Home minister blasts ‘profiteering’ private colleges

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said that while private participation in higher education was important for the spread of education, it should not lead to profiteering by privately-run colleges and institutions.

Speaking at a valedictory convocation that marked 150 years of the founding of St Xavier's College in Kolkata, Chidambaram said, ''Today's (higher) education has either become a money-spinning machine or a moth-eaten system. We need to change that and make higher education available to all.''

He added that many private colleges, especially the self-financing ones, exploit people in the name of higher education.

"Education should be left away from business and there should be no profit from education," he said. He was clearly inveigling against the proliferation of private colleges with high fees and other charges, but poor infrastructure and faculty. It is an open secret that most of these colleges are run under direct or indirect patronage of senior politicians.

He said along with primary schooling, higher education was essential for the development of the nation; but in this sphere the country lags far behind the international standards. He added that the union government has laid down a higher education policy in which there is no place for profiteers.

Congratulating St Xavier's for becoming West Bengal's first autonomous college, he commended it for imparting quality education with a social face. "Corporate India has a lot to learn from colleges run by Jesuits like St Xavier's College here," he said.