Karnataka CM attacks NEP 2020, says uniform system does not suit India

BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday attacked the National Education Policy, saying it is incompatible with the federal system and has several anomalies that undermine the Constitution and democracy. In his budget speech in the Legislative Assembly, he said the Karnataka government would formulate a new education policy keeping in mind the local social, cultural and economic milieu of the state.

The new policy would elevate the higher education standards in the state to the global level and empower youth to compete globally and gain meaningful employment opportunities, said the chief minister, who holds the finance portfolio. Siddaramaiah alleged that the national education policy implemented by the Central government is incompatible with the federal system of governance. "It has several anomalies that undermine the Constitution and democracy," the chief minister said. "Uniform Education System does not suit a nation like India which has diverse religions, languages and cultures".

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Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah also said that to prevent the menace of fake marks cards, the government would make it mandatory for the higher education students of the State to get registered in 'Academic Bank of Credits' and to access marks cards and certificates from National Academic Depository/Digilocker. The chief minister said conversational English classes will be started in all government higher education institutions of the state in collaboration with the British Council and Regional Institute of English. "To eliminate language barriers in pursuing higher education and to enable university students to write exams in Kannada, we will translate widely used reference books and syllabi into Kannada," he said.

Stating that school education should inculcate the values of fraternity, harmony and coexistence in children, the chief minister alleged that the previous BJP government had introduced certain concepts that are antithetical to these value systems. "Measures will be taken in the current year to drop such content from the textbooks," he added.