Hon. Chairperson Sir, on behalf of the All India Trinamool Congress, I rise to speak on the Demands for Grants under the control of Ministry of Education for 2024-25. Sir, I rise today to voice my deep concern about the current state of the education system in India. The Government policies have not only failed to uplift the educational standards of our nation but have also systematically eroded the foundational principles that ensure equal opportunity and holistic growth of our students. The importance of education cannot be overstated. Yet our nation has consistently underfunded this crucial sector while countries like China, Japan, and South Korea have invested heavily in education decades ago. Our India, our country, remains hesitant despite the recommendations by Kothari Commission in 1964 to increase educational expenditure to 6 per cent of the GDP. Our Budget has never exceeded 3.5 per cent. The National Education Policy, 2020 reiterates this need. Yet the Government has shown little commitment to achieving it. Free and compulsory education is a fundamental right under our Constitution. However, public expenditure on education has touched new lows dropping to 2.7 per cent under the Modi Government. The inadequacies in our education system are glaring despite the imposition of a 4 per cent Education and Health Cess since 2019, which now funds 70 per cent of all educational spending. Our education sector remains underfunded and overburdened. India has around 50,000 colleges and 1100 universities,half of which are private. While enrolment has increased, the quality and uniformity of education has not kept pace. The Annual Status of Education Report 2023 – Beyond Basics (ASER) highlights that 25 per cent of students aged 14 to 18 in rural India struggle to read even class two level text materials fluently in their native language. The Budget neglects research and development with only three Indian Universities in the top 200 globally without substantial investment. Our institutions struggle in the global arena risking a brain drain. The Budget also fails to prioritize skill development program crucial for aligning educational outcomes with market needs. Inequitable access to higher education remains a concern with inadequate enhancement to scholarship and financial aid. The failure to fund public institution creates a fertile ground for privatization widening the gap between the rich and the poor. I stand to highlight the crisis of suicide by students in Kota where around 250,000 students suffer intense schedules and immense pressure. Out of one million JEE aspirants, only 10,000 make it to IIT; and for NEET, two million vie for 1,40,000 medical seats. The odds are scary and the stress is unbearable. The commercialization of coaching in Kota valued at 500 million dollars adds to the problem. Misleading advertisements and isolating living conditions create a toxic mix of competition and loneliness. I would like to draw the attention of this House towards the NEET scam. The future of students across the country is dark. The Central Government and the Minister of Education remain silent on such a sensitive issue in this grave situation. I would like to request the Minister to take action to solve this problem. The West Bengal Assembly recently passed a Resolution labelling NEET-UG as an education scam, a claim that highlights the significant problemsplaguing this exam under National Testing Agency. The inconsistent administration of NEET-UG has had a detrimental impact on students and the medical community. The fluctuating difficulty level of the examination and the arbitrary awarding of grace marks have created an atmosphere of uncertainty and mistrust. In the light of these issues, I would like to request the hon. Education Minister to consider reinstating the State’s previous Joint Entrance Medical Examination as proposed by the West Bengal Assembly. This would restore a sense of fairness and transparency. The systematic revision of school text-books under the current Government poses a threat to our children’s education and intellectual integrity. In 2018, the then Minister, Satya Pal Singh, declared Darwin’s Theory of Evolution “scientifically wrong” and called for curriculum changes. By 2021- 22, Darwin’s Theory was removed from class 9 and class 10 syllabi. By 2022- 23, it was removed from text-books. Millions of students now lack formal education on a foundational theory of modern biology. Sir, deleting a chapter on significant Muslim rulers and their contribution from the NCERT’s curricula, omitting