In the light of the near initiation of the New Education Policy, there has been a continuous ongoing chaos in the Delhi University. The draft of the NEP draws input from the T.S.R. Subramanian Committee report and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
As against the NEP, the teachers and the students across Delhi University are constantly agitating to stop the implementation of this authoritarian policy. Strikes and protests have been observed by the teachers regularly. In a recent instance, students and teachers of Kamala Nehru and Gargi College stood up against the initiation of this policy. They gathered in large number forming a Human Chain and were heard shouting slogans like, ‘One, Two, Three, Four, knock NEP out of the door; Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Save education system before it’s too late’, ‘P se Piss off Privatisation’, ‘Say NO to Privatisation, Education is NOT FOR SALE’, etc. The students and teachers expressed their concerns over the unwanted and stringent structural changes and the fee hikes that are to be initiated as a part of this plan.
The draft contains the policies which aim to convert the Ad-hoc lecturers or the temporary lecturers to the status of Guest Lecturers absorbing the post altogether. It also proposes the privatisation and complete financial autonomy for the universities and colleges. With this move there would be an apparent hike in the prices for the expansion and the maintenance of infrastructure and the universities will be reduced to the status of merely degree-granting status to be governed under Board of Governor (BoG) thereby reducing say of teachers in all the matters from courses and curriculum to fees, pay and service conditions. All this will devalue the status of the Delhi University forcing it to come under the effects of Four-year Bachelor’s programme all over again and harming the equity and equality of the University.
The Draft of the National Education Policy though aims at transforming the education system for the betterment of the society but it also has certain major weak points and leakages which need to be overlooked for the benefits of everyone.
