The government’s intervention in the education policy should be “minimal”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday. He pointed out that the policy belonged to the whole country, rather than to any particular government in power.
Mr Modi was addressing the inaugural session of the Governors’ conference on the National Education Policy (NEP), which is being attended by State Education Ministers and Vice Chancellors. The zero in of the conference is on the NEP implementation.
“The education policy and the education system are an important means of fulfilling the aspirations of the country. The Central and the State governments, as well as local bodies, all have responsibility for the education system. But it is also true that the government’s interference or intervention in education policy should be minimal,” he said. “Just as the foreign policy or defence policy are the policies of the country, not of the government, so is the education policy. It belongs to the whole country,” he noted, urging a “collective responsibility” in implementing the policy.
The Prime Minister asked the States to hold consultations with the stakeholders on the implementation of the policy by September 25. “When we move towards change, it’s natural for doubts and questions to arise in people’s minds,” he said.
Addressing the conference, President Ram Nath Kovind urged the Central and State governments to increase their percentage of investment in research and innovation. “Education is the most effective means of social justice and personal advancement. There is no better investment than that in education to improve the future of society,” he said. The goal of investing 6% of the GDP in public education had remained unreachable since it was originally made in the 1968 Education Policy, he added.
