Education Ministers from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala hit out at the National Education Policy 2020 at a convention organised by the All India Students Federation here on Sunday.
The convention called for a united struggle of students and teachers of all educational institutions for the withdrawal of the NEP, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUET).
Maharashtra Minister for Housing Jitendra Awhad said the NEP was yet another instance of the Centre infringing upon the rights of the States. Terming it a “National Exclusion Policy,” he said if implemented, it would take education beyond the reach of those who needed it.
Kerala Higher Education Minister R. Bindu said the NEP favoured commercialisation, communalisation and elitism. It would make education accessible only to the elites. It was silent on secularism and reservation and was aimed at homogenising education by ridding it of diversity, she said. The role of the University Grants Commission would be reduced to that of a facilitator and onlooker rather than being a regulator. Kerala was developing an alternative people’s model for education through various initiatives, she said.
Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy said the NEP would increase dropout rate at the school and collegiate levels. Pointingg out that Tamil Nadu already opposed the NEET, he said the introduction of CUET was unacceptable. He appealed to the students to lead the struggle against the imposition of NEP.
Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said the Union government was trying to impose its will on every aspect of education. He said the National Scholarship Portal was an example as its ultimate objective appeared to be denial of scholarships to many students from socio-economically backward sections under the pretext of monitoring their performance.
Communist Party of India general secretary D. Raja said the Union government should increase allocation of funds for education instead of enforcing “absurd” policies like the NEP. He said the AISF would lead a staunch fight against the policy.
The resolutions passed at the convention included a demand to transfer education back to the State List, a call for the rejection of the NEP, a demand to create an alternative people’s policy by recognising education as a fundamental right, withdrawal of NEET and CUET, and a demand to provide President’s assent to the Bill passed by Tamil Nadu to exempt the State from NEET.
