The New Education Policy (NEP) has come under the scrutiny of the stakeholders including States who have criticised it for ambiguity in financial management. The issue came during the meeting of the of the HRD Ministry's Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE). Education Ministers and representatives of states attended the meeting.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the States like Delhi, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka flagged the funding issues in proposed NEP by the HRD Ministry, saying the draft has some good proposals but no "financial plan of action for implementation."
The panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new NEP to HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'. 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. Draft NEP has since seen three HRD Ministers- Smriti Irani, Prakash Javadekar and the incumbent Ramesh Pokhriya Nishank.
"Finance is very important to implement this policy and the draft policy has not spoken much about the financial plan of action for implementation. The extension of Right to Education (RTE) act will further burden states in terms of funds and the centre should bear the brunt for it," KN Prasad Verma, Bihar's Education Minister, recorded in the meeting.
While Karnataka's Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, said "finance is important in proper implementation of schemes and programmes but most of the revenue goes into the recurring grants", Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia recorded that the policy is a "wishful" draft and has no mention of how it will be implemented and what needs to be done in the run up to the implementation.
"The Indian education system is highly regulated but poorly funded," sources said quoting Sisodia in the CABE meeting. Arun Kumar Sahoo, Odisha's Education Minister, pointed out that, "more funds are required for the implementation of the policy in the states so a proper financial plan should be prepared for the implementation of the policy," said.
Sahoