Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Monday that the National Education Policy (NEP) will be scrapped in the state from the next academic year. The Congress government will change the education policy in accordance with the Indian Constitution and will introduce a State Education Policy (SEP)..
Siddaramaiah accused the previous BJP government of “trying to implement the RSS agenda” in education through the NEP. “They [BJP] tried to impose the RSS hidden agenda all over. The draft [of NEP] was made in Nagpur, the RSS headquarters. No other BJP-ruled state implemented it, but Karnataka did.”
The Chief Minister said they decided to continue the NEP this year to avoid inconvenience to the students in the middle of the year. “It will be completely cancelled next year.
The move has been met with resistance from the BJP. Former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai called the move “foolish” and warned against “playing with the future of children” in the Congress-ruled state.
Mr. Bommai also said that the Siddaramaiah government will be doing a disservice to the children of Karnataka by abolishing the NEP.
What is NEP ?
The National Education Policy (NEP) is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India. The policy aims to transform India’s education system by 2030.
The NEP 2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century and aims to make both school and college education more holistic, flexible, and multidisciplinary, suited to 21st-century needs, and aimed at bringing out the unique capabilities of each student. The policy is a broad guideline and advisory in nature; it is up to the states, institutions, and schools to decide on the implementation.
T. V. Mohandas Pai, chairperson of Manipal Global Education and former CFO and board member at Infosys, has slammed the Congress government for its decision to do away with the NEP. Pai stated on social media that, “Very wrong decision! NEP is a framework, set of principles which give flexibility to Ed institutions and greater autonomy. States can modify, change! Why is the future of our youth compromised for political reasons? Where are the consultations?” he wrote.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan also expressed disappointment over the Congress-ruled Karnataka government’s reported decision to discontinue National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 and said it is “politically motivated”.
Tagging a media report that said Karnataka will scrap NEP from the next academic year, Pradhan said, “Education should be a beacon of progress and not a political pawn. Disappointed to learn about Karnataka CM’s politically-motivated decision to discontinue the National Education Policy 2020.”
