The All-India Save Education Committee has found several faults with the draft National Education Policy-2016 document, arguing that it has failed to address the real problems being faced in the field of education in India. The committee demanded that the draft be scrapped.

P.L. Vishsweswar Rao, former dean of Osmania University and the president of the committee, and S. Govindarajulu, secretary, said that a new committee comprising eminent educationalists of the country should be constituted to draft a new policy document.

Finding discrepancies and contradictions in the draft, Prof. Rao said that only non-formal education channels can supplement the formal education system, and demanded that more public-funded educational institutes be opened to strengthen the system. The proposal to close government schools on the plea of low enrolment should be withdrawn, he said.

Welcoming the emphasis on English, Prof. Rao said the two-language formula should be encouraged which gives equal importance to English as well as the mother tongue, local language, or regional language.

The draft, they said, was against the goal of modern education and the spirit of scientific, secular and democratic education. History textbooks are being modified by mixing mythology with history and by projecting a distorted image of India’s past. Many other steps are being surreptitiously taken to propagate unscientific bent of mind and various shades of superstitions, they said, adding that education should be kept free of religious influences.

History textbooks are being modified by mixing mythology with history and by projecting a distorted image of India’s past.

P.L. Vishsweswar Rao,president, All-India Save Education Committee