JOIN USUnion Minister for Human Resources Development Ramesh Pokhriyal on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that the deadline for public comments on the draft of the new National Education Policy (NEP) will be extended by a month till July 31.
"The report (on the draft NEP) has been put on a public domain for suggestions. The draft has been prepared after discussions at all levels. And the date for submitting comments will be extended by a month," Pokhriyal said, during the Question Hour in the Upper House.
Inputs have been sought from the public on four broad categories: school education, higher education, additional key focus areas and transforming education, the Minister said.
The draft of the new NEP, which was formulated by a panel led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, provides reforms at all levels of education. The current deadline to submit public views will expire on June 30. Several states have demanded the extension of this deadline.
The Minister is also likely to hold a meeting with state education ministers on this issue after Parliament session, which will conclude on July 26.
To another query on implementation of 25% reservation for economically weaker section (EWS) in private schools, the Minister said this provision has been in place since 2009 but was implemented seriously from 2014 onwards.
Consequently, the enrollment in private schools under the EWS category has gone up from 18 lakh children in 2014 to 41 lakh in 2018, he added.
He also said the government was preparing a list of children deprived of education not only at the district level but also at gram panchayat level.