PRIVATIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION CAUSES CULTURAL DECLINE
Dr.
Chilakamarthi Durga Prasada Rao
3/106,
Premnagar, Dayalbagh, AGRA
9897959425
From times immemorial education has been given a very important place not only in our country but also everywhere. We in India went to the extent of saying that a man with no education is a beast.
Education system is considered to
be four pillared edifice of which parents, students, teachers and the
government constitute the pillars. Hence
the system becomes effective provided all the four pillars are strong. Though government appears as one among four
pillars it plays a vital role.
विद्या विहीन: पशु:(१)
In
Vedic age education used to be imparted free of cost in gurukulas and the
gurukulas are patronize by the kings and philanthropists.
In the Upanishadic age higher learning
was made available in gurukulas and students used to receive their education by
staying there and serving gurus.
In Raghuvamsa the author kalidasa while
describing the administration of Dilipa states that the king Dilipa was like
father to the people as he was educating, protecting and maintaining them. Thus he made the parents as mere agents of
the birth of people.
प्रजानां
विनयाधाना
द्रक्षणाद्भरणादपि
स
पिता पितरस्तासां
कॆवलं
जन्महेतव:(२)
It
is also evident that in the days of yore in India
But unfortunately in recent times
government is relinquishing the responsibility of providing funds for Higher
Education treating it to be a wasteful investment.
A father should not think of returns immediately after sending his ward for education as the fruit of investing money on education will be attained only after the completion of education, and not immediately.
Similarly the investment made on
a particular generation can yield fruits in the next generation but not
immediately.
So the government is not
expected to be short-sighted in the matter of providing funds for higher
education.
In this article an attempt is
made to discuss the cultural decline caused by the privatization of higher
education.
It is a well known fact that
India is a land of rich cultural heritage.
If Higher education goes into the hands of private managements cultural
decline will become irresistible.
In our culture selling of
knowledge is treated as a great sin. Kalidasa in his “Malavikagnimitra”
condemns a man of learning who sells his knowledge and used it as mere means of
livelihood as a petty trader.
यस्यार्जनं केवलजीविकायै
तं
ज्ञानपण्यं वणिजं वदन्ति(३)
If
higher learning goes in to the hands of private sector the learning will be no
more than a commodity in the market place.
The teacher-hood which enjoyed a great privilege earlier will certainly
be reduced to the level of slavery.
In ancient times students who
received their education at the expense of society used to have gratitude
towards it and serve the society sincerely.
But privatization of higher education will provide no room for such
noble ideology. Since people are made to pay through their noses, they will in
turn try to get back their investment double and triple.
If higher education goes in to
the fold of privatization, languages and social sciences lose their
prominence. When the emphasis on
language teaching is diluted the opportunity for students to learn about the
cultural heritage and values it upholds as well as finer sensibilities will
suffer. If such situation arises society
produces rogues and higher education will make one rogue wiser than the other.
Irrespective of our invitation or
rejection the devil in the guise of privatization is spreading like wild fire
to devour the cultural values of the society and no body is in a position to
resist it.
At this critical juncture the
bounden duty of every citizen is to see that the values are protected by giving
importance to languages and social sciences in the curriculum.
And also every private
institution should run under the strict vigilance and unbiased supervision of
government and the Universities concerned.
Then alone our country will prosper.
As optimists, let us all hope that day will come.
Now I conclude with a quotation of
a great Sanskrit scholar of modern times viz., Pandit Vishnukanth Shukla which depicts the present state of
affairs of education .
सरस्वती रोदिति मोदते रमा
कथं
स्वदेशस्य समुन्नतिर्भवॆत्
means that the goddess of learning viz Saraswathi is lamenting while the goddess of wealth, viz Lakshmi is dancing joyfully. How can our country prosper?.
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१. सुभाषितत्रिशति: १/२०
२. रघुवंशम्/१/२४
३. माळविकाग्निमित्रम्/१/१७.
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