Schools’ body opposes New Education Policy

Srinagar, June 26

A team of National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) of India, along with Private Schools’ Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK), on Wednesday criticised the policy draft of the National Education Policy (NEP), framed by the Central government.

The two organisations, in a joint press conference in Srinagar, said they had raised their reservations on certain points in the NEP and were of the view that if the policy was implemented in the country, it would lead to destruction of the vibrant education sector.

Dr Kulbushan Sharma, president of NISA, Thomas Antony, eminent educationist, and GN Var, chairman of PSAJK, said NEP was a voluminous document aimed to confuse a common person.

An ideal policy document should be around 20-30 pages so that it can be easily understood by common people and experts alike, but the NEP-2016 is a huge 498-page document. It looks like a discussion rather than a concrete policy, they said.

“Give stakeholders more time to discuss and react to it. We demand that the BJP make it part of their election manifesto as the policy concerns the entire country,” Sharma said.

He said the stakeholders for whom the policy had been drafted had not been taken into consideration. — TNS