New Education Policy: Dispur To Send Views To HRD Ministry

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Dispur will soon submit its views and recommendations on the draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Towards this end, the State Higher Education department organized a daylong symposium among vice chancellors and principals for their opinions.

Speaking at the symposium held at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra premises here, Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharjya said the NEP-2019 aims at revamping the whole education system to meet futuristic challenges in global as well Indian context. He said one of the prime objectives of the draft police is inculcate values and ethos of Indian culture among the younger generation.

“But we will seriously consider views and recommendations of various stakeholders. I request the principals and educationists to give their views in writing. A conference of education ministers of all States on NEP 2019 will be held soon in Delhi. I will submit suggestions of different stakeholders from Assam at the conference,” Bhattacharjya said.

Education Advisor to Assam Government Mihir Kanti Choudhury said many drastic changes have been proposed by the draft NEP-2019. Citing a few proposed changes, Choudhury said all colleges will become autonomous and the universities instead of giving affiliation will convert themselves into multi-disciplinary institutions. He said MBBS doctors will have to know something about all other systems of medicines including ayurveda. According to Choudhury, the draft NEP has diagnosed the problems plaguing the Education sector, besides providing solutions to problems right from the pre-school level to doctoral studies.

A principal said the new NEP recognizes that there is a severe learning crisis and emphasizes the need to focus on building a foundation for reading and arithmetics from Class I onwards. “About 50 per cent of Class-V students were unable to even read the text meant for students three levels below, and this proves that Indian children have been lagging in basic learning and numeracy skills,” he said. Some other principals were, however, critical about the NEP-2019 during the daylong symposium and submitted their views.

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