Pradhan, Stalin lock horns over central funds, NEP
Healthy competition among states is always welcome in a democracy, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.
Healthy competition among states is always welcome in a democracy, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday, accusing Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin of trying to pit states against each other to make a point about non-implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Pradhan’s comments came in response to the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s allegations that the best performing states were being denied funds by the Union government under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for refusing to implement NEP. Stalin also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre of “rewarding” states that failed to meet educational objectives.
“Denying funds to the best-performing states for refusing to bow to the #NEP, while generously rewarding those who are not delivering on the objectives — Is this how the Union BJP Government plans to promote quality education and equity? I leave it to the wisdom of our nation and our people to decide!” Stalin said in a post on X.
The DMK chief also shared a newspaper report that pointed out that the Centre has withheld SSA funds to at least five Opposition-ruled states, including Tamil Nadu, over the past year. The news report cited unwillingness of some states to accept NEP 2020 in its entirety as a possible reason for the withholding funds under the SSA — a central scheme aimed at universalising access to school education, and improving the quality of school education from pre-primary to class XII. The report, in The Hindu, also referred to the better performance of these states on parameters such as bridging social and gender gaps, ensuring equity and inclusion in school education, promoting vocational education, ensuring school provisions, and training teachers.
Responding to Stalin’s post, Pradhan wrote on X: “Healthy competition amongst the states is always welcome in a democracy. However, pitting states against each other to make a point, goes against the spirit of the Constitution and the value of a unified India.”
He defended NEP 2020, saying the policy was “formulated through wide range of consultations and has the collective wisdom of the people of India”. The Union minister also posed a few questions to the Tamil Nadu chief minister over the latter’s opposition to NEP, pointing to various aspects of the model law that factor in regional considerations.
“Are you opposing education in mother tongue including Tamil? Are you opposing the conduct of exams in Indian languages including Tamil? Are you opposing the creation of textbooks and content in Indian languages including Tamil? Are you opposed to the holistic, multi-disciplinary, equitable, futuristic and inclusive framework of NEP?” he questioned.
Pradhan urged Stalin “to prioritise the interests of Tamil Nadu’s students over political considerations and to implement NEP”.
Since education is a state subject under the constitution, states will have to adopt NEP for it to be implemented.