Partha Chatterjee criticises draft of National Education Policy 2019

Kolkata: State Education minister Partha Chatterjee on Wednesday criticised the draft of National Education Policy 2019 of the Centre and expressed his apprehension that it might be an attempt to break the federal structure of the Indian Constitution where education comes in the concurrent list.

Chatterjee held a meeting of the Higher EducationCouncil at Bikash Bhavan, which was attended by vice-chancellors of all the universities in the state.

"Everybody present in the meeting have agreed that we need to be vocal against the policy. I have asked the vice chancellors to consolidate opinion from the teachers and give us in writing in seven days so that I can discuss the issue with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. We need to prepare a comprehensive plan on how we should take up the matter with the Centre," Chatterjee said.

The state government has inhibitions over different aspects of the policy in both secondary and higher secondary education.

"There is an attempt by the Centre to control education on their own , scrap University Grants Commission and force certain language upon states. The universities will have no say over any matter," a senior official of the Higher Education department present in the meeting said.

Chatterjee instructed the vice chancellors to ensure that no seats are left vacant in colleges and reiterated that all admissions will be strictly on the basis of merit. " Examination and publication of results in a time bound manner should be ensured," he said.