Kerala to allow autonomous colleges to start new courses without prior approval, says minister

Keralam Higher Education Minister Roji M John on Monday said the UDF government would go ahead with its decision to allow autonomous colleges to introduce new courses, asserting that the move was aimed at taking the state's higher education sector to global standards. In a Facebook post, John said the government was committed to creating world-class educational opportunities in Kerala so that talented students would not have to leave the state for higher studies.

"Why are you so intolerant of our children studying in their own state and becoming capable of competing with the rest of the world?" he asked, referring to the opposition CPI(M)'s protest against the decision. The minister said the government's move was based on a clear policy to modernise higher education and ensure that students could pursue courses suited to changing times and global opportunities within the state.

Kerala minister accuses CPI(M) of double standards

He also accused the CPI(M) of "double standards", recalling its earlier protests against self-financing education and its opposition to the entry of private and foreign investment in the education sector. Referring to the protests against self-financing colleges, the minister alleged that while the children of ordinary party workers were made to take part in street protests, the children of senior CPI(M) leaders pursued higher education in expensive institutions in India and abroad.

He also referred to the 2005 incident in which former diplomat T P Sreenivasan was slapped during a protest against foreign investment in education, alleging that the same political forces later supported policies they had once opposed. John said the government would not allow what he described as "developmental stubbornness" to stand in the way of educational reforms. "However many false campaigns are launched and whatever challenges we may have to face, the government's position is to move forward with academic autonomy," he said.

Making it clear that the decision would not affect students' rights, he said merit, reservation and fee-related norms would be protected. "We will take Keralam's higher education sector forward in a completely fair and just manner, without compromising merit, reservation or any of the prescribed norms relating to fees," he said. The minister's remarks come amid a political controversy over the Higher Education Department's decision to remove the requirement for prior government approval for autonomous colleges to introduce new self-financing courses and increase seats in existing programmes.

The controversy follows criticism by Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Pinarayi Vijayan, who on Sunday opposed the government's move to allow autonomous aided and self-financing colleges to increase seats without prior approval. He alleged that the decision would lead to the commercialisation of education and was taken under pressure from private college managements.