Minister to discuss NEP roadmap with experts

In the thick of the raging debate over the New Education Policy (NEP) recently released by the Centre, Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad plans to meet with experts and department officials on Monday to discuss the state government’s response. They will deliberate on the challenges in implementing the policy and the inter-departmental tasks that will need examination.

Gaikwad told The Free Press Journal, ‘‘The policy will have to be implemented in phases, considering the physical and financial constraints. Maharashtra being a progressive state, we have already launched the implementation of a slew of initiatives, including the use of the mother tongue, syllabus, professional learning after Class 8 proposed in the NEP. The government welcomes the provision with regard to bringing children in the 3 to 5 years age group into formal school education.’’ She referred to faculty constraints with respect to implementing the provision whereby schools will not have any rigid streams of arts, commerce or science thereby allowing students to take up whatever courses they want.

Gaikwad said she would be holding similar interactions with experts to decide the state government’s roadmap for the NEP implementation. A department official, who did not want to be identified, said the government would have to examine the provision of aided, unaided, permanently unaided and self-financing schools, as it may be contrary to the Right to Education Act. Further, online learning could not be a replacement for the school system. ‘‘The government will also have to critically examine the implementation of three-language formulas envisaged in the NEP, especially when Sanskrit cannot be a language of the masses,’’ he noted. EN Power Founder Sushil Mungekar said the NEP will not create self-reliant students, as it still carries a job-centric mindset. ‘‘Maharashtra can replicate the Delhi government model, in which entrepreneurship is part of school education. This makes students job creators, and not mere job seekers,’’ he noted. Further, Mungekar said there were many policy aspects left to the imagination and implementation would be key to the success of the NEP. On the other hand, another department official said the state already offers vocational education after Class 8. There are about 68,000 state schools which may not be in a position to provide parents the freedom to select the medium of instruction for their children. As far as anganwadi workers were concerned, they would have to undergo extensive training to teach in pre-primary classes, he said.