Former Isro chief to head new national education policy body

NEP WILL LAY DOWN THE OUTLINE FOR COURSE CURRICULA, MAKE SUGGESTIONS ON

HOW RESOURCES

ARE MANAGED

Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, one of India’s most renowned space scientists, will head an expert panel that will draw up the country’s new education policy, the Union government announced on Monday.

Kasturirangan is among nine people who will lay out the roadmap for education from elementary schools to higher research to open education in what will be announced as the National Education Policy (NEP).

“The diversity in the panel will help it understand the range of issues that have to be kept in mind for drawing up such a key policy”, a source said. The work on the NEP will begin “immediately”.

Kasturirangan headed the Indian Space Research Organisation in the 90s and has been awarded the country’s secondhighest civilian honour: the Padma Vibhushan.

With him will be retired IAS officer KJ Alphons, who played a key role in helping Kerala’s Kottayam and Ernakulam districts achieve 100% literacy, Fields Medal-winner Manjul Bhargava and Babasaheb Ambedkar University vice-chancellor Ram Shanker Khureel, a distinguished agriculture scientist who has done significant work for making education more inclusive of the marginalised.

Alphons is currently a BJP member.

“Dr MK Shridhar, former member secretary of the Karnataka State Innovation Council, Dr TV Kattimani, an expert on language communication, Dr Mazhar Asif, professor of Persian at Guwahati University, and former Uttar Pradesh director of education, Krishan Mohan Tripathi also bring a wealth of experience to the panel,” officials said.

The committee also includes Vasudha Kamat, former vice chancellor of Mumbai’s SNDT university.

The National Education Policy will lay down the outline for how course curricula will be drawn up, make suggestions on how resources are managed and give inputs on spending.

The previous education policy, the National Policy on Education framed in 1986 and modified in 1992, was responsible for decisions such as standardising the process of admissions through entrance examinations.

Consultations on the policy started during the tenure of the previous HRD minister Smriti Irani. The process soon ran into controversy after some of the suggestions were found to be regressive by educationists.

The HRD ministry also formed a committee two years ago under former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian for inputs on the policy. Sources said those will also be used.