Page 22 - EW April 2025

Education News

to provide under Samagra Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA, primary-secondary
school upgradation programme).
Under provision made in the
Union Budget 2024-25, the Centre is
committed to pay a sum of Rs.1,000
crore to the state government under
SSA to upgrade infrastructure,
purchase classroom supplies such
as chalk, dusters, and benches, and
cover electricity bills and minor
repairs. Even in fiscal 2023-24, the
state received only Rs.311 crore in
two installments while the third
instalment remained pending. Ac-
cording to West Bengal’s education
minister Bratya Basu, the Centre
University of Madras: worst affected owes the state Rs.3,180 crore under
this account.
month. Therefore filling faculty posi- — is a major cause of the poor finan- Consequently a large number of
tions is an expensive proposition for cial condition of India’s under-funded Bengal’s government schools are
the cash-strapped state government. public universities. Universal tuition suffering shortages of daily es-
Simultaneously, students’ fees in subsidisation is morally, ethically and sentials such as chalk, dusters, and
government universities are among financially unjustified. Managements attendance registers, and apprehend
the lowest worldwide. In Madras and faculty of government universities power cuts this summer because of
University, tuition fee for the Master obliged to suffer poor public reputa- unpaid electricity bills. Moreover
of Computer Application programme tion should speak up in favour of tar- lack of funds for maintenance has
is a mere Rs.42,170 per year. Neither geted subsidisation of education,” says endangered the safety of children.
the state government nor university a professor of economics at a private During this year’s Madhyamik (class
faculty dares broach the issue of rais- liberal arts university in TN, speaking X board) exam, a ceiling fan fell on
ing tuition fees because it would “hurt on condition of anonymity. a student in a school of South 24
poor students from accessing higher But the state’s ministers and MLAs Parganas district.
education”. as also professors and faculty having Academics in Kolkata discern a
et it’s pertinent to note that in ensured that they are well-remuner- linkage between the Central gov-
Ycommunist China, tuition fees ated, are unlikely to do more than ernment withholding its share of
in public engineering universities for lament the poor condition of public composite grants for schools in state
Masters programmmes range between universities. with the TMC government’s refusal
$3,500-5,600 (Rs.3-4.8 lakh) per an- Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai) to sign an MoU (memorandum of
num. Heavily subsidised education understanding) with the Centre to
has debilitated government universi- WEST BENGAL implement the Prime Minister’s
ties nationwide. Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI)
“Government and managements Crossfire victims scheme launched in 2022, to en-
of India’s public universities are too hance school infrastructure nation-
timorous and lazy to grasp the nettle ustained animosity between wide. Three states with governments
of tuition fees. The global norm is the BJP/NDA government at led by opposition parties (TMC in
that tuition fees contribute towards Sthe Centre and the Mamata West Bengal, the CPI(M)-led govern-
10-15 percent of the annual expen- Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress ment of Kerala, and DMK in Tamil
diture of HEIs (higher education government of West Bengal (pop.91 Nadu) have declined to sign the MoU
institutions). Therefore, applicants million), now in its third term in on grounds that it will undermine
for subsidised education are means office, is taking a toll on 10 million federalism and/or enable the BJP
tested, and scholarships and free-of- children enrolled in Bengal’s 84,000 government at the Centre to claim
charge education is awarded only to state government schools. The Union credit for success of the scheme
needy students from underprivileged education ministry at the Centre is mainly funded by state governments.
households. The practice of universal foot-dragging on the issue of disburs- Since then, the Centre has with-
subsidy — common tuition fee for all ing the Rs.1,000 crore it is obliged held these states’ dues under SSA (a

22 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2025