Punjab: Teachers criticise National Education Policy

Advocating a Punjab-specific education framework, the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), Punjab, sharply criticised the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, at a state-level awareness convention held recently.

The convention was conducted by DTF state general secretary Mahinder Kauryanwali and opened with a welcome address of state vice-president Gurpyar Kotli.

Vikas Bajpai of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) raised serious concerns over the growing emphasis on digitalisation under NEP-2020, warning that it could marginalise teachers, reduce educational quality and potentially lead to the closure of nearly one-third of India’s universities within the next 15 years. He also criticised the policy’’s push to tie teacher promotions to digital metrics, calling it “detrimental” to equitable education.

Punjab DTF president Vikramdev Singh compared the policy to the recently repealed farm laws, stating that the policy was designed to strip the common people of access to education and hand it over to corporate powers.

Punjab