Congress slams NEP for lacking ‘strategy’

NEWDELHI: The Congress on Sunday questioned the new National Education Policy (NEP), saying it was high on “catchwords” and “verbosity” but lacked a coherent road-map and strategy for implementation. The party also said the new policy had circumvented parliamentary oversight, noting that it had been unveiled in the midst of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Congress leaders MM Pallam Raju, Rajeev Gowda and Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters through video conferencing that the NEP sought to create a digital divide between the poor and the rich as it promotes privatisation of public education. This will put education out of the reach of the middle class and the disadvantaged, they said.

NEP misses the fundamental goal of human development and expansion of knowledge, and there has been no discussion with the academia; only the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has been consulted, according to the Congress .

They also questioned the government’s intent in raising spending on education to 6% of gross domestic product (GDP), saying the figure had fallen from 4.14% in 2014 to 3.2% currently and is likely to fall further because of cuts in outlays on account of a resource crunch caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The new education policy, which is aimed to pave the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education, is high on catchwords, gloss, appearance and verbosity yet lacks a coherent implementational roadmap and strategy, clearly defined milestones and the critical finances necessary to execute this grand vision,” they said in a joint statement.