The Karnataka government has opposed the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) recently released draft Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF) for undergraduate programmes.

As per Indian Express, Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar announced on Thursday, August 28, that the state will not accept the proposed changes, describing them as an overreach that undermines India’s federal structure.

He added that a committee under the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KHEC) will be formed to examine the draft, following a similar step by the Kerala government.

Criticism for ideological bias

Aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the draft LOCF proposes curriculum revisions for nine subjects: Anthropology, Chemistry, Commerce, Economics, Geology, Home Science, Mathematics, Physical Education, and Political Science.

Critics have labelled it “regressive, unscientific, and ideologically biased,” arguing that it promotes political agenda through selective historical and cultural references.

The draft also suggests biographies of VD Savarkar and Deendayal Upadhyaya as electives on India’s freedom movement, with Savarkar’s ‘The Indian War of Independence’ listed as recommended reading.

Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, Sudhakar said, “The UGC is a regulatory body, but this interference in curricula is unacceptable. We will examine it through a committee under KHEC. However, on the face of it, we are opposing it.”

He added, “This is another attempt by the central government to bring the education sector under their control and to seed their ideologies among students. In a federal structure, they can’t do it.”

Sudhakar also confirmed that the State Education Policy (SEP), drafted under the chairmanship of Prof Sukhadeo Thorat, will be presented to the Cabinet soon.