The Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC) has requested Government of India to extend deadline for suggesting additions/alterations to the draft National Policy on Education -2019.
In a statement issued here the GCC said the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development has uploaded the draft policy on its website, on 31May 2019, and invited comments and suggestions from public till 30 June 2019.
It said the draft policy immediately attracted “controversy”since certain clauses in it sought to impose a three-language rule in schoolswith “Hindi being made compulsory”.
“There are many other recommendations in the draft policy,which have far reaching implications on the concurrent status of education andits process. This calls for detailed deliberations by wider sections of societywhose lives will be affected by the proposed changes in the draft policy,” thestatement said, adding moreover, since the draft policy was available only inEnglish and Hindi there was not enough time to engage in discussions in locallanguages as was required for more participatory policy making on the part ofstakeholders.
“The Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), J&K, feels thatthe time of one month allowed for making comments on the draft policy is toolittle. The Group feels that the Government of India should extend the date byat least one month, if not more, beyond 30 June 2019,” said the statement.The GCC comprises of civil society members,across communities and regions, including jurists, former civil servants, academicians,journalists, businessmen and social activists.