In December, a new education policy will be brought out to “correct” the education system, which follows a “colonial” mindset. Union minister Satya Pal Singh said threadbare discussions were held on the new education policy, which is in its final stages.
“The NDA government’s new education policy is in its final stages and the same will be out in December. The policy envisages correcting the education system that has followed a colonial mindset,” the minister of state for human resources said. After Independence, most academicians unfortunately followed the footsteps of British and western scholars and “deliberately” denigrated Indian culture, he added.
Biggest challenge
The minister said the biggest challenge facing the education system and government was how to “decolonise” the Indian mind, and added that the nation has to keep pace with the world in this field.
Some issues to be addressed are — improving the quality of education at the primary level, making higher education affordable and ensuring more people have access to education, he said after inaugurating the National Academic meet here.
Skill development was a major area to which the government has given thrust. But more has to be done on this, Satya Pal Singh said.
In order to prevent the exodus of students abroad for education, he said that higher education institutions matching the standards of centres of international excellence should be developed. The MoS said accessibility to higher education in India was only 25.6 per cent while it was 86 per cent in USA, 80 per cent in Germany and 60 per cent in China.
“The aim is to improve the higher education system in the country to make it available to more,” he said. Satya Pal Singh said the challenge before the government was to remove social and regional disparities in students having access to higher education and to make it affordable to all.
The meet was organised by Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram as part of the navathi celebration of P Parameswarn, Sangh Parivar ideologue and director of the BVK.
[“Source-timesofindia”]
