New Education Policy likely to be placed before Cabinet next month

The new National Education Policy (NEP) is likely to be taken to the Cabinet next month, former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan who headed the policy drafting panel said on Thursday.

"According to the present HRD Minister, the feedback and the responses received on the policy draft are reasonable. About 80 per cent of the responses align with the recommendations made in the policy draft and for the remaining 20 per cent, few portions will be tweaked by the ministry.

"He (Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank') is confident of steering the draft through the Cabinet and converting it into the policy. I have the indication that it is likely to be done next month," Kasturirangan said at the valedictory session of the FICCI Higher Education Summit.

A panel led by Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new NEP to Nishank when he took charge as the HRD Minister in May.

The draft was then put in public domain to seek feedback from various stakeholders and over two lakh suggestions were received by the HRD Ministry about the same.

The HRD Ministry is currently in process of giving a final shape to the draft policy before it is taken to the Cabinet.

"Coming up with a plan which will withstand test of scrutiny and applicability for the next 20 years was the main challenge while drafting the new education policy," Kasturirangan said.

The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992. A new education policy was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto ahead of the 2014 general election.

The drafting experts also took into account the report of a panel headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian. The panel was formed by the HRD Ministry when it was being headed by Union minister Smriti Irani.

The 15th FICCI Higher Education Summit and Exhibition 2019 at the Vigyan Bhavan here began on Wednesday with delegates from more than 65 countries, including regions such as Africa, CIS, Middle East and Asia, participating.

The three-day event is focused on "Creative Economy Nation Building: Higher Education as the Catalyst".