Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary and party MP from Anandpur Sahib Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra today stressed the need for the setting up of regulatory authority to control the fee structure and quality of education in private educational institutions and also protect the interests of students and employees.He said in the absence of any such body, these institutions were exploiting the students and the staff. While students were being overcharged, the employees were being underpaid.Participating in the discussion on the demands of the Human Resources Development ministry in the Lok Sabha, Prof Chandumajra said at the same time, it was imperative that the courses were so designed that the students identify themselves with our proud historical, cultural and religious heritage.
The medium for this purpose should be the language of that region. He said this connect with the heritage was a must to add the elements of ethics.He said it was unfortunate that instead of history of our own heroes, the schools under the Central Board of School Education were laying stress on the history of the foreign rulers who subjugated this country. In the history books, foreign invaders like Babar and Aurangzeb had been referred to as emperors of this country while those who confronted them Like Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur had been completely ignored. This perception would have to be rectified.
Demanding changes in the CBSE syllabi, he said the books on history, culture, religion and social sciences must have the content related to that very region so that the students in that region could be made aware about their rich heritage. This element was missing presently. It should be made compulsory for the schools affiliated with the CBSE to teach the regional language along with English and Hindi from class I.He said the alienation of the student from the mother tongue leads to insulation from own history, culture and religious heritage.Prof. Chandumajra advocated that to preserve the rich tradition of cultural diversity of this country, it was essential that the regional languages, history and cultural aspects should be given equal weightage.