“The Union government has implemented the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) undemocratically, without consulting state governments. It is moving towards the complete centralisation of education,” said Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat, educationist and Chairman of the Commission for State Education Policy (SEP).
Inaugurating a seminar ‘Towards People’s Policy on Education 2026’ — an alternative to NEP 2020, organised by the All India Save Education Committee (AISEC) in the city on Saturday, he said that in the name of the Indian Knowledge System, irrational and unscientific curricula were being designed.
Privatisation impact
“Since the wave of privatisation in the 1990s, educational inequality has been rising. Approximately 67% of higher educational institutions have become self-financing and private. Due to escalating fees, a 22% dropout rate is observed among economically disadvantaged sections. Consequently, universal education has become a mirage,” he said, and called for the adoption of a ‘People’s Education Policy' that is scientific, secular, democratic, and universal, treating education as a public good rather than as a commodity. Prof. Thorat chaired a committee that drafted the Karnataka State Education Policy.
