Members of the State Platform for Common School System raised concerns about the consultative process that was reportedly initiated by the committee in-charge of the evolution of the National Education Policy (NEP) in the State.
Prince Gajendrababu, general secretary, State platform for the Common School System, said while the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had initiated a consultation process through a committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, he questioned how the consultation was carried out at the grassroots level in gram panchayats, blocks and districts. “The process of how the consultation was carried out was not transparent at all and even the committee did not have enough educationists who could weigh in on the state of education in the country. We hoped that the draft policy would be released to the public so that educationists could at least offer their suggestions,” he explained.
Pointing out that the draft education policy recommends an option to give skill-based or vocational training to students who are detained during Classes 6 to 8, Mr. Prince said it was not feasible to encourage vocational education for students who have not completed their secondary education.
“This will affect the progress of many first-generation learners and might lead to many dropping out before they finish Class 10. The policy should focus on more holistic measures to ensure that education is accessible to all at the grassroots level instead,” he said.
“The draft policy has instead chosen to focus on how to prevent the politicisation of campuses and state that because of such activities, examinations get postponed. There is, however, no statistical evidence for the same and in no way should the rights and freedom of students be compromised in a bid to clampdown on their activities,” they said.
