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New education policy: Private schools in a fix on medium of instruction

Last Updated 31 July 2020, 17:16 IST

The New Education Policy-2020 has sparked a fresh debate on the medium of instruction, putting school managements in a fix in the state.

The NEP 2020, which brings several reforms in the primary and higher education sectors, has said the medium of instruction up to Class 8 will be the home language/regional language or a local language of the state. This has put the school managements in confusion.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said, “Imposing language restrictions is a contempt of court. The Supreme Court had quashed a ruling which stated that a mother tongue or a regional language should be taught compulsorily. The court said in its ruling that choosing a language should be left to the parents. Imposing languages to learn is unconstitutional.”

“This is the same case which we fought in the court and again the NEP has created confusion. We request the Central Government to consider this particular point and make necessary changes. Or else, we may have to approach the court again,” he added.

The experts also sought to know what will happen to the more than 1,000 English medium schools started by the state government. “Will these schools have to be shut now because the local or the home language in Karnataka is not English?,” they said.

Officials from the primary and secondary education and the higher education departments said that they will have to study the entire policy before commenting on this.

Relevance of NAAC

Meanwhile, the relevance of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is at stake with the National Education Policy proposing to set up the National Accreditation Council. The NAAC is headquartered in Bengaluru.

However, Dr Virander Singh Chauhan, executive chairman of NAAC, clarified that the NAC would be monitored by NAAC.

“Setting up of NAC is a good idea and it will monitor all accreditation agencies, including the private players who may be allowed in future. But it does not mean that NAAC will disappear. I don’t think there would be fundamental changes except for overseeing,” he said.

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(Published 31 July 2020, 15:59 IST)

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