Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attended the first day of the conference on Tuesday, 19th October in Delhi. The meeting was held to discuss important issues related to education and National Education Policy – 2020
The major milestone in this policy was the renaming of the HRD ministry to the Ministry of Education.
The sole aim of the National Education Policy is to re-imagining the educational landscape and excellence in education to transform India’s progress towards a vibrant knowledge hub. Its pillars are ‘Accessibility, Equity, Quality, Affordability, Accountability.
Proposals made by Sangha
The RSS and several related bodies held several meetings, conclaves, feedback seminars and detailed reports on recommendations with BJP top leaders for drafting the NEP 2020. They held a closed-door meeting with the then HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. They organised a Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) seminar of 6000 academicians for feedback on the draft. PM Narendra Modi and then-HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar attended a conference in 2018 in which Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal conducted on challenges faced by the Indian education system and a plan to work out a better outcome.
The following are their key demands that have found a place in the final draft of the policy.
⦁ Renaming of Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) to Ministry of Education.
⦁ Education in mother tongue till Class 5.
⦁ Three-language policy.
⦁ Holistic development of the child.
⦁ National Research Foundation.
Key Focus of NEP
One of the keys focuses of the policy is childhood care through flexible, multifaceted, multilevel, play-based, activity-based and inquiry and domain-based learning.
The NEP(New Education Policy) also hints at adopting a framework and classroom pedagogy based on the 5+3+3+4 system, emphasising from 3 to 8. In a rich cultural heritage and vast linguistic options, the three-language formula will promote multilingualism.
In the secondary education sector, a wide range of subjects and courses are also proposed. Another idea of this policy is to be child-centric, holistic, integrated, enjoyable and engaging, which will break the barrier of three branches of Arts, Commerce and Science. The semester wise examinations, held twice annually, will be limited to the core level knowledge focusing on practical and application.
All higher education governing bodies such as UGC and AICTE will merge and be run by the government. Infrastructure support and innovative education centres are also the aims of NEP 2020.
Attendees
RSS leader Krishna Gopal was the chairperson of the conference, along with Arun Kumar was also present. Top leaders of BJP such as secretary-general (organisation) BL Santhosh, CT Ravi, other officer-bearers and Union ministers also attended the meeting. Vidya Bharti, RSS’ education wing, also attended and raised concerns over the availability of trained teachers in regional languages. They also wanted to know if some of their recommendations were included in the policy or not. Another concern raised by Vidya Bharti was about some states resisting to implement the NEP 2020.
In the meeting, an RSS functionary said about their closed-door meetings over the last few days on education, culture and economy. The functionary also said that Mohan Bhagwat did meetings in Kashmir about the targeted killings of Hindus. He also talked about countering the attacks on authors writing about books on Sangh.
Criticism
This meeting on education policy has been called when the farmer’s agitation will complete a year. Farmers are protesting against the government to withdraw the three contentious farm laws. In this situation, the Governor of Meghalaya, Satya Pal Malik, said that farmers’ agitation could be resolved if the government provided a Minimum Support Price through a law.
Conclusion
On Wednesday, special issues related to education will be discussed. All the representatives are expected to take their part in the discussion. The discussion will also be on the effects of COVID-19 on the current education scenario of India. Along with this, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will attend the meeting on behalf of the government to present the government side of NEP implementation.
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