Change state education laws before applying NEP: Delhi minister

The minister, who also holds the education portfolio, made these comments while attending the National Conference of School Education Ministers in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said the provisions in different state education laws were hindering the implementation of the National Education Policy (2020) and that a legal framework was needed for the proper implementation of NEP and its alignment with state education laws.

Manish Sisodia. (Twitter/@AAPDelhi)

The minister, who also holds the education portfolio, made these comments while attending the National Conference of School Education Ministers in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

“The recommendations of the recently introduced National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 are progressive, but it needs an enabling legal framework to realise its full potential. There are many provisions in different state education laws which are restricting the proper implementation of NEP,” said Sisodia.

He also advocated for a legal framework to aid the implementation of NEP 2020. “There is a need for a new legal framework for NEP to align it with the forward-looking provisions of NEP 2020. Otherwise, the policy will not be able to cross the hurdles created by existing legal provisions and age-old practices,” the minister said.

He said some of the age-old rules and regulations governing the functioning of education departments were irrelevant in present times and restricted the implementation of NEP. Sisodia shared examples from different state boards to support his arguments.

While giving the example of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973, he said the Act was largely about private schools and suggested corporal punishment in certain cases which was against the Right to Education Act, 2009. He said while the provisions of the Act may have been necessary at the time when these laws were made, they were hindrances in the present scenario which necessitated the need for a new legal framework for the implementation of the new education policy.

Sisodia said while the NEP focused on the first five years of education, the pre-primary education system in the country varied from state to state. He told fellow delegates that Delhi had made two committees under the guidance of chairperson of National Education Policy 2020, K Kasturirangan, and these panels were working on identifying the barriers in the way of smooth implementation of NEP.

He also suggested that the government review the provisions of National Achievement Survey (NAS) and look for new ways of assessments in place of long duration tests. “In India, we have a traditional annual examination process of three hours which decides the future of children. This put a lot of stress on schools and students. I fear that NAS is also shifting along the same lines -- getting high scores in NAS has become the priority of state education departments. This will put additional pressure on students,” said Sisodia.