Weed out politics from education

Updated on: Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Weeding out politics from education, good faculty and improved curriculum was needed to develop higher education in West Bengal, speakers at a seminar said.

Political interference in education should be done away with, Technical Education Minister Rabiranjan Chattopadhyay said at the seminar 'Higher Education in West Bengal - Issues and Solutions'.

To a question, the minister said that an advisory committee, comprising of experts from technical and other academic institutions, would be announced in a week to develop technical education in the state.

"Sense of values has to be inculcated to improve the standard of higher education," the minister said.

Chairman of the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education Prof Sugata Marjit said that the higher education in the state would get a facelift with a change in the higher education policy by the state government.

Marjit regretted that despite having a huge fund in higher education during the erstwhile Left Front government, most of the colleges and universities had failed to come up to expectation.

With the appointment of more teachers by next year, Marjit said the deficit in teaching staff would be solved.

Principal of the city's premiere St. Xaviers' College Dr J Felix Raj "We lack manpower, mindset and determination, besides coordinated effort by all stake-holders and initiative in Public Private Partnership to improve a strong academic infrastructure in the state."

Vice-Chancellor, Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Prof Ajoy Kumar Ray said that integration of various faculties would help develop a strong basis for academic excellence in higher education.

The IIM-C Director Prof Sekhar Chaudhuri stressed the need for high quality higher education hubs with excellent faculty and strong governance in a conducive environment.

"Involving all stake-holders to formulate a shared vision in a democratic way to develop the entire education system should get immediate priority," Chaudhuri said.

Weed out politics from education

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