Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the Planning Commission is considering the reduction of subsidy on higher education after the Knowledge Commission recommended this for the eleventh five-year plan. He was speaking at the annual convocation of the Mumbai University. “Improvement in funds is needed to have quality in the field of education,” said Ahluwalia. He added, “Apart from the funds from the government there is room for more reliance on fees.” According to Ahluwalia, having the primary and secondary education subsidised is necessary but as higher education is only accessed by people of the higher section subsidy should be removed and Universities should heighten the fee structure. “Every family spends about 10 per cent of its total earning on education, which should increase to 15 to 20 per cent. For families who cannot afford the high fees of higher education there are scholarship and loans available,” said Ahluwalia. “Major expansion is necessary in the field of education. By expansion I don’t only mean quantity but more stress should be on the quality,” he added. Ahluwalia went on to say that funding is not the only problem, education should also be autonomous and free from politics. “Radical changes are needed, and we should aim at creating world class educational centers To achieve the goals, Singh suggested the modernisation of the curriculum and more skilled personnel in the profession. “We have to attract more people to the noble profession of teaching by developing innovative mechanisms.” Apart from education, Ahluwalia also pointed out that India was the second fastest growing nation after China. “India’s growth is rapid. Our GDP growth is 8 per cent which means the per capita income will also increase to about 7.5 per cent,” he said, adding that “we can double the per capital income in nine years, though it won’t make our country richer in anyway.” Clarifications This refers to the news item ‘Plan panel planning subsidy cut on higher education’ published in these columns on January 15. It inaccurately reports that Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, in his convocation address at the University of Mumbai on January 14 said that the Planning Commission is considering reduction in the subsidy on higher education. I wish to clarify that while the Deputy Chairman did state that there was a case for raising the fees for higher education, he did not say that there was a need for reducing the quantum of subsidy being provided to the higher education system. What the Deputy Chairman actually stated was that fees in higher education should be revised upwards to cover 15-20 per cent of the cost instead of 5 per cent at present, and there should be provision for scholarships and loans for those who cannot afford the higher fees. This should go along with a major effort to improve the quality of education being provided by our institutions of higher education. — N N Kaul, Information Officer, New Delhi
