Karnataka to formulate new education policy in place of NEP

Bengaluru: The new Congress government in Karnataka is all set to formulate a new education policy by scrapping the National Education Policy (NEP) implemented by the previous BJP government in the state, sources confirmed.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has already announced that the Congress won't implement the NEP in the state. Instead, the government would formulate a new education policy, he said. Shivakumar had even dubbed NEP as the Nagpur Education Policy referring to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur city.

Shivakumar stated on Thursday, "There should have been elaborate discussion on the NEP. I am an education expert by choice. I run education institutions and am in the post of trustee or president in various institutions. I can't understand the NEP. I tried to study and understand twice or thrice, but failed."

Even after discussing with students and teachers, not able to grasp the gist of NEP, Shivakumar maintained.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had demanded reversal of NEP and charged that the objective of NEP is to teach communal things to students. He argued that the NEP violates the rights of the state.

Sources explain that the Congress government aims to remove all new additions to the syllabus of the student community. The new policy will reflect the priorities and preferences of the land. Shivakumar had also stated that the matter would be discussed comprehensively.

Commenting on the development, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated, "To implement the National Education Policy (NEP) in Karnataka, nearly three years have been taken. The committee headed by U.R. Rao was set up and consent from all states obtained. After this, before implementation, a task force was formed and then it was implemented in higher and primary education," he maintained.