Govt pushing people through ‘backdoor’ in educational institutions: Digvijaya

Speaking during a discussion on the Ministry of Education’s functioning in the Rajya Sabha, he accused the government of deliberately hiring contractual faculty instead of making regular appointments, despite thousands of vacancies in central universities and schools.

He also criticised the New Education Policy (NEP), claiming it differs from the original draft prepared by K Kasturirangan and will make education unaffordable for students from economically weaker backgrounds.

“When NEP was introduced in 1986, it was debated in Parliament, but no such discussion took place for NEP 2020. Between 2014 and 2024, 90,000 government schools have shut down, while 50,000 private schools have emerged. This means students from closed schools are now forced to enroll in private institutions and pay high fee. It proves that NEP does not cater to economically weaker sections,” he argued.

Highlighting vacancies in educational institutions, he claimed that Navodaya Vidyalayas have over 4,000 vacant teacher posts, while Kendriya Vidyalayas have nearly 7,400.

“Currently, 3,200 teachers in Navodaya Vidyalayas and 6,700 in Kendriya Vidyalayas have been appointed on a contractual basis. Similarly, central universities have 5,410 faculty vacancies, and even there, contractual recruitment is being prioritised. The government is using this as a means to induct individuals who align with its ideology,” he alleged.

He urged the government to speed up the recruitment process to ensure adequate representation of SC/ST candidates in teaching positions.

Criticising the Prime Minister’s slogan “Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayas,” he claimed that the government only focuses on the “kuch ka vikas” (development of a select few).

He further alleged that educational content is being selectively altered to fit an ideological narrative.

“History is being rewritten. We all know what happened after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, but that has been removed from textbooks. The topic of Hindu-Muslim unity has also been erased,” he said.