NEP-2020 undemocratically implemented by Union government: Thorat

Educator and Chairman of the State Education Policy Commission (SEP), Prof. “The Union government has implemented the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) in an undemocratic manner without consulting the state governments. It is moving towards complete centralization of education,” Sukhadeo Thorat said.

Illogical and unscientific syllabuses are being designed in the name of Indian Knowledge System, he said while inaugurating the seminar ‘Towards People’s Education Policy 2026’, an alternative to NEP 2020, organized by the All India Saving Education Committee (AISEC) in the city on Saturday.

Customization effect

“Inequality in education has been increasing since the wave of privatization in the 1990s. Approximately 67 percent of higher education institutions have become self-financing and private. The dropout rate in economically disadvantaged segments is 22 percent due to rising fees. As a result, universal education has become a mirage.” rather than being a commodity. Prof. Thorat chaired a committee that drafted the Karnataka State Education Policy.

Former Member of Parliament (MP) and former Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Jawahar Sircar said: “NEP-2020 is a bureaucratic instrument designed to achieve four main objectives: centralization, corporatisation, socialization and privatization of education.” He emphasized that the incumbent regime in Delhi is not just responding to petitions and called for NEP-2020 to be challenged on all platforms, including Parliament and the judiciary.

Booked for Elite

Prof, retired professor from IIT Bombay. Ram Puniyani claimed that quality education was reserved for the elite, government schools were closed and thousands of teaching positions remained vacant. He strongly criticized the systematic attack on the scientific temperament and rational thought. He pointed out alarming changes shaking scientific foundations, such as the removal of the Periodic Table and the Theory of Evolution from textbooks. “All historical developments are built on the basis of rational thought and we must protect this. It is essential to fight to prevent the country from slipping into a dark age,” he said.