‘Don’t Play Politics’: Dharmendra Pradhan on Karnataka govt decision to replace NEP

Shivakumar had earlier said that the Karnataka government had decided to “scrap the National Education Policy, which has been adopted by the BJP government. Next year, we are coming out with the new Karnataka Education Policy,” Shivakumar had said after a meeting at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office Monday

He was seconded by the Chief Minister of the state. “The BJP has sacrificed the interest of the students of the country by implementing NEP for the first time in the state without implementing it in the country,” Siddharamiah said Monday.

Questioning the decision’s rationale, Pradhan asked if the state didn’t want to be a recipient of the features NEP had proposed.“Do they not want the students of Karnataka to avail the option of multiple entry and exit in higher education institutions… Do they not want our teachers to be capacitated to the 21st century? Do they not want our children to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy by the time they complete grade three?” he said.

“Do they not want students to learn about new emerging technology of the 21st century… Do they not want an education which is multidisciplinary giving equal emphasis to science, language, social science, arts and sports… Do they not want examinations like NEET, CUET, JEE to be conducted in Indian languages…,” he further asked.

“Let politics take its own route, but we should not play with the future of our young generation,” Pradhan said.

The Congress had promised to roll back NEP as a part of its electoral promises in the Assembly elections earlier this year. The government is said to have been planning to form a committee with school and higher education department representatives to come up with a State Education Policy for Karnataka.