Opposition demand:
- Why did government bypass the parliament?
- Though government has reiterated the demand of 6% of GDP, but, in last 6 years, government has reduced the education budget.
- Current enrolment is 8% in high education & 68% in Class 9, hence, achieving the goal of 50 percent gross enrolment ratio in higher education and 100 per cent in secretary schools will be a daunting task.
- The NEP should have offered more tangible and realisable targets for research. Total investment on research and innovation in India declined from 0.84% of GDP in 2008 to 0.6% in 2018.
- Left many unanswered questions on the upgrade of school infrastructure and shortage of qualified and trained teachers.
- Placing the burden of pre-primary education on the overstretched, under-funded and under-equipped anganwadis is
- Showcases a strong tendency towards centralization
- High aspiration with low feasibility
- An unspoken assumption that much of the challenge will be met by the private sector, which will drive up costs and make many opportunities unaffordable for the poor.
- The NEP is an attempt to lead to total privatisation, commercialisation and over centralisation.
- The result will be higher fees, attacks on autonomy of universities and no permanent jobs in teaching.
- The only redeeming feature of the policy was extension of Right to Education, which currently was only till 14 years of age to 18 years and universalising pre-primary education.
Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/national-education-policy-why-bypass-parliament-asks-tharoor/article32233409.ece
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