The Congress has objected to the government thrusting on the country a New Education Policy amid a pandemic without a discussion with the stakeholders or a scrutiny by Parliament.

The party has also criticised the policy’s promotion of centralised decision-making and top-down administration, its over-emphasis on privatisation and its lack of clarity on the required resources.

“At such a time, without wider consultations, without even listing it adequately on the website, this (policy) seems to have been thrust upon the country,” former human resource development minister M.M. Pallam Raju told a news conference.

“I hope that eventually it is debated in Parliament, and (that) there will be wider consultations in the parliamentary standing committee.”

Raju said the UPA had enacted the Right to Education after “discussions on all forums”.

“It (the policy) also envisages a linear, top-down mode of administration through a Board of Governors, the Higher Education Commission of India and its four verticals. The NEP 2020 misses the point that several universities and (other) higher educational institutions (HEIs) have evolved and established well-defined democratic mechanisms including elected senates, syndicates and elected academic and executive councils,” he said.

“These elected bodies discuss, deliberate, formulate and implement policies, courses and other incidental issues. What makes these institutions vibrant is the presence of faculty, students, alumni and educationists — both elected as well as appointed — based on seniority and rotation.”

Raju added: “Throwing down these well-established democratic structures for a top-down administration as envisaged by NEP 2020 will end up stifling creativity and critical thinking altogether.”

The Congress also criticised the proposal in the policy for “school complexes” as a solution to poor infrastructure and the lack of enough teachers.

“Catchy as it may sound, sharing human and other resources among multiple schools over a large geographical area will only reduce accessibility to education, decrease quality of neighbourhood schools and create administrative confusion,” it said.

On the proposal to run higher-education institutions through a Board of Governors, the Congress said: “It is worrisome. Such a Board of Governors will replace elected representatives and democratic choice from all universities and HEIs, leading to the hegemony of a few, concentration of power without ruling out controversial appointments of people loyal to (the) ruling party’s ideology, which will hamper the functioning of universities and higher educational institutions, leading to greater politicisation of education.

“(The) setting up of (the) Higher Education Commission of India as a single overarching body with four independent verticals for grants, funding, standards, and accreditation will make it one of the most centralised regulatory institutions.”

On the thrust on privatisation of education, the Congress said: “It will inevitably lead to fund cuts, fee hikes and expensive education in the absence of grants from the government. Privatisation of education along with multiple exit points would lead to more dropouts, the opposite of the stated claim of the government.

“(The) shrinking of public institutions and over-reliance on unregulated privatisation will lead to putting higher education out of the reach of the middle class and the disadvantaged.”