reference to events like the 2002 Gujarat riots and altering narratives around Gandhi’s assassination and promoting mythological theories over scientific ones have been widely criticised by academicians, with 33 academicians, including the political scientist Shri Yogendra Yadav, and Shri Suhas Palshikar demanding the removal of their names from the current text-books in 2023. These changes are leading to intellectual stagnation, political manipulation, and they are targeting the intellectual rigour of Indian students. Sir, in the past decade, under the BJP-led NDA regime,budgetary allocations have significantly decreased. The Department of School Education and Literacy’s share in the Budget halved from 3.16 per cent in 2013-14 to 1.53 per cent in 2024-25. The number of government schools declined from 15,51,000 in 2018-19 to 14,89,115 in 2021-22. The number of rising private schools is creating accessibility issues for the marginalized communities. An acute shortage of teachers exists as there are 10 lakh vacancies out of 62.71 lakh sanctioned posts. The marginalized sections like the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the minorities face declining gross enrolment ratios at all levels. Without education, how is the Government planning to ensure Education for All? Without special educators, how is the Government planning to ensure education for the special students? Sir, I would like to draw the attention of this House to the Kasturba Gandhi Schools and Navodaya Schools which are facing the problem of acute shortage of teachers. Under my parliamentary constituency, there are two Kasturba Gandhi Schools in Basanti and Kultoli. You cannot imagine the infrastructural condition of these schools. So, in this regard, I would like to request the Government to take action immediately and allow fund for this purpose. Sir, regarding the Government’s recent push for establishing campuses of foreign higher education institutions in India, I would say that the intention behind this initiative may seem noble, but I would like to put certain questions to the hon. Minister. Are we building bridges to an opportunity or merely constructing a facade of accessibility? With the Cross-Border Education Research Team indicating that only a handful of top tier universities have ventured abroad, will world-class universities like Harvard or Stanford truly find values on our soil? As the former HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal rightly pointed out, we cannot expect these institutions to flock to India when only 41 institutions in China, of which only NYU Shanghai is of significant global standing, have established campuses. Are we to believe that India will somehow be different? Mr. Kapil Sibal’s observation that foreign universities will “serve not the needs of education but the rich”, resonates deeply. Moreover, I now come to the very notion of becoming a Vishwa Guru. I would say that inviting foreign institutions undermines our rich educational heritage. We cannot allow our rich traditions rooted in the millennia of knowledge to be over-shadowed by foreign influences. The great universities of Nalanda, Takshashila, and kavi Guru Rabindranath Tagore’s Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan, West Bengal once attracted scholars from around the world, not through the attraction of foreign campuses but through the depth of knowledge and wisdom they offered. Are we now abandoning this legacy in pursuit of fleeting recognition on the global stage? Sir, finally, I would like to draw the attention of this House to this matter. मझुेदस साल उस सदन मेंबैठनेके स्लए मौका स्मला। मझुेयह आशीवाषद मेरेक्षेत्र के लोगों नेही स्दया। उस सदन का जो कॉरीडोर है, उसके सामनेएक नोस्टस ऑस्फस है। उस नोस्टस ऑस्फस के ठीक सामनेएक टूटे-फूटेवूडन फनीचर केऊपर एक पेंस्टांग है। उस पेंस्टांग के स्चत्रकार नांदलाल बसु हैं, who was a pioneer of modern Indian art and who became a principal of Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. मझुेएजकुेशन स्मस्नथटर सेयह बोलना हैस्क आप उस स्पक्चर को सम्मान नहीं देसकिेहो, मान नहीं देसकिेहै, क्योंस्क वह अांधकार मेंपड़ी हुई है और उसकेऊपर धूल जमी हुई है। अगर इिनेबड़ेसदन मेंउसेरखनेके स्लए जगह नहीं स्मलिी है िो गवनषमेंट ऑफ वेथट बांगाल को देदीस्जए। हम उसेआटषगैलरी मेंरखेंगेऔर उसको मान देंगे। यह गनवषमेंट िो कुछ सम्मान नहीं देिी हैऔर हेरीटेज को नहीं रखिी है। सर, एक स्मनट मेंअपनी बाि खत्म करिी ह ां। हम लोग यह सोचिेहैंस्क बड़ों को प्रणाम करके शुभ काम में जाए।ां इस सदन मेंगाांधी जी और बाबा साहेब अांबेडकर का थटैच्यूहटा स्दया गया है। आप उसको पनु: थिास्पि कर दीस्जए, स्जससेहम इस रेस्डशन को लेसकें।
