they are also equal to students from other states through a blatant lie. And they fail miserably in all competitive examinations in nation wide and end up blaming the North Indians for all these.

Indeed, to put all blame of the National government had been the cunning technique of the Communists right from day one. They make a show that Kerala is a harem of ‘Communal harmony’, and everything is fine here, where as all kinds of terrorist activities are rooted in Kerala. They make a show that Hindus and Muslims co exist with Christens in Kerala, where as the unholy trio rules the land, leaving fragmented Hindus to utter desperation. Hindus are fragmented into various caste organisations, and this they shall maintain, for the unholy trio has to do so for their very existence.

And let us imagine; it is in this state of Kerala that a Higher Education Council is going to be. Think one must, and act one must.

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Reader, School of Social Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala.

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