House panel warns against privatisation of education

NEW DELHI: The Parliamentary Forum for Education and Culture (PFEC) on Sunday came out strongly against privatisation of education services in the country alleging that this would "signal doom" for the people of India.
"The government should clarify whether it has made any request for specific commitments in the fields of education as required by the WTO resolution adopted at the Doha ministerial meet," PFEC convenor and MP Eduardo Faleiro said in a statement here.
"Education is a subject on the Concurrent List of the Constitution and state governments must necessarily be consulted through the appropriate forum, the Central Advisory Board of Education, before any commitments are made," Faleiro said.
Alleging that the liberalisation agenda of the General Agreement on Trade Services is dictated by multinationals, he asked the government to "refrain absolutely" from making any commitment regarding the opening up of primary and secondary education sectors to private players.
However, commitments regarding higher education may be considered with sector-specific restrictions, Faleiro added.
The Doha Ministerial meeting in November 2001 had asked participating countries to submit initial requests for specific commitments for privatisation and opening of the education market to foreign investors by June 30, 2002.