The new Congress government in the state is in no hurry to scrap the BJP's flagship National Education Policy (NEP) in Karnataka, which became the first Indian state to adopt it.
Higher Education minister Dr M C Sudhakar said the NEP will be "examined" and then "discussed" with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah before taking any call on it.
The Congress has promised in its manifesto that the NEP will be scrapped and replaced with state policy.
In August 2021, Karnataka became the first state to adopt NEP in higher education.
Speaking to reporters during his visit to the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) on Wednesday, Dr Sudhakar said that the concern now is more on the "saffronisation" of school education.
"The then BJP government implemented NEP in higher education hastily perhaps to please the union government," Dr Sudhakar said. The government has to verify if there is any hidden agenda by the BJP government in implementing the NEP, he said. "I need to get myself briefed about it to decide on whether to have a committee to examine the matter," the minister said.
It is now time for admissions and the Congress' poll promise has raised a question on the NEP's future in Karnataka.
But Dr Sudhakar insisted that he is yet to learn what exactly the previous BJP government has done on NEP. "Without me being convinced on what exactly has happened, I can't blindly keep students in the dark," he said.
However, Dr Sudhakar reiterated that it is the Congress' stand to scrap NEP, which he said he would consider seriously.
"As far as the syllabus is concerned in higher education, there are no issues like in primary education. I will take all minute information about the policy and its implementation, both good and bad. If it is against the stand of the Congress, then we will take further steps," Dr Sudhakar explained.
Sudhakar further clarified that his comments are not against those who formulated the policy. "I don't say about those who have formulated the policy. As far as flexibility in choosing the subjects is concerned, it is a very good initiative. But we need to examine the teaching methodology, infrastructure and teacher training as [NEP] requires a lot of implementation preparedness," he said.
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