india

Updated: Aug 18, 2019 01:26 IST

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said he is hopeful that the new education policy (NEP) being drafted will make individuals self-respecting, self-sufficient and independent, and will be rooted in the ethos of the country and its culture.

The BJP-led NDA government has been working on drafting a new education policy. In July after coming to power at the Centre for the second time, a draft NEP was released.

Speaking at Gyanotsav, an event organised by the RSS-affiliate Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan that works in the sector of education on the new education policy, Bhagwat said education that is purely based on commercial considerations does not serve the purpose of imparting knowledge.

He also expressed hope that the new policy that will be drafted will be implemented in “letter and spirit”.

The RSS has been vocal in its demand for drafting an education policy that is India-centric, borrows from the ancient texts and cultural practices; is imparted in the mother tongue and is value-based.

Earlier, he had lamented the delay in drafting a new education policy and during a three-day lecture series in the capital last year; he said there is a need for a new education policy, which will “hopefully include our value based systems.”

Bhagwat had expressed concern over the falling standards of pedagogy and research and said, “It is wrong to say that the standard of education is falling; it is the standards of those who teach that are falling. Students think of only earning though education; we are not instilling the sentiment to excel. People get degrees, but are not employable; there are many institutions, but research is dipping and there are fewer teachers... education policy needs a change.”

On Saturday, he again underlined the need for education for holistic development.

“The European countries consider Finland’s education system as the best since their students have excelled at various international platforms. But Finland says they don’t train students to come first in exams, but prepare them for life,” he said.