Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday slammed the Karnataka government’s decision to scrap the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and asked the Congress-led government in the state to stop doing politics on education and not to play with the future of the young generation. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (File Photo)

Pradhan’s comments came a day after Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar announced that the state government had decided to scrap NEP, introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, from the next academic session.

Speaking to the media in Delhi on Tuesday, Pradhan said that Shivakumar’s facts were wrong, and his statement was “mischievous and regressive”.

“NEP 2020 is not a political document. It is a visionary document envisioned by the educationists of this country. It’s a philosophical document for the 21st Century,” he said.

“What kind of a message does he want to give to the youngsters of this country, especially those from his state of Karnataka? What kind of politics is he doing? Let politics take its own route. But we should not play with the future of our generation,” Pradhan said.

On Monday, after a meeting chaired by chief minister Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar had also announced that a committee will be established within the coming week to draft a State Education Policy that aligns more closely with Karnataka’s unique educational requirements.

Speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on Monday, Shivakumar said, “The National Education Policy (NEP) was brought in 2021 but let me tell you none of the BJP ruling states have taken interest in it and adopted it. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu have rejected NEP. We have examined all the aspects and we are going to scrap NEP. From next year we will come up with our education policy. We will form a committee within a week.”

In 2021, under the previous BJP government in the state, Karnataka became the first state to adopt NEP in the country.

Targeting Shivakumar and the Congress, Pradhan said, “Do they not want the early childhood education and care system to be implemented in Karnataka? Do they not want localised Indian toys and play-based learning for our children? Is my dear friend opposing education in Kannada language?”

“Do they not want examinations like NEET, JEE and CUET to be conducted in Indian language or Kannada? Is Shiv Kumar opposing the entrance examination in Kannada language? Do they not want our students to learn new emerging technologies of the 21st century? Do they not want new textbooks relevant to 21st century education?” he added.

Pradhan also mentioned the National Research Foundation (NRF), which was recently passed by Parliament, and said, “Do they not want Karnataka youth to avail world class research facilities through the national research foundation? Mr Shiv Kumar wants to deprive Karnataka students from that facility.”