THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Higher Education Minister R Bindu has justified the CPM student outfit SFI's fierce opposition to the budget proposal of exploring the possibility of allowing foreign universities in the state. The Minister reiterated the budgetary proposal was not a policy announcement and that many aspects needed to be examined before allowing entry to overseas universities.
"As a student outfit, it's the responsibility of SFI to voice their concerns and to ensure that the those concerns are addressed," Bindu told reporters here on Wednesday.
The SFI had on Tuesday put the government in a tight spot by declaring that there was no need for foreign universities in the state. The student outfit decalared its stance after Finance Minister KN Balagopal announced in the budget that the government will examine opportunities to establish foreign university campuses in the state.
"It needs to be examined if such foreign universities would be driven by commercial interests and whether students would be cheated. Only after examining these aspects can a decision be taken," she said.
Bindu said the Finance Minister has declared only the financial aspects of foreign universities in the budget and it was not a policy decalaration. She advised the media not to be concerned about the LDF's education policy.
When questioned about whether the Higher Education department was kept in the dark on the budget declaration on foreign universities, Bindu stated that she was not obliged to disclose such details to the media.
The Minister also alleged that a section of the media was portraying the state's higher education sector in a poor light and at the same time conducting educational meets with commercial motives to recruit students to overseas educational institutions.
