NEP makes mockery of education system: Section of academicians

NEW DELHI: A section of academicians on Friday stressed the need for a movement like the one spearheaded by farmers against three agriculture laws to demand a rollback of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which they said is a "mockery of the education system". The Left-affiliated All India Students' Association (AISA) organised a public meeting on Friday on the NEP 2020 and to announce its campaign against it.

At the meeting, professor Syed Irfan Habib said, "This government and this National Education Policy seek to saffronise our whole culture and our daily lives." He said there needs to be a huge movement, similar to the one spearheaded by the farmers against the three contentious farm laws, to demand that the NEP be rolled back. Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha also sought inspiration from the farmer's movement. "This draft (NEP) is your farm bill. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi too fears the streets and people's movements," the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader said.

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Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) president Moushumi Basu said education has to be made a political issue and the students and teachers have to start a movement as the farmers did. Delhi University (DU) professor Ratan Lal said the NEP 2020 contains "high-sounding phrases" and makes a "mockery" of education. "In the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Delhi University, some portions of the policy are being implemented.

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If some professors raise their voice, they face disciplinary action," he said. Another DU professor, Nandita Narain, concurred with Lal, saying the policy is all rhetoric. Speaking of the ills of online education, she said the NEP 2020 enforces it. The AISA announced the start of a 50-day campaign against the NEP, culminating in a "Parliament gherao" programme during the budget session from all over the country. "The movement will take up different activities all over the country, including collecting signatures and protests on all campuses," the students' body said.

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