Reject NEP in both form and content!
Resist privatisation and corporatisation of education!
Demand universal and equitable education!
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah recently announced the scrapping of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 implemented by the BJP government in August, 2021. This was the first state to go through the ordeal of implementing a policy that solely aims to privatise and saffronise education. In the run-up to the polls, the Congress had promised to scrap the NEP 2020 in its election manifesto. A list of demands was published by Spark in June upholding the need for universal and inclusive education alongside incorporating progressive promises made by the Congress in its election manifesto. The outright rejection of NEP 2020 was the foremost demand. It is a good sign that the Congress is upholding the election promise of scrapping the NEP 2020. It has also been declared that a ‘State Education Policy’(SEP) will be drafted. Although, the educational policies undertaken by them in the recent past show a blatant disregard towards the interests of the people. How distinct the SEP will be from the erstwhile NEP when it comes to privatisation and commercialisation of education, remains to be seen. The indications so far have not been promising. An analysis of the recent state budget published in the August issue pointed out the funding lacuna in providing proper nutrition, teacher training, infrastructure etc. Reversal of the textbook revisions incorporated last year has also been promised, further details are awaited.
In Karnataka, the NEP has brought about scrapping of scholarships for students coming from marginalised backgrounds, complete restructuring of syllabi in colleges keeping in line with a four-year undergraduate programme, textbook revisions in schools, and a host of other regressive steps. Many institutes were also declared to be on the verge of being made ‘autonomous’- a euphemism for self financing. It is not yet clear to what extent the current government is working to undo these changes. Rather, a spirited effort to privatise school level education is already underway. A target to develop 2000 hobli (a cluster of villages) level schools across rural Karnataka on the public-privatepartnership model has already been laid out by this government. At the ‘CSR Conclave – Education Make a Social Impact’ organised by the government of Karnataka in Bengaluru, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar appealed to private schools, education tycoons, and corporates to finance the development of these schools in the coming years. This follows to the tee the publicphilanthropic-partnership model envisioned by the NEP 2020. Such a move will help the state government in absolving its responsibilities towards providing universal education at the school level. Earlier this year, Azim Premji Foundation adopted 16 schools in Bangalore from the state education department with a bid to overhaul them. It must be noted that as per the Ministry of corporate affairs, Karnataka has attracted the highest allocation of CSR funds in the education sector with a whopping Rs. 3,667 crore from 2016 to 2022.
At a college level, scrapping of the four-year undergraduate programme will be done with the 2021 NEP batch being the last NEP batch. Clarity is needed on the plan to revert the syllabi back to its previous form. An added development this year has been the scrapping of student council elections in a host of colleges across Bangalore, showing the government’s failure in upholding whatever semblance of student democracy is left in the deeply undemocratic college campuses here. Spark and many other student organisations have demanded the revocation of the ban on student unions. The government has not yet shown any sign of listening to the pulse of the students.
The actions of the newly appointed government in terms of education translate to some petty superficial changes to tackle saffronisation and a broader ploy to accommodate privatisation from KG to PG. The 2023 Assembly elections brought the economic question to the fore leading to an ouster of the BJP from the state. It should not lead to a whitewashing of the Congress’s track record, particularly in terms of bringing about the neoliberal reforms. The rolling out of these reforms under the leadership of former FM and PM Dr. Manmohan Singh has remained a watershed moment in the history of India, opening the floodgates of foreign capital infiltration in education, health, agriculture etc. (Note this excerpt from an article published in The Economic Times on 22nd November, 2004, “Wolfensohn (World Bank President), who had a series of meetings with President APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Finance Minister P Chidambaram during his three-day visit to India last week, lauded the policies of the UPA and its thrust on the infrastructure sector.”) The opening of the education sector through liberalisation of rules and regulations, privatisation of a basic necessity, and globalisation of investing agencies that have culminated in the commodification of this sector, was ossified through the NEP. The current trend indicates that whatever be the form – ‘Narendra Modi’ Education Policy or ‘Sonia Gandhi’ Education Policy (a taunt from former CM Bommai) – the essence will perhaps remain the same.
Spark demands the outright rejection of NEP 2020 in both name and content. Privatisation and commercialisation of education has to be resisted tooth and nail. It is the responsibility of the state to provide universal, equitable, and inclusive education. A State Education Policy directed to these goals must be formulated in consultation with students, teachers, and progressive educationists.
