Hidden agenda in the New Educational Policy?
It is true to say that all educational policies serve certain ideological purposes or, put another way, serve to embody and promote certain developmental ideas of the government of the day. In that sense, one could say that the Education Policy of 1968 sought to build a largescale school education programme and a higher education system aimed at producing the scientific, technical, managerial and academic needs of India’s then growing state-sector and private industries, visualized as constituting the basis of India’s planned economic growth with the public sector at the commanding heights. The Education Policies of 1986 and 1992 were designed to cater to the demands of an economy being liberalized and globalized, with greater role for private enterprises, market forces and managers suited for this environment. The NEP 2016 is based on a neo-liberal policy frame and an economy clearly operating under the LPG framework which requires an educational system that not only caters to, but is also itself governed by, market forces and a globalized economy. In the present context, it is visualized that need is for professional and managerial personnel particularly for the burgeoning service sector, as well as skilled and unskilled workers again including the service sector. The corporate sector both Indian and foreign/MNC is constantly complaining about the shortage of skilled workers and professionals in India as required for this kind of economy, and that the products of the existing higher education system are not employable without a huge amount of retraining by user-entities in the absence of a suitably structured education system. Added to this is the demand by Hindutva forces to take advantage of a BJP-majority government to impose that ideology throughout the country utilizing the educational system and cultural institutions. Experts have argued that the era of globalization of capital brings in its train a process of the destruction of education understood in its broadest sense as a system for promoting broad-based knowledge, critical thinking and innovation in all spheres. In India, the destruction of education occurs from two directions, the commoditization of education, and the “saffronization” of education. It is significant that almost every document prepared by the present government on education emphasizes the need for privatization, and for “public-private partnership”. Education is thus being converted into a commodity sold by private profit-making institutions and conversion of the educated into products that are socially insensitive and thus open to “saffronization.”
Corporate capital requires “skills” not “knowledge,” the latter being essential for critical engagement of the world. Hence, the world over, there is a neglect of the social sciences and the humanities right from the school curriculum, and an overemphasis on mechanical application of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills. Serious reservations have also been expressed by educators and intellectuals on the rowing trend of stifling dissent, free thinking and pluralism in Universities across the country. This on-going endeavour by the ruling dispensation is aimed not only at imposing a singular view of Indian history and culture, nationalism and the “idea of India,” but also at crushing all efforts at building and promoting critical thinking, a scientific outlook and pluralism of thought and action, the very foundations of a modern, democratic society. It is noteworthy that targets include all manner of progressive ideas and concepts promoting social justice. The crushing of discussion for a run by the Ambedkar Study Circle at IIT, Madras, and the series of events at Hyderabad University culminating in the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula are just a few examples. The students’ resistance movement in Delhi, “occupy UGC”, aimed precisely to protect social justice in higher education and publicly-funded socially useful research which the government was terming “unproductive.” The prolonged struggle against victimization, saffron intimidation and false allegations of “anti-national” behaviour by students and faculty of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi is another example of the destructive and pernicious attitudes and actions of the Hindutva forces as well as a tribute to the fighting qualities of the broad democratic movement against the efforts of the present ruling dispensation to crush all criticism and to enforce the neo-liberal system on the educational system.
Role of the People’s Science Movement PSM has been intervening in Literacy and Education since its inception. The National Educational policy-2016 is detrimental to our educational system in numerous ways, and to our very democracy itself. PSM should oppose the NEP 2016 and fight for inclusive education with critical thinking and a scientific temper.
It is true to say that all educational policies serve certain ideological purposes or, put another way, serve to embody and promote certain developmental ideas of the government of the day. In that sense, one could say that the Education Policy of 1968 sought to build a largescale school education programme and a higher education system aimed at producing the scientific, technical, managerial and academic needs of India’s then growing state-sector and private industries, visualized as constituting the basis of India’s planned economic growth with the public sector at the commanding heights. The Education Policies of 1986 and 1992 were designed to cater to the demands of an economy being liberalized and globalized, with greater role for private enterprises, market forces and managers suited for this environment. The NEP 2016 is based on a neo-liberal policy frame and an economy clearly operating under the LPG framework which requires an educational system that not only caters to, but is also itself governed by, market forces and a globalized economy. In the present context, it is visualized that need is for professional and managerial personnel particularly for the burgeoning service sector, as well as skilled and unskilled workers again including the service sector. The corporate sector both Indian and foreign/MNC is constantly complaining about the shortage of skilled workers and professionals in India as required for this kind of economy, and that the products of the existing higher education system are not employable without a huge amount of retraining by user-entities in the absence of a suitably structured education system. Added to this is the demand by Hindutva forces to take advantage of a BJP-majority government to impose that ideology throughout the country utilizing the educational system and cultural institutions. Experts have argued that the era of globalization of capital brings in its train a process of the destruction of education understood in its broadest sense as a system for promoting broad-based knowledge, critical thinking and innovation in all spheres. In India, the destruction of education occurs from two directions, the commoditization of education, and the “saffronization” of education. It is significant that almost every document prepared by the present government on education emphasizes the need for privatization, and for “public-private partnership”. Education is thus being converted into a commodity sold by private profit-making institutions and conversion of the educated into products that are socially insensitive and thus open to “saffronization.”
Corporate capital requires “skills” not “knowledge,” the latter being essential for critical engagement of the world. Hence, the world over, there is a neglect of the social sciences and the humanities right from the school curriculum, and an overemphasis on mechanical application of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills. Serious reservations have also been expressed by educators and intellectuals on the rowing trend of stifling dissent, free thinking and pluralism in Universities across the country. This on-going endeavour by the ruling dispensation is aimed not only at imposing a singular view of Indian history and culture, nationalism and the “idea of India,” but also at crushing all efforts at building and promoting critical thinking, a scientific outlook and pluralism of thought and action, the very foundations of a modern, democratic society. It is noteworthy that targets include all manner of progressive ideas and concepts promoting social justice. The crushing of discussion for a run by the Ambedkar Study Circle at IIT, Madras, and the series of events at Hyderabad University culminating in the tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula are just a few examples. The students’ resistance movement in Delhi, “occupy UGC”, aimed precisely to protect social justice in higher education and publicly-funded socially useful research which the government was terming “unproductive.” The prolonged struggle against victimization, saffron intimidation and false allegations of “anti-national” behaviour by students and faculty of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi is another example of the destructive and pernicious attitudes and actions of the Hindutva forces as well as a tribute to the fighting qualities of the broad democratic movement against the efforts of the present ruling dispensation to crush all criticism and to enforce the neo-liberal system on the educational system.
Role of the People’s Science Movement PSM has been intervening in Literacy and Education since its inception. The National Educational policy-2016 is detrimental to our educational system in numerous ways, and to our very democracy itself. PSM should oppose the NEP 2016 and fight for inclusive education with critical thinking and a scientific temper.
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