PUDUCHERRY: A heated debate over the New Education Policy (NEP) led to an uproar in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, culminating in the opposition walking out and the lone woman MLA, Chandira Priyanga (AINRC), staging a dramatic protest by standing on her chair “for not allowing her to speak in the House”.
The issue arose during Question Hour when Home Minister A Namassivayam, who also holds the education portfolio, replying to Priyanga said that there would be no change in the ‘all pass’ system this academic year. So far, 52 government schools have had vocational instructors and structures, including training centres, which will be extended to 14 schools in (2025-26). By 2028, all schools would have vocational courses, he said.
Priyanga raised concerns that the vocational training programme might lead to students dropping out after Class V and joining the workforce early. She pointed out that many students were children of workers in such vocations and might end up following the same profession. However, opposition members from the DMK and the Congress seized upon her remarks to criticise the NEP, prompting her to object it strongly.
“You (Congress-DMK) may have different reasons for opposing NEP, but don’t include me in that. I am not against NEP or students learning Hindi. In fact, I am also affected due to not learning Hindi,” she asserted.
Priyanga accused them (opposition) of hypocrisy, pointing out that their own children and grandchildren were studying in CBSE schools while they opposed similar policies for others. This led to an uproar, with the DMK and the Congress objecting to personal remarks as well as NEP.
Independent legislator Nehru also criticised the disruption. As the chaos continued, Priyanga stood on her chair, protesting that she was being prevented from speaking. “You claim women have rights, yet you obstruct the lone woman member from speaking in the House,” she said.
Opposition leader R Siva (DMK) accused the government of promoting RSS ideology through the NEP and staged a walkout with the entire opposition.
Namassivayam criticised the opposition for obstructing Priyanga’s speech, urging the Speaker to take stern action.
Later, DMK member R Sentil Kumar admitted that emotions ran high and said they had not deliberately obstructed Priyanga.
Amid this, Namassivayam clarified that vocational training exams would be held only for Class 9 students, not Class 5. Several aspects of NEP are not known properly, he said, assuring further deliberations on the policy’s implementation.