NEP great on content, but lacking on roadmap, clarity for implementation: Congress

Congress on Sunday said the newly unveiled National Education Policy (NEP) was great on content and form, but lacking in terms of roadmap and clarity of resources for implementation.

Addressing a press conference here, former HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju, former Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda and Congress’ chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala also slammed the Modi government for unveiling the NEP in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and without adequate debate in Parliament.

The three leaders flagged concerns such as lack of transparency in consultations, record of the union government’s public spending on education and increasing the digital divide for the less privileged.

The sharp critique by the Congress came days after former Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor had welcomed the NEP, but doubted the steep targets set to achieve universalisation of secondary school education and 50% Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education.

Gowda accused the Modi government of doing a U-turn while proposing a four year degree programme in the NEP, pointing out that it had forced the Delhi University to scrap a similar programme soon after coming to office in 2014.

Gowda claimed that the new NEP skirted around the issues related to affirmative action and support to disadvantaged sections of the society in terms of education and related job opportunities.

“Certainly the advances that we have made over the decades in terms of inclusion, in terms of affirmative action, in terms of reservation, are most likely going to be reversed, if they are not given centre stage in this policy,” Gowda said.