NEP
The student today is not a learner in the true sense of the word. She is a combatant: not in pursuit of knowledge but in flight from meaning; not in dialogue with her world but at war with it – and with herself. Her classroom is a glowing screen. Her community is an algorithm. Her soul, a site of slow implosion. In the absence of real bonds, real questions and real care, she spirals inward: into depression, into anxiety, into violence, into drugs, into suicide. What was once education has now become an abyss – device-bound, atomised, and meaningless. https://thewire.in/education/after-the-nep-verdict-education-is-no-longer-the-union-govts-weapon
This is the condition Korean-German philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls the Burnout Society – a world where individuals, freed from external coercion, destroy themselves in the name of freedom, productivity, and optimisation. Students today are not oppressed by a tyrant. They are devoured by a system that demands performance, multitasking, and perpetual availability.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is not the beginning of this crisis. It is merely the policy expression of it It promises flexibility but delivers fragmentation. It preaches empowerment but enforces submission. Its obsession with “21st-century skills and employability” is not futuristic. It is feudal. Even the chairperson of the NEP drafting committee, K. Kasturirangan, proudly claimed the policy is designed to impart “employability skills like communication, creativity, and problem-solving” while creating a “workforce aligned to the needs of the market.” It wants docile minds in corporate cubicles and obedient bodies in uniform. It wants a nation of performers, not questioners.
by Anilkumar Payyappilly Vijayan
20/05/2025
Delhi University does not want its students to study social topics such as sexual orientation, caste, or religious identity, according to a media report. In a discussion held by the department of psychology on Monday, May 6, the university standing committee sent back the department’s syllabus for revisions, recommending the removal of topics including sexual orientation, caste, religious identity, and an entire elective paper titled “Psychology of Sexuality”.
Mentions of Kashmir, Pakistan or Bangladesh are also to be removed from the syllabus, the university’s standing committee has suggested.
The report, published in Hindustan Times, states that the proposed changes are part of the university’s overhaul of its undergraduate fourth-year curriculum under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 framework.
Along with the removal of these topics, the committee has also sought the inclusion of Indian epics in the syllabus. “The paper on ‘Psychology of Peace’ must be revamped with examples from the Mahabharata on mediation and negotiation,” an official is quoted as telling the HT reporter.
07/05/2025
In a rather abrupt development, the government of Maharashtra announced that the state board schools will now adopt the curriculum developed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The state board-run schools are to begin aligning with the textbooks developed by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Addressing both the houses of the legislature, the Maharashtra education minister Dada Bhuse unveiled the plan to phase out the state board curriculum and textbooks for classes I-XII by 2028. https://thewire.in/education/why-is-maharashtra-surrendering-its-own-school-curriculum-and-textbooks
The State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) Maharashtra and Balbharti, the state’s bureau of textbook production and research, have long been involved in curriculum and textbook development. In fact, Maharashtra is the only state in the country that produces school textbooks in eight languages including Marathi, English, Kannada, Urdu, Telugu, Hindi, Sindhi and Gujarati. Given that the strong infrastructure for curriculum development is available in the state and that the Balbharti textbooks have undergone some changes in the past few years, this decision appears to have occurred without much serious thought and planning.
There is no evidence of greater quality or competition-readiness after adopting the NCERT textbooks. In fact, the experiences of teachers reveal the struggles they and the students have gone through with the textbooks. The students of Maharashtra deserve better education and not quick fixes. Any serious intervention in the curriculum and textbooks should begin with periodic textbook revisions based on pedagogic considerations by an autonomous group of experts involving teachers and academics as well as the strengthening of state-level institutions and curriculum development units.
by Shivali Tukdeo and Subhankar Chakraborty
28/04/2025
The committee recommended a simplified hierarchy of regulatory bodies without excessive centralisation.
A parliamentary standing committee, in its report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (February 4) flagged the “government’s retreat from public education and the increasing influence of neoliberal policies” while noting that most universities, especially those under the central government have a “higher amount of contractual workforce”.
The committee has also expressed concern that the draft Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) bill – that seeks to replace the UGC (University Grants Commission) as a single regulator – will remove state control and “would indirectly fuel privatisation especially in rural areas.”
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh said that as many as “four thousand teachers are employed in Central Universities in temporary posts.”
“This shift away from permanent, secure government jobs towards casual, short-term contracts has been driven by the Government’s retreat from public education and the increasing influence of neoliberal policies,” the committee said.
06/02/2025
On January 6, 2024, UGC declared the 2025 Draft Regulations, which amount to a fresh assault on academic freedoms. https://thewire.in/education/why-the-ugc-draft-regulations-amount-to-a-fresh-assault-on-academic-freedoms Sandhya Devesan 05/02/2025
First, the post of the Vice Chancellor is now open to candidates from outside academia, and what has been vaguely termed ‘industry’, and thus stands immediately compromised This also opens up the path to further privatisation of the University, which needs to be read along with clause 3.8 outlining ‘notable contributions’ as well.
Clause 3.8 also has to be read along with Clause 11.0, which threatens punitive action against the teachers and the institution, in the event of “violations” of the UGC Provisions. These violations are generally stated, making them entirely subjective, open to interpretation, and especially coercive.
Clause 12.0 concretises this further by stating that, “In the event of any conflict or inconsistency with respect to these regulations, the interpretation given by the Commission shall be final and binding”, thereby giving no opportunity to any aggrieved entities to submit their case for appeal.
As is evident, this is an extremely draconian and feudal move intended to suppress all democratic functioning within the University, and to grant absolute powers to a small minority of people.
After Tamil Nadu, Kerala wants draft UGC regulations withdrawn; passes resolution https://thesouthfirst.com/kerala/after-tamil-nadu-kerala-wants-draft-ugc-regulations-withdrawn-passes-resolution/
UGC draft guidelines: Controversy erupts over proposal for de-reservation in higher education institutes https://thesouthfirst.com/news/ugc-draft-guidelines-controversy-erupts-over-proposal-for-de-reservation-in-higher-education-institutes/
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1751544211449520521