The teachers' unions of various varsities in Delhi, including DU, JNU and Jamia, on Friday staged a protest against the reforms being mooted by HRD ministry as they alleged that it was an attempt to trample upon these institutions' autonomy.
"There is a growing consciousness within the academic community that the government's reform agenda in higher education is insincere, undemocratic and in tandem with the corporate lobbies' efforts to vandalise the public-funded system," said Delhi University Teachers' Association President, Nandita Narain. The teachers, who staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar, were also joined by Congress MP and member of the HRD Consultative Committee, Mani Shankar Aiyar.
"The intention of the MHRD is to trample upon the autonomy of universities and bring about drastic changes in a top-down and centralised manner, ignoring real concerns of access, affordability and equity in higher education," the teachers' unions said in a joint statement. They also gave a call for a united nation-wide struggle of teachers and students against Choice-Based Credit System, Common Central Universities Bill and the draconian provisions of the Rashtriya Uchhatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).
"Starting with the Semester System and FYUP under the previous government, there have been continuous efforts to derail the concerns of improving infrastructure and access in higher education by proposing models that favour the growth of foreign and private investment, dilute the academic and statutory processes of decision-making in universities, and sideline or suppress the voices of teachers and students," the statement said.
"The overarching policy design links the funding of universities with accreditation parameters that completely ignore the social goals of the public-funded system and the concerns of the backward sections while harping on an idea of quality that is driven by commercial prerogatives. "It seeks to destroy quality and equity in the public- funded system in order to promote private profit-making initiatives," it added. Meanwhile, the unions' efforts to seek an appointment with the HRD minister to raise their concerns did not materialise.
