Commercialisation of education in India
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COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE INDIAN EDUCATION
Commercialization of education may be liberally defined as a process of private ownership and management of educational institutions whereby investments are made with the motive of earning profits. The decade of 2000s has been associated with the processes of expansion, privatization and internationalization of higher education. These have been reflected in policies of various ruling governments, reduction in government funding, ownership and production of higher education by private players- both ‘for-profit’ and ‘not for-profit’ and the emergence of foreign providers of higher education. The economy in expenditure achieved by withdrawal of subsidies and raising fees in higher education clearly indicate the lack of political will to abstain from its constitutional obligation of provision of education. In a predominantly public educational system, private institutions must be fit in clearly specified ways. Besides this, the public should have ready information related to the private institutions so that they can make decisions. In addition to checking the general reputation and accreditation, parents and students should get the opportunity to visit the campuses of private institutions and universities, interact with faculty and students and attend a few classes. Further there is a need to differentiate the wheat from the chaff as all public higher education institutions are not good and all private higher education institutions are not bad. The impact of this commercialization of education on the students is that it not only affects the quality of education but also the perception of educational institutions in general.
Students often internalize this utilitarian and corporate conception of education and incorporate it into their views of themselves and their role in the world. This conception significantly impedes their ability or willingness to embrace the values of ethical citizenship, rooted in responsible action aimed at pursuing truth and knowledge for their own sake, or acting for the benefit of public good. One of the consequences of this process is that students are becoming alienated from the social experience; education is increasingly seen as a disembodied experience and the classroom experience has become sheltered and isolated – divorced in other words – from the community. The dominant corporate trends of the society do not encourage students to see their presence at college or university as a valuable process with a qualitative and unquantifiable benefits resulting in a broadened perception of self, others, the world and the categories of good, evil or justice, in a sense that transcends the interests of any single group or individual. Instead, the prevalent value structures of the society often encourage students to see post-secondary education as an obstacle to overcome on the way to the perfect job. In this circumstances, and with the increasingly commodification of higher education, students are increasingly less likely to perceive the connections between knowledge and ethical practice, less likely to see education as something valuable in itself, and less likely to reflect on the application of classroom education to the world and society outside with the aim of furthering society’s moral wealth.
The important thing for the government is not to do things which individuals are doing already, and to do them a little better or a little worse; but to do those things which at present are not done at all. The role of the state in higher education has to be redefined. There is a need for careful planning, enhanced financing and evolving an enabling policy framework to make higher education accessible, equitable and qualitative.
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