Amid criticism from the opposition parties, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar asserted on Tuesday that the state government will not implement the National Education Policy (NEP).
Speaking to reporters here, he said there were several lacunae with the policy and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will soon constitute a committee to come up with an alternative.
Shivakumar sought to know why BJP-ruled states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh have not implemented the NEP. “Why are they targeting only Karnataka?” he questioned. He quipped that the NEP was the ‘Nagpur Education Policy’.
He stated that the future of Karnataka’s children cannot be compromised by implementing the policy in a hurry. “Our children are already competing on an international forum with the earlier education policy,” he said, adding that scrapping the NEP was part of the Congress manifesto and the government is committed
to it.
Bommai flays govt
Meanwhile, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka is needlessly politicising the issue. The NEP was formulated keeping today’s industry demands into account. The Siddaramaiah government in 2013 had given approval to the draft policy. “Children in Karnataka will find it tough to compete with their peers if the state does not go along with the rest of the country in its implementation,” Bommai said.
Published 15 August 2023, 23:04 IST