Writer and columnist Chetan Bhagat advocated proper privatisation of education to increase access to educational institutions for deserving students “who are otherwise lost in the herd race.”
Against the backdrop of increasing instances of students attempting suicides, he rued that education system is not designed learning or bringing out their talents. “The joy of learning is gone. A lot of children are killing their dreams due to the herd mentality. If we can privatise education properly, there will be more accountability and returns will be good,” said Bhagat, while speaking to reporters at the Bangalore Literature Festival, which kicked off at Jayamahal Palace on Friday.
The 38-year-old investment banker-turned-writer, who has addressed issues in education in his books Five Point Someone and Revolution 2020, said there is a demand-supply issue in education.
“Nearly one crore students take class 12 exams. The top 10 per cent, that is like five in a class of 50, make it to the top ten per cent colleges. What about the rest? Do we have ten lakh good colleges or schools?” he questioned adding that the government can do only so much.
He also added that the entry of foreign universities into the country would benefit students.
Following the arrest of two girls over a Facebook post in Mumbai, he said that many people tweet him asking if he was scared to write what he writes in his columns. “How can you monitor the internet? You cannot. I mean, how can you keep a check on an ocean of tweets? But yes, the Facebook arrests have scared people,” he said.
He said the youths should feel that this is a free country.
“In the last couple of years, the youths have become expectant. It is okay to talk about certain things now. For instance, it is okay to talk about the Gandhi family, unlike when I was growing up.”
“I just hope,” Bhagat continued, “The youths do not become unnecessarily scared. It has become a little cool to discuss politics on social media. But monitoring our social media profiles is wrong and will lead to political problems.”