NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday slammed the scrapping of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 by Karnataka as "anti-student" and asked the state's Congress government not to play with the futures of the young generation.
Pradhan also came down heavily on Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, saying that his "preposterous" statements on the NEP may “please his political masters in Delhi but compromise the interests of students of Karnataka.”
The education minister’s comments came a day after Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced that the state government had decided to scrap NEP, introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, from the next academic year. Karnataka was the first state which had adopted NEP in 2021.
“Shivakumar’s facts were wrong, and his statement was mischievous and regressive,” Pradhan told reporters.
"NEP is a future document for the 21st century, not a political document. NEP is about (the) new emerging technology of the 21st century. It is about skills-based education in the school system," he said.
"What kind of politics (do) they want to play? Let politics take its own route and the Karnataka government should not play with the futures of the young generation," he added.
He also posed eight questions for Shivakumar and reposted them on X (formerly Twitter).
"Does he and Congress oppose early childhood care and education as a part of formal education? Does he not want our children to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy by the time they complete grade 2?
"Does he oppose localised Indian toys, games and play-based learning for our children? Does he oppose education in Kannada and other Bharatiya bhasha (languages)? Does he not want examinations such as NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), CUET (Common University Entrance Test), and JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) to be conducted in Bharatiya bhasha, including Kannada, in a transparent manner?" Pradhan asked.
On Monday, after a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar also announced that a committee will be formed in a week’s time to draft a State Education Policy which aligns more closely with Karnataka’s unique educational requirements.