Karnataka education policy will ‘retain’ country’s secular fabric; can’t afford penetration of ideological issues: Minister Sudhakar

Related: Karnataka: New commission to define state education policy

15-member committee

On Wednesday, 11 October, the state government issued a government order (GO) establishing a 15-member committee complemented by a group of eight subject experts and advisors.

He added, “We have an extensive committee formed for primary education as well as for secondary and higher education. So we have given a time limit till 28 February 2024 (to submit the report).”

He also said: “They are going to start their process now, and they are going to give us a policy which is going to be an inclusive policy, and the secular fabric of this country will be retained.”

He added: “We cannot afford the education system to be penetrated with certain ideological issues that we are facing in politics right now. Our students and graduates should be free of all these issues.”

Also read: Karnataka model of development is inclusive and empowering: Siddaramaiah

‘A very inclusive policy’

The committee has been given certain terms and references for drafting the policy, he said. “We are hoping for a very inclusive policy which will be very well accepted by various other states in the future. …Ultimately, our aim is to create employability at the end of the day. Our agenda is mainly to create employability as far as possible.”

Exuding confidence about the new commission, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted in a post on X, “The state’s new education policy will serve as a model for the country.”

Meanwhile, the BJP, which is yet to appoint the Leader of Opposition for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Council, continues to condemn the Siddaramaiah-led government’s decision to do away with the NEP 2020.

It must be noted that, in 2021, under the governance of the BJP, Karnataka became the first state to implement the NEP.

During the budget speech in the Legislative Assembly in July, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attacked the National Education Policy (NEP), saying it is incompatible with the federal system and has several anomalies which undermine the Constitution and democracy.

“The Uniform Education System does not suit a nation like India which has diverse religions, languages and cultures,” Siddaramaiah had said.

Eight-member expert committee

Apart from the 15-member commission, the state government has also appointed eight members identified as subject experts or advisors to provide expert advice while drafting the State Education Policy.

Some of the subject experts are:

• Prof Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
• Prof Rahamath Tarikere, Retired Professor in Kannada, Kannada University, Hampi
• Prof Janaki Nair, Historian and Retired Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
• Sonam Wangchuk, engineer-turned-education reformer and Director of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL)
• Prof Valerian Rodrigues, JNU’s Centre of Political Studies
• Prof Sabiha Bhoomigowda, former VC, Karnataka State Akkamahadevi Women’s University
• Dr S Chandrashekhara Shetty, former VC, Rajiv Gandhi University for Health Sciences, Bengaluru
• Yet to be named, Director (Ex-Officio), Karnataka State Higher Education Academy, Dharwad

The Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) and Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), Bengaluru, will provide all administrative/secretariat assistance, and logistic support to the commission.

Also read: Centre open to views on NEP: Dharmendra Pradhan

(With PTI inputs)