Today, Friday, April 5, the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress) released its manifesto before the General Lok Sabha Elections 2024. On educational grounds, they promised to review and amend the new National Education Policy (NEP) in consultation with the state governments if it comes to power, saying that several educationists and state dispensations have opposed the policy, reported PTI.
The manifesto mentioned, "The New Education Policy (NEP) announced by the BJP-NDA government has been opposed by educationists and several state governments. Education is a concurrent subject and the rights of states to formulate an education policy must be respected. Hence, we will revisit and amend the NEP in consultation with the state governments."
What other points were mentioned in the manifesto?
1) The party pledged to end the practice of imposing additional fees for various purposes in public schools.
2) The party stated that it would collaborate with states to ensure that each class and subject is assigned a dedicated teacher, and would also discourage the assignment of teachers to non-teaching activities.
3) It would also strive to integrate pre-primary and primary education to ensure that all children receive at least two years of pre-school education to lessen gaps in education.
4) The Congress also promised to increase the number of Kendriya Vidyalayas, NavodayaVidyalayas, and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in consultation with the state governments.
5) It would aim to restore autonomy to colleges and universities, granting them academic freedom to experiment, innovate, and promote research initiatives.
6) Students' freedom of speech and expression and the right to have elected student unions will be protected, it mentioned.
7) They pledge that pre-matric and higher education scholarships for disadvantaged groups including Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Class (OBC), Economically Weaker Section (EWS), denotified tribes and minorities will be restored, increased, and will be fully funded.
8) The party will ensure that all centrally prescribed textbooks promote a scientific mindset and are aligned with India's constitutional principles outlined in the Preamble and other sections of the Constitution of India.
They also allege that revisions of textbooks will not be conducted arbitrarily or be influenced by political agendas.
10) It also plans to revive the education loan initiative for college students, originally introduced during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Additionally, it will direct banks to provide collateral-free education loans of up to Rs 7.5 lakh, with a special focus on students from marginalised communities such as SC, ST, OBC, EWS, and minorities.
11) The Congress said that it will fill all teaching and non-teaching vacancies in central universities and other central educational institutions.
12) It said that the policy regarding centrally-conducted qualifying examinations like National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Central University Entrance Test (CUET), and so on, will be reviewed.
13) Further, state governments will have the option to choose whether to adopt these examinations for admissions or to conduct their examinations that adhere to the prescribed standards for state-funded and state-approved higher educational institutions.
The manifesto released points on five "pillars of justice" with 25 corresponding assurances, and this was unveiled at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in the company of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, along with former party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, according to the PTI report.
