Congress red-flags govt’s education policy

NEW DELHI: Congress on Monday demanded a white paper on the policy changes in education made or planned by the AAP government.
Alleging there was a lack of transparency, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken said he was planning to write to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on this.
Maken said the Delhi government must place in the public domain all official communication, new textbooks/supplementary material, teacher training material and expenditure details.“Arvind Kejriwal claims to be an RTI expert, but he seems to have forgotten all about RTI after forming government in Delhi,” the DPCC chief said.
“Any changes in the education policy should be implemented only after discussing it with experts and all the stakeholders. There is a lack of transparency and apparent arbitrariness in the way policy changes are being initiated in Delhi government schools. So-called steps pertain to categorising children on the basis of one-time performance into ‘ability’ sections, arbitrary pruning of the syllabus, compelling children to opt for vocational subjects in Class XI etc,” Maken said at a presser.
He said the white paper was important and to ensure that RTE norms were not flouted in the name of reforms.
Maken pointed out that the state of public education has come under much discussion lately in the light of the new education policy mooted by the Centre. He claimed DPCC has developed its view after a “thorough review of the ground situation and consultation with academia, civil society, parents and children”.
Maken also said the government’s Chunauti policy, in which students under 14 years are divided into groups on the basis of their “basic learning skills”, was discriminatory and against RTE provisions. “This kind of division is likely to lead to students being labelled as ‘bright’ and ‘weak’, with some capable of pursuing academic subjects while dissuading others, especially girl students, to continue with their education,” Maken said.