Student migration not just Kerala's problem, says RSS-affiliate body ahead of Kochi meet

Kochi: Large-scale migration of students to foreign countries is not a challenge faced by Kerala alone but the rest of the country too, Dr Atul Kothari, national secretary of the RSS-affiliate Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN), said in Kochi on Thursday. Kothari said that the quality of the educational institutions in India has to improve to retain students in the country. 

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is a must to improve the quality of education in the country, Kothari said while briefing the media about the four-day national meeting scheduled to take place at Aadi Sankara Nilayam at Peppathy near Kalady from July 25 to 28. 

"While only 49,000 students come to India from abroad a year, 3-4 lakh go out from our country. The quality of our institutions can be improved through NEP. Though the previous NEPs had also made some good proposals, we could not really implement them," Kothari said, in response to a query on his organisation's stand on the rise in student migration. 

Kothari added that the government investment in education was not adequate. He said the SSUN's stand is that six per cent of the nation's GDP should be allocated for education. He also called for a better private participation in the field of education.

RSS chief to attend meet
RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat will be attending the four-day event. The event assumes political significance in the wake of Kerala's opposition to the NEP 2020 on the ground that it attempts to saffronise the education sector in the country. 

Bhagwat will be addressing the public meeting on Bharatiyata in Education, scheduled to be held on July 27 as part of the four-day event. Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar will be present at the meet. 

A national educational conclave on ‘Education for a Developed Bharat’ will be held on July 28. Education ministers and education secretaries from BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Puducherry, Vice Chancellors of various universities and directors of central institutions, UGC vice chairman, and chairman of AICTE will attend the meet. 

VC's of Central University of Kerala, Calicut, Kannur, Fisheries and Health (also in charge of Kerala University) varsities will attend the meet, the organisers said.