GUWAHATI, July 31 - The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has welcomed the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which was approved by the Union Cabinet earlier this week.
�The new NEP 2020 is a very important step towards reforming the overall education sector of the country and is likely to transform India into a knowledge hub. Besides incorporating the ethos of Indian philosophy right from early schooling, it has also incorporated Sustainable Development Goals, which IIT Guwahati has also been promoting,� Prof TG Sitharam, Director of IIT Guwahati, said in a statement today.
He said that the goal of allocating 6 per cent of GDP on education, entry of foreign universities in India and setting up of a National Research Foundation would give a tremendous boost to the education sector as well as research and development in the country, besides generating highly trained human resources to realise the dream of �Atmanirbhar Bharat�.
�These reforms in the education sector were long awaited and are likely to transform India into a global education and research hub if implemented carefully. It takes into account the changes happening across the country right from the foundation till the student reaches a professional level and several other important objectives of inclusive education,� Prof Sitharam added.
SFI opposes policy: Meanwhile, opposing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the SFI, Assam State Committee said that it would vigorously promote centralisation, commercialisation and communalisation of education in the country.
SFI, Assam State Committee president Kashyap Choudhury and general secretary Nirangkush Nath said that the government bypassed all the objections and opposition recorded by various state governments and imposed a new national education policy unilaterally. They said the policy should have been discussed in the Parliament. As per norm, the draft should be placed on the table of the Houses with a statutory time limit within which Members of Parliament can move amendments or give opinions. But the Parliament was completely bypassed, the student leaders alleged.
In 2019, suggestions and opinions on the draft of the new education policy were put forward by intellectuals, the teaching community and the students. Student organisations including SFI gave their opinions, but none of those were considered. The Union Cabinet took advantage of the pandemic situation and passed the new education policy, the student leaders alleged.
ABVP support: The Assam Pradesh branch of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad also welcomed the new education policy and urged the government to implement the same with immediate effect.
