Kasturirangan Committee submits New National Education Policy Draft to Govt

NEW DELHI, MAY 31: On the very first day of the new Minister of Human Resource Development in office, big-ticket reform have started to see the light of the day, the Kasturirangan Committee formulated to come up with the New National Education Policy has submitted its Draft to the Government.

Former ISRO Chief K Kasturirangan, who is the Chairman of the Committee met the new HRD Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and submitted the report on the Draft NEP, along with other members of the Committee.

The Ministry of HRD in June 2017, constituted a nine-member K Kasturirangan Committee and assigned the task of drafting the NEP. Earlier, with Smriti Irani as the then HRD Minister initiated the process to formulate a New Education Policy, which submitted its report in May 2016, and thereafter, the Ministry prepared ‘Some Inputs for the Draft National Education Policy, 2016’.

The HRD Ministry is likely to put the report in public domain prior to presenting it in the Parliament as a draft. As per the Ministry, the Policy is aimed at bringing an education revolution in the country with a vision to ensure quality education from 2020 to 2040 by putting emphasis on creating good human beings through learning.

The NEP will offer a new vision of modern thought and growth in science, technology and human values. It will ensure that the quality of education improves and research and innovation are facilitated.

The Committee has suggested major technology interventions in both school education and higher education with the learning outcome-driven approach to education. Reportedly, one of the important areas where the Committee has worked is to bridge the growing mismatch between the skills the fast-changing demand of the job market. There is more focus on skilling children, a shift from rote learning approach.

There are also major reform measures suggested to improve the school education system in the country and is focussed more on experiential learning than rote learning.

The Committee received thousands of suggestions from, educationists, teachers, experts, students and other stakeholders from across the country. Consultations were held at Tehsil, district and state level. Regional conferences were organized where state governments have given their detailed opinion.

The 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 at Princeton University USA.