In U-turn,BJP terms Sibal reforms illogical

RSS ideologue M G Vaidya,too,said the educational reforms being mooted were “an attack on the diversity of the country”. Asked why did the RSS,which otherwise favoured a centralised approach towards solving larger problems,favour a “decentralised,localised approach” on this issue,Vaidya said:  “We believe in unity,not uniformity”. Vaidya was opposed to the idea of “doing away with the examinations”.

Deenanath Batra,associated with Shiksha Bachao Aandolan — an RSS affiliate — said the idea of having a common board amounted to running the education sector with “a dictatorial attitude”

The lack of clarity in the Parivar over an alternate roadmap for educational reforms was evident when N S Rawat,national secretary of Vidya Bharati — an RSS affiliate that runs 30,000 schools — said he was,in principle,not against the idea of doing away with examinations in schools.

Joshi,on the other hand,argued “he was not against the idea of holding examinations for Class X,but favoured grades instead of marks”.

While states like BJP-ruled Gujarat and party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy had given the reforms a qualified go-ahead on Thursday,Joshi spelt out the party’s objections on Friday. “A Gujarat functionary had only said that the idea of doing away with examinations was being discussed in the state. The reforms being suggested will only encourage videshikaran aur punjikaran (the moneyed and foreign powers increasing their influence) in the education sector,” he said.