Many private educational institutions treat education as a commodity, says Justice Hariparanthaman

Private edu. institutions akin to factories, exorbitant fees, exploitation of teachers, political affiliations, quality of education, govt. must prevent exploitation, no private colleges, new quality govt. colleges, Tamil medium schools in aided schools.

Private educational institutions have become akin to factories, making it impossible for the government to regulate them, said D. Hariparanthaman, former judge of Madras High Court, at a conference organised by the Makkal Kalvi Kootiyakkam at the Justice Krishna Iyer Community Hall here on Sunday.   

Mentioning the exorbitant fees collected by private law colleges in Tamil Nadu, he said, “While government law colleges only charge a few thousands, private players without any hesitation are charging more than two lakhs”.  

Pointing to the harassment faced by temporary teachers at the hands of private educational institutions, Justice Hariparanthaman said, “Using their desperation to secure a job as bait, institutions exploit them both mentally and physically.”  

V. Arasu, a retired professor and a functionary of the Makkal Kalvi Kootiyakkam, said, various private players through their affiliations with the political parties start educational institutions flouting all rules and norms.  

“Many students studying in private colleges, mostly in engineering colleges, are employed by food delivery aggregators. This shows the quality of education in these institutions. Most of the aided colleges admit only a few students in the aided seats, while under self-finance the intake exceeds thousands,” he added.   

Above all, Mr. Arasu said, the government, which ought to prevent all these exploitations faced by private teachers, has armed itself with the technique of recruiting temporary teachers and guest lecturers, thereby shedding the responsibility of paying according to the norms.  

A few of the other demands raised at the conference were not to permit any private colleges to be set up in the State and to start new quality government colleges with courses suitable for the current world.