West Bengal to draft own state education policy, won't adopt NEP: Education Minister

NEW DELHI: Bratya Basu, education minister of West Bengal announced on April 7 that the West Bengal government will soon come up with its own state education policy instead of adopting the National Education Policy (NEP) by the central government.

"The Union government, like many other aspects, are trying to force the NEP on the different state governments. However, we are not agreeable to that and hence we have decided to formulate the state's own education policy," Basu told the media.

West Bengal government has constituted a 10-member committee that includes education experts, to evaluate steps taken by states such as Maharashtra and Kerala in the education sector, and to submit a report on developing a state education policy. "In this context, the committee would also examine the recent UGC guidelines," an official told PTI. The members of the committee include Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, professor at Columbia University, Suranjan Das, vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University, and Anupam Basu, director of NIT Durgapur and Sugata Bose, a professor from Harvard University.

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M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President had recently asked all states to implement NEP 2020. According to him, NEP is a visionary document with an objective to bring required reforms in the education sector to meet the demands of the 21st century. "The NEP 2020 lays special emphasis on vocational, pre-primary and primary education, improving quality of teaching, creative use of technology and flexibility and excellence in higher studies," said Naidu.

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(with inputs from PTI)