Kasturirangan Committee to submit draft New Education Policy by August 31

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2: The K. Kasturirangan Committee formed to prepare the draft on the National Education Policy (NEP) will submit its report by the end of this month. This Committee has held consultations with various stakeholders and cross-sections of the society and is in the final stage of formulating the draft policy.

In June last year, the eight-member K Kasturirangan Committee, headed by the former ISRO chief was assigned the task of drafting the NEP. The draft policy was to be submitted by December 2017, which was later extended till June 2018. The Committee received a third extension till August 31 and has prepared the Policy draft which will be submitted to the Government by the end of August.

As per the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), in view of the voluminous quantum of suggestions that this committee had to examine in the exercise of formulating a draft policy, it has taken a longer time than initially expected. Also, the procedural formalities involved in the formal submission of the Final draft Policy has been time-consuming and hence the extension of time has been granted.

Minister of State for HRD Dr. Satya Pal Singh, speaking in the Lok Sabha said, “The Government is in the process of formulating a New Education Policy for meeting the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regard to quality education, innovation and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge. Wide-ranging consultations were undertaken at multiple levels towards formulating the draft policy.”

Prior to the Kasturirangan Committee, MHRD had formed a Committee for the evolution of the NEP which submitted its report in May 2016, and thereafter, the Ministry prepared ‘Some Inputs for the Draft National Education Policy, 2016’.

Members of the Kasturirangan committee include eminent academics like Dr Vasudha Kamat, former Vice-Chancellor of SNDT University Mumbai; Dr Manjul Bhargava a Professor of Mathematics in Princeton University USA.