Government could have made NEP 2020 mandatory by bringing in a bill: Jharkhand Governor

Jamshedpur: Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais has hailed the new education policy as "practical" as compared to the previous "experimental" ones. Bais asserted that the Union government did not impose the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, framed by a commission headed Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

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"The government could have made it mandatory by bringing in a bill, but the academicians should understand its specialties" he said in Jamshedpur on Friday at a conclave -- Reform in Indian Education System through New Education Policy 2020.

The NEP, announced in July 29, 2020, includes measures like teaching in mother tongue up to Class 5, allowing foreign universities to set up campuses in India and common entrance tests for universities, among others. Opposition parties have alleged that the policy strayed away from the concept of universalisation of education and would make it unaffordable for the poor.

Bais claimed that all the previous policies were "experimental", which were based on the system of Thomas Macaulay, a British politician who was instrumental in introducing western institutional education in India, an official release stated.

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"Macaulay had given such an educational policy, which had never been in the interest of the country post-Independence," he said.

"However, the new education policy has emphasised on practicality." The NEP provides the liberty to students to pursue subjects of their choice. If the studies were discontinued midway for any reason, they can restart it from where they left, according to the governor. He underscored that procuring employment or a degree should not be the only motive of education, but also to acquire knowledge and build character.