A large number of students are leaving Bengal, making it imperative to create an academic environment that encourages them to pursue higher education in the state, finance minister Swapan Dasgupta said on Sunday.
Addressing a programme organised by the All Bengal Principals' Council at Calcutta University, Dasgupta said many colleges in Bengal were struggling to fill their seats.
"If you look around Calcutta, you will not find youths in the city. They have left forever because there are no opportunities. This is the reality. We have become an education rust belt," he said.
"We have to create the institutions so the students stay back. There are more seats than there are students. This means a large number of students are leaving Bengal. We have recognised this reality in our budget this year...The reality is, we have to create the institutions so that students stay here. If we merely tell students, do not leave Bengal, that will not have any impact," Dasgupta said in his address at the Centenary Auditorium of Calcutta University's College Street campus.
Later, Dasgupta said that while it was important to introduce new-age courses such as AI and machine learning, teachers also had to create an academic environment that would encourage students to pursue higher education in Bengal.
"We have to think big. We have narrowed our frontiers," Dasgupta said.
The finance minister said the problem lies with the fact that "we have provincialised ourselves."
"There was a time when students from all over India would come to Bengal to pursue studies. Renowned scholars would come to Bengal to teach students in the institutions here. Now, no one from other parts of India comes to Bengal to study. Why are they not coming? Because there is no proper academic environment," he said.
The finance minister said the state government would extend financial support to the colleges so they can excel.
"We can put pressure on the UGC (University Grants Commission) to provide further support to the colleges. In that case, the norms set by the UGC have to be complied with. We cannot say that we will accept financial support from the UGC, but not be accountable. I know you (principals and teachers) are used to a different culture. I hope you will unlearn that culture," Dasgupta said in his address.
"We have to set our sights on something big. I hope you will adjust to this change because you take pride in your profession," he added.
The concerns over the exodus of students that the finance minister flagged have been bothering Bengal for years.
This newspaper had reported on July 7, 2016, that Damayanti Mukherjee, then principal of Modern High School for Girls, had raised the same concern. Speaking at a seminar titled Excellence in Higher Education and Attracting Students in West Bengal, in the presence of then education minister Partha Chatterjee, Mukherjee said that while schools handed over students to universities in the state, they "move out to other states and even other countries".
A decade later, the scenario has not changed a bit, said CU vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh.
"The fact that lakhs of undergraduate seats remain vacant at colleges suggests that students are not staying back," the VC said.
Last September, the education department asked government and aided colleges to fill undergraduate seats that remained vacant after the centralised counselling conducted through the state-run admissions portal.
Several colleges continued to struggle to attract students. At Lady Brabourne College, for instance, nearly half the undergraduate seats remained vacant.
The vice-chancellor said many students who enrol in colleges in Bengal stop attending because classes are not held regularly.
"I have seen this problem in CU-affiliated colleges. Many students complain that classes are not held," the VC said.
Pankaj Ray, secretary of the All Bengal Principals' Council, said the organisation would urge teachers to update their knowledge and adopt more engaging teaching methods to encourage students to attend classes regularly.
GST council meet
Bengal will host the GST (Goods and Services) Council in July this year, and it will be the first major all-India conference, Dasgupta said on Sunday.
"The GST Council meeting will be held in Calcutta. It will be an honour for me to host it as the state's finance minister. I want to welcome everyone here and tell them to move beyond the past. Bengal is ready to make a new beginning," Dasgupta said.
"It will be the first all-India level conference in Bengal. We hope that we will be able to impress," the finance minister said.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the GST Council meet, said Dasgupta.
He said that after the BJP was voted to power, Bengal is getting due importance.
"The whole of India is now witnessing a big change in Bengal. They are interested in knowing what changes are taking place. Everybody wants to contribute," he said.