New education policy good, definitely not RSS agenda

Last month, the Narendra Modi government initiated an exercise to formulate a new education policy. It is, indeed, a step forward for the nine-month old National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to bring in changes in the existing policy in its manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But, the way the government has begun the process raises a big question – how is the new policy going to be formulated?

India got its first national education policy in 1968. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced the policy following the recommendations of a national commission, appointed on July 14, 1964 under the chairmanship of the then University Grants Commission chief D S Kothari. It set up 12 task forces and seven working groups which travelled across the country and held discussions with all the stake holders to get their feedback. Submitting its report in 1966, it made a host of landmark recommendations including the introduction of 10+2+3 pattern of education in India and called for a “radical restructuring” and equalising of educational opportunities in the country. It also recommended compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 and provided the concept of neighbourhood schools. The commission had the best possible experts from all possible domains of knowledge as its members.

After adoption of the 1968 policy, the country witnessed a considerable expansion in educational infrastructure and facilities. In January 1986, the erstwhile government announced formulation of a new education policy. A comprehensive review of the current education system was carried out and a detailed status paper titled ‘Challenge of Education – A Policy Perspective’ was brought out. A drafted policy was later formulated after countrywide deliberations on the issues highlighted in the status paper. The draft was adopted as the new education policy by Parliament.

Both these policies were formulated after an extensive exercise and in-depth review of the status of country’s education and existing policies. The successive governments  brought in certain modifications to the 1986 document to further streamline the system, but the crux of the national policy on education remained the same.

Contrary to the exercise undertaken in the past, the Modi government has relied on direct consultation with the people of the country. It has invited citizens to come forth with their ideas and suggestions on the changes that could be made in exiting policy to “meet the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement”. An official web portal, www.mygov.in – created at the behest of an internet savvy Modi for crowd sourcing of ideas – has been made a prime vehicle for the change. As many as 33 broad themes – 13 on school education and 20 on higher education – have been posted on the portal for the netizens to send in their suggestions, notwithstanding the fact that only a fraction of the country’s population have access to internet.

Rolling out a nation-wide exercise to elicit views of the “people at the village, block and district levels” is another move planned by the government. Till recently, a close confidante of HRD Minister Smriti Irani kept boasting, “It will be a first of its kind exercise that has ever been undertaken in this country. People in six lakh panchayats will sit together in their respective villages and deliberate in one go on the changes that could be brought in the existing education policy. A similar event will be organised then for another six lakh panchayats and so on. The exercise will continue till all the panchayats are covered. We will do this. We have already planned.”

However, the plans to roll out such a consultation process, which could turn out to be yet another mega public outreach event for the Modi government, have undergone certain changes. The ministry has prepared a set of questionnaires to be circulated to  state governments which will gather people’s response using their own machinery and pass it on to the Centre. The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been asked to liaison with states “to consolidate the inputs” to be received from them.

RSS role worrying

Amid these initiatives and plans of the government, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) education wing is silently working to assist the government formulate the new policy. A Shiksha Niti Aayog (education policy commission), set up under the leadership of controversial educationist and former RSS pracharak Dinanath Batra, is holding parallel, nationwide deliberations to get suggestions from the “right-minded” citizens of the country. It has plans to hold at least 500 seminars across the country to “make people aware of the drawbacks of the current education system and get vital suggestions from them on how to make it relevant for the country.” This is causing a sense of worry among intellectuals and academicians across the country.

“From 1986 onwards, the education scenario has changed. One needs to review what went wrong with the 1986 policy. On the basis of that they should think of the directions that need to be taken to improve the predefined objectives. But, this is also a dangerous situation because of the kind of politics that has emerged in this country. This is a dangerous and sensitive time to do all this,” former NCERT director Arjun Dev told Deccan Herald.

The central theme of the government’s policy making exercise is to address the issues like shortage of teachers, quality education, innovation and research, to make India a “knowledge superpower” by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge. However, involvement of the Sangh affiliates in the process alongside, points at the contradictions inherent in the government’s stated objectives. Though the HRD Minister recently stated in an interview to a section media that she “never” interacted with Batra on education, it is no secrete that the Sangh’s education wing held a closed-door meeting with Irani few months back only to discuss what changes should be brought in the current education policy.