NEP to be scrapped in Karnataka from next academic session: CM Siddaramaiah

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Bengaluru, Aug 15, 2023: Karnataka’s chief minister, Siddaramaiah announced that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 will no longer be implemented by the state’s higher education institutions. However, the decision will be enacted from the next academic session.

 

The chief minister further stated that NEP has been rejected by a number of stakeholders, including students, parents, lecturers, and instructors, during a meeting at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office in Bengaluru. In addition, he charged that the previous BJP administration sacrificed student interests by introducing NEP in Karnataka ahead of other states.

The state government plans to create a new education strategy that is in line with its vision, according to deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar. He also said that NEP infringes on state rights, bringing attention to the government’s claim that it does so in the area of education.

In August 2021, Karnataka became the first state to embrace NEP in higher education. However, the Congress had pledged to abolish the NEP in its electoral agenda prior to the assembly elections in May. Siddaramaiah had stated at the  budget session of the state assembly that it will be replaced with a state education policy (SEP).

When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological fulcrum with headquarters in Nagpur, adopted the policy in the southern state, the opposition Congress criticized the action, dubbing it the “Nagpur Education Policy" (NEP).

The Union government introduced the NEP on July 29, 2020, with the goal of reforming the educational system and preserving it “rooted in Indianness" while bringing it into line with future needs. The NEP suggested a significant overhaul of India’s education system at all levels, from elementary school to higher education, and replaced an education policy that had been in effect since 1986.

The announcement that the NEP would be abolished starting with the following academic year received no instant response from the BJP.