In 2 weeks, government gets 50,000 suggestions regarding the draft New Education Policy

india

Updated: Jun 16, 2019 08:55 IST

The Centre has been flooded with suggestions regarding the draft New Education Policy (NEP) around two weeks after it was made public on May 31.

A human resource development (HRD) ministry official said they have so far received nearly 50,000 suggestions and inputs from across the country.

The draft NEP has proposed sweeping changes like a complete overhaul of board examinations, removal of distinctions between different “streams” of study, greater freedom to choose subjects and learning in local languages.

“There has been a massive response and it is estimated that up to 50,000 suggestions, inputs have already been received. It is quite a task to go through all of them but a team of experts is already on the job. The total number of suggestions may touch a lakh by the month-end,” the official said.

The suggestions regarding the draft policy can be made until June 30. The official said the ministry may try to finish the process of going through the suggestions by the end of July and take the draft NEP to the cabinet thereafter. A consultation with states is also planned on June 22.

Officials said the HRD ministry has held deliberations on forming a Higher Education Commission of India as the draft NEP has recommended a new system of regulation.

The draft policy has recommended that separate entities should be involved in regulation, accreditation, funding, and standard setting etc. It has proposed minimum regulation to eliminate conflicts of interest and the concentration of

power.

The University Grants Commission, the higher education sector regulator, presently carries out many of these functions simultaneously.

The draft policy also triggered a controversy over alleged move to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

The controversy prompted the government to drop the clause in the draft NEP that mandated the compulsory teaching of Hindi in schools across the country.

At least two members of the committee have expressed their reservations over the move to remove the clause, a member of the panel said on the condition of anonymity.