NEP 2020 undermines role of states, Bengal not implementing it for time being: Partha

Kolkata: Education minister Partha Chatterjee on Monday said the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 will not be implemented in Bengal any time soon as the state's priority at this juncture was to fight Corona.

The minister expressed the state's reservations about certain aspects of the NEP and maintained that it undermines the country's federal structure and the role of states.

Chatterjee attended the 'Governors Conference on the Role of NEP in Transforming Higher Education', chaired by President Ramnath Kovind in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in virtual mode.

"There is no question of implementing NEP in the state for the time being. Right now, we should focus on fighting the pandemic. More discussions need to be held on the matter with all stakeholders. We have sought time so that we can voice our opinion in detail and inform the Centre about our reservations," Chatterjee said.

The state government has already set up an expert committee with six noted educationists and preliminary views regarding NEP has been sent to the Centre.

"Proposals like consolidation of higher education systems, centralisation of education by creating National Level Councils, despite education being in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution will only defeat the various goals set in NEP 2020 and marginalise the role of states," said Chatterjee in his address.

He also objected to the non-inclusion of Bengali in the list of classical languages and demanded its inclusion in NEP.

"It is not clearly mentioned whether 6 percent of GDP funding will be adequate to meet the goals of NEP and how the fund sharing between the Centre and state will take place. The NEP has prescribed for some sweeping infrastructural and academic changes without outlining respective financial implications to the Centre and states," maintained Chatterjee.