The deadline for public comments on the draft of the new National Education Policy (NEP) will be extended by a month till July 31, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said in the RajyaSabha Thursday.
The draft of the new NEP, which was formulated by a panelled by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, provides reforms at all levels ofeducation. The current deadline to submit public views will expire on June 30.”The report (on the draft NEP) has been put on a public domain forsuggestions. The draft has been prepared after discussions at all levels. Andthe date for submitting comments will be extended by a month,” Pokhriyalsaid during the Question Hour in the Upper House.
He was responding to a supplementary asked by TMC memberDerek O’ Brien that if the committee prepared the draft of the new NEP withoutholding any meetings and without discussion.
Public inputs have been sought on four broad categories school education, higher education,additional key focus areas and transforming education. To another query onimplementation of 25 per cent reservation to economically weaker section (EWS)in private schools, the Minister said this provision has been in place since2009 but was implemented seriously from 2014 onwards.Consequently, the enrolment in private schoolsunder the EWS category has gone up from 18 lakh children in 2014 to 41 lakh in2018, he added. The minister also said the vacant post of director at CentralHindi Directorate will be filled up very soon as a new policy has been put in place.