Karnataka govt sets up body to unveil new education policy, shun Hindutva
The govt has given importance to civil society activists and progressive thinkers who played a role in mobilising people to vote out the BJP
The Karnataka government has set up a body with people drawn from civil society to draw up a new education policy that will do away with large doses of Hindutva injected by the previous BJP administration.
Eminent economist Prof Sukhdev Thorat, who is also an economist and a former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), will prepare the Draft Karnataka State Education Policy.
The government has given maximum importance to civil society activists and progressive thinkers who played a key role in mobilising voters to vote out the BJP in May, catapulting the Congress into power.
Under the BJP, Karnataka adopted the National Education Policy 2020, enacted by the Narendra Modi government. This has been kept aside by the Congress government in Karnataka to form the new State Education Policy (SEP). The newly formed State Education Policy Commission has been told to submit a draft by February 2024.
Civil Society
According to the Siddaramaiah government, the NEP advocated Hindutva and saffronisation in education. The government has included civil society groups including Bahutva Karnataka and Eddelu Karnataka.
Bahutva Karnataka is a coalition of progressive outfits and individuals who stand for a diverse, plural, harmonious and just Karnataka. Concerned with rising communal violence, hate crimes and propaganda, the coalition aims to work to uphold the legacy and culture of pluralism and coexistence among communities.
Eddelu Karnataka (Wake up Karnataka) is a non-partisan civic campaign that was born to ensure that Karnataka does not fall prey to the communal virus. It is a joint platform of individuals and groups with a common aim to defeat the BJP.
The campaign is led by eminent intellectuals like Purushottam Bilimale, Tara Rao, Du Saraswathi, Rahamat Tarikere, Devanur Mahadeva, GN Devy, AR Vasavi and Yogendra Yadav. Noted educationalists, including Dr Niranjanaradhaya from NLSIU, support the movement.
Civil society activists played a major role in the May assembly elections which ended the five-year reign of the BJP by talking about all its negatives including corruption. While Eddelu Karnataka openly asked people to vote out the BJP, Bahutva Karnataka brought out report cards of various segments poorly handled by the BJP government.
The civil society groups thus helped the Congress to come back to power. Later, they alerted the Siddaramaiah government on many issues linked to governance.
Leading members
The members of the Thorat-led State Education Policy Commission include Prof S Japhet, Founding Director of UGC Sponsored Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEEIP) and former vice-chancellor of Bengaluru City University; Prof Jogan Shankar, former vice-chancellor, Kuvempu University, Dr Sudhir Krishnaswamy, vice-chancellor of National Law School of India University, Prof Sudhamshu Bhushan, Head of the Department of Higher and Professional Education in the National Educational, Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi, Dr Furquan Qamar, Professor of Management at the Centre for Management Studies, Jamia Milia University, New Delhi and Dr Santosh Naik R, Professor of Department of Sociology, Karnataka State Open University, Mysuru.
Subject experts and advisors include Prof Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, Prof Janaki Nair, Historian at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, Sonam Wangchuk, education reformer and Director of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh and Chandra Poojary, Director of the Karnataka State Higher Education Academy, Dharwad.
Also included in the new body are civil society members Prof Rahamath Tarikere, Prof Niranjanaradhya, Prof Rajendra Channi, Prof Chandra Poojary, Prof S Japhet, Prof Jogan Shankar Sharat Ananthamurthy and others.
Reviewing education
The Higher Education Department said in a circular: "The Commission has to undertake a careful review of the schools and higher education in Karnataka and to suggest policies to achieve a higher enrolment in the schools and higher education to expand the education with improved quality; to provide equal access to all individuals to quality education; to meet the prime goals of education effectively -- imparting scientific knowledge to the students, to inculcate democratic values, give skill and good citizenship among the students."
It was decided to form the SEP after detailed consultations with chancellors of the state's 32 government universities and senior officials of the higher education and school education department. “It is clear that the idea is to have a policy which, while remaining locally grounded, could contribute to strengthening education in the state to meet global standards and to be in sync with the times,” Prof A Narayana, a State Education Commission member, said.
The Commission will submit the draft SEP to the government in four months. But one member of the Commission told The Federal that more time will be needed to ready the draft. Another member said that though the government was saying that NEP has been abolished, it had some good aspects if the saffronisation aspect was overlooked. “But the new policy will look at the Karnataka culture and represent it in the education system," he said.