Oppn slams Edu Policy, govt says ready to accept suggestions

Rubbishing the draft National Education Policy, Opposition today alleged that the education system was being communalised and commercialised by the government which expressed readiness to accept suggestions by various parties before moving ahead with it.
Congress leader and former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, while speaking on the issue in the Rajya Sabha, said the government was trying to impose its "ideology" as he asked it to "dump this draft in the dustbin" and "start afresh" by taking "us into confidence".
Responding to this, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government was ready to hold a workshop for members of Parliament to take their suggestions on the draft policy before proceeding on it.

"This is only a draft...I have no hesitation in having a workshop... I can take the suggestions," he said.
Sibal contended that there is no direction in the draft, arguing that the document does not talk anything substantive about three important aspects--quality, access and equity.
"Education is ideology neutral. No education system can survive in the world if you infuse ideology in the textbooks. And the problem is, while we have a draft education policy, what you do on the ground is just the opposite," he said.

"You are trying to bring about a change in the education system outside your education policy by bringing ideology in every institution in India," he added.

Targeting the government over attacks on minorities and SC/STs, Sibal recited a couplet: "Shaktiman (horse) ki laat todi, Vemula hi himmat, jo chatron pe vaar kare kaise hogi woh sangat (you broke the leg of Shaktiman horse in Uttarakhand, demoralised Rohith Vemula, how would be the party which attacks students?).
"This is what you are doing to my country. You are attacking the minorities, attacking tribals, you are attacking the SCs, STs and you are saying that you will change the textbooks of history," Sibal said, addressing the ruling side.
Alleging saffronisation of higher education, he said: "You say in draft that universities should be politics-free. But what are you doing to universities? Your ABVP is entering into every university campus, occupying Vice Chancellor offices and creating an environment of violence, running a parallel administration that's what you are doing on the ground."

The governement has saffornised every post from governors, VCs, head of instituions or IIT directors, he said.
On making the education policy better, he advised the government to formulate it keeping in mind the children of the country.
"Make yourself see from the eyes of a child, then you will understand what he or she wants. And that's how you can have an education policy which serves 20 crore children of our country," Sibal said.
Come up with something which serves long-term interest of the country, he added.
(Reopen PAR36)
Earlier, the suggestion for holding a separate workshop for MPs on education policy was made by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and was appreciated by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien.

Derek O'Brien (TMC) welcomed the government's move to seek views from the House, saying: "the new Minister (Javadekar) will look at all our inputs and will not do any dadagiri."
He said the new policy should be "inclusive open to diversity of thought and belief".
He said the government, like in the case of passing GST, should consult all the parties before implementing a new education policy.
Ravi Prakash Verma (SP) suggested that pre-education classes should be the focus areas and curriculum on higher education should concentrate on producing super specialists.
S R Balasubramoniyan (AIADMK) questioned the committee selected to formulate the draft education policy, saying it did not have specialists from the field.

He attacked the draft's suggestion for creation of an All India Education Service, saying such a step would be a "disaster".
He said 100 per cent FDI in education sector will lead to commercialisation of education.
Ali Anwar Ansari (JD-U) attacked the government on communalising education saying that students should not be forced to sing Vande Matram.
Dilip Tirkey (BJD) said that syllabus, academic calendar and marking pattern should be uniform across the country.
He also suggested creation of tribal universities in tribal dominated areas across the country and that focus should also be given to higher education among tribals.

S C Misra (BSP) asked the government to provide details on the utilisation of the Education Cess, while stressing on the training of teachers, better primary education and teaching English from primary levels.
Vandana Chavan (NCP) said the policy should provide special focus on education of Muslims.
The policy is silent on education of children with special needs, she said adding that sports, extra curricular activities should also form an important part of education.
Supporting focus on education for Muslims, Nominated member Anu Aga stressed on better training institutes for teachers and compulsory education till class 10th.
K Keshava Rao (TRS) said there should be a broad-based meeting on the education policy adding that policy should be student-centric and not teacher-centric.