‘Education’s Not About Rewriting Past, It’s About Future’

In January this year, the autonomy of universities to conduct their own entrance examinations at the research level was snatched away by the UGC (University Grants Commission) by an arbitrary diktat that the UGC-NET examination will serve as the sole examination by which admission to PhD programmes will be determined. All the pliant Central University Vice Chancellors immediately complied with this directive, riding roughshod over the internal protest by students and teachers alike. (No, 181 of them did not band together to write a letter in protest at these violations of their Acts and Statutes, just like they did to criticise Rahul Gandhi when he rightly pointed out that their meek compliance was evidence of their complicity with the RSS school of lack-of-bunch-or-otherwise-of-thought.)

The end result of going with this corrupt disorganised organisation called the NTA (National Testing Agency) is therefore this: THERE WILL BE NO ADMISSIONS TO THE PHD PROGRAMMES OF MOST UNIVERSITIES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR IN JULY-AUGUST THIS YEAR.

Only one university AFAIK (as far as I know), tried to fight this NTA regime in the courts, way back in 2018-19, when it was first imposed on us in JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). The courts gave us no relief. In our writ, we raised very legitimate concerns about the security and the format of the exam, but these were never even answered by JNU or the NTA. Instead, the same person who was JNU VC then, was elevated as the head of the UGC.

Just look where we are today. Over 9,00,000 wrote the examination just yesterday (June 18). Amongst them will be many disadvantaged and oppressed sections, who have fought very, very hard to make it this far, who have such a thirst for knowledge that they are willing to pursue a research degree which is guaranteed NOT to give them a job unless they now before the Great Fanta Clause in the GoI.

As teachers, our first call is to all these students, that they should not be disheartened or depressed. Do not believe that just because the BJP-RSS has smashed the entire country’s education system to smithereens, that education or honesty is worthless. It is in fact the only way out of this morass— that’s why these fascists do not want you to have it. Because if you do, you will also find your way out of them. So instead of turning your disappointment inward and causing yourself harm or distress, express your anger please.

Our second call is to the Opposition. Please remember that this NTA, which is entirely a creation of the BJP, also has a monopoly over the national undergraduate and postgraduate entrance examination to virtually all the universities in this country. It’s the UGC NET examination today, the NEET examination yesterday, and it will definitely be the CUETs tomorrow. The education system that independent India built up over the last 65 years is now in full peril. We request you to help us get rid of this NTA, restoring both university autonomy and the peace of mind of our young people.

The third call is to the courts. Please help. When teachers come before you saying that such an asinine MCQ (multiple choice question) system does not allow us to test what needs to be examined, that exam needs to be overseen by human eyes and answers to be evaluated by human minds and that such a mammoth centralised system is bound to fail, please listen. In this, we know better.

And a final appeal is to the government and the BJP-RSS. For you education is all about rewriting the past, but for us, it’s about the future. That’s a vision that you must recognise you do not have. So please follow Savarkar, apologise, and scrap the NTA.

Courtesy: Facebook post by Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Centre for Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. The views are personal.