NEP
The committee recommended a simplified hierarchy of regulatory bodies without excessive centralisation.
A parliamentary standing committee, in its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (February 4) flagged the “government’s retreat from public education and the increasing influence of neoliberal policies” while noting that most universities, especially those under the central government have a “higher amount of contractual workforce”.
The committee has also expressed concern that the draft Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) bill – that seeks to replace the UGC (University Grants Commission) as a single regulator – will remove state control and “would indirectly fuel privatisation especially in rural areas.”
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh said that as many as “four thousand teachers are employed in Central Universities in temporary posts.”
“This shift away from permanent, secure government jobs towards casual, short-term contracts has been driven by the Government’s retreat from public education and the increasing influence of neoliberal policies,” the committee said.
06/02/2025
On January 6, 2024, UGC declared the 2025 Draft Regulations, which amount to a fresh assault on academic freedoms. https://thewire.in/education/why-the-ugc-draft-regulations-amount-to-a-fresh-assault-on-academic-freedoms Sandhya Devesan 05/02/2025
First, the post of the Vice Chancellor is now open to candidates from outside academia, and what has been vaguely termed ‘industry’, and thus stands immediately compromised This also opens up the path to further privatisation of the University, which needs to be read along with clause 3.8 outlining ‘notable contributions’ as well.
Clause 3.8 also has to be read along with Clause 11.0, which threatens punitive action against the teachers and the institution, in the event of “violations” of the UGC Provisions. These violations are generally stated, making them entirely subjective, open to interpretation, and especially coercive.
Clause 12.0 concretises this further by stating that, “In the event of any conflict or inconsistency with respect to these regulations, the interpretation given by the Commission shall be final and binding”, thereby giving no opportunity to any aggrieved entities to submit their case for appeal.
As is evident, this is an extremely draconian and feudal move intended to suppress all democratic functioning within the University, and to grant absolute powers to a small minority of people.
After Tamil Nadu, Kerala wants draft UGC regulations withdrawn; passes resolution https://thesouthfirst.com/kerala/after-tamil-nadu-kerala-wants-draft-ugc-regulations-withdrawn-passes-resolution/
UGC draft guidelines: Controversy erupts over proposal for de-reservation in higher education institutes https://thesouthfirst.com/news/ugc-draft-guidelines-controversy-erupts-over-proposal-for-de-reservation-in-higher-education-institutes/
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1751544211449520521
The potential harm of NCERT’s decision has to be assessed against this background of an already existing surfeit of unexamined irrational beliefs parading as compatible with science.
https://thewire.in/education/indias-long-goodbye-to-darwin
The impunity of National Council of Educational Research and Training seems to stem from an unstated belief that because the majority Hindus control the reins of the state, nothing that has the potential to challenge Hindu beliefs can be permitted in schools, regardless of the universal consensus for the scientific validity of Darwinism. Moreover, the New Education Policy has given NCERT the mandate to “decolonise” school education to make it more properly Bharatiya.
NCERT’s “rationalisation” of school curricula by eliminating Darwin, the periodic table, electromagnetism and discussions about the sustainable use of natural resources has evoked horror and shock in India and around the world. While the horror at this backward step is perfectly understandable, shock is unwarranted because Darwin’s dismissal was pretty much on the cards.
by Meera Nanda
28/06/2023
Niranjan Aaradhya's discourse on New Education Policy organised by Child Rights Collective - Gujarat.
From a whats apps Post.. (forward by Victor)
Just a few lines on NEP 2020, New Education Policy 2020 introduced by the Education Minister on 29 July 2020.
1. Starting this year 2020--2021, in a phased manner all the Catholic educational institutions will be brought under total governmental control within the next 10 years.
2. The words minority and minority rights do not appear anywhere in this Policy.
3. There will be a merger of schools and colleges run by parishes and convents with other schools and colleges in the region which can be government schools or schools run by other communities.
4. All infrastructure in schools run by the Catholic Dioceses all over India like teaching staff, laboratories, playgrounds, libraries, classrooms will have to be shared with students from other schools as directed by the government.
This is known as setting up school complexes and clusters
5. All teachers and headmasters/headmistresses will be appointed by the government after passing in the specified examination conducted by the government.
Priests and sisters cannot be appointed in their own schools by their managements as now.
5.Local language to be compulsory and medium of instruction till class 5. Sanskrit will be made a compulsory language in course of time in classes up-to 5.
6. B.Ed. to be a 4 year degree and the present B.Ed. colleges have either to close down or convert into 4 year programmes.
By 2030 minimum qualification for teaching will be 4 year integrated B. Ed. Degree
7. A Higher Education Commission of India will be set up to oversee the entire higher education system, excluding medical and legal education.
Educational Societies of minority communities will have no place.
8. Government will take charge of education of children from age 3
9. Degree will be of 4 years with multiple entry and exit.
A student can leave after the 1st year and get a Certificate and come back and rejoin the 2nd year later.
He can leave after the 2nd year and get a diploma.
He can leave after 3 years with a Bachelor's Degree.
He can complete 4 years and get a Bachelor's Degree with Research.
M. Phil will be abolished.
10. multidisciplinary - BA students can also take BCom and BSc papers of their choice. So also the BSc and BCom students can exercise the same options and take other papers.
11. Importance of Board exams will be reduced, and they will be conducted twice a year.
12. No mention of fundamental rights in the NEP. It is replaced by fundamental duties.
These are some of the high light which everyone should know.
Thank you.
https://thewire.in/education/biology-without-darwin-next-physics-without-newton-and-einstein
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has dropped the theory of evolution as propounded by Charles Darwin from the science syllabus for the tenth standard. This has been done as a part of the ‘rationalisation’ exercise taken up during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to reduce the ‘content load’ on students. The purging of the section o n evolution on the pretext of the pandemic could not have been more ironical – the novel coronavirus that caused the pandemic is indeed a result of the natural selection process that Darwin sought to explain and children ought to learn more about it. The theory of evolution is fundamental to understanding the basis of several sub-branches of modern biology like genetics, immunology and so on.
The school curriculum change has serious implications for scientific research in the country. In recent years, we have witnessed the rise of pseudoscience activities in research institutions and universities in the name of research on ancient knowledge and to provide a scientific basis to myths. Funding agencies like the Department of Science and Technology and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have also been forced to support research on some topics concerning ‘ancient science’ – cow urine, cow dung, spiritual farming, medical astrology etc. With a state agency (NCERT) discarding the theory of evolution, funding agencies may soon have to deal with proposals to study alternatives to the evolution theory and to find a ‘scientific basis’ for ancient ideas. All such trends don’t augur well for the future of Indian science.
24/04/2023