NEP compilation of ideas of pro-govt thinkers, say education experts

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher education Dr C.N Ashwathnarayan said Karnataka under the leadership of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa is on a mission to implement National Education Policy (NEP).

However, the NEP has met with derision from several education experts.

Explaining his objection to the new policy, V.N Rajashekar, member of the Save Education Committee and a member of All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) opined that the policy has not been designed in consultation with educationists, universities and hence the process was undemocratic. He said, "In a vast country like India with lot of socio-economic, cultural disparities and varieties of colleges, universities and courses, evolving a national education policy is a gigantic task. Taking into consideration all these diversities, a professional committee of educationists, teachers and social scientists has to conduct an objective study and evolve scientific solutions; this democratic task, the drafting committee of NEP has not undertaken. So, the draft NEP is a mere compilation of the ideas of pro-government thinkers."

Calling the drafting and acceptance of NEP is undemocratic, its imposition is unilateral, the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) has demanded that NEP should be rejected.

"Further, the recommendations of NEP 2020 are aimed at all-out fascistic centralization, commercialization and communalization of education, we the people of India shall force the government to reject this policy lock, stock and barrel," AIDSO stated. NEP says Foundational Stage (3 years. Anganwadi / pre-school + class-1,2) will consist of play/activity based learning without any formal subject teaching (textbook) .

Rajashekar objected, stating, "This being a continuation of the existing District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) / Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) schemes; will further jeopardize the teaching and learning process of millions of children studying in government institutions."

The National Research Foundation (NRF), envisaged to be set up under NEP, he said, will supersede the government agencies like University Grants Commission (UGC), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Bio technology (DBT), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) etc will spell death-knell for public institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jawaharlal a Nehru University (JNU) etc and will encourage the private institutions established by education mafias to flourish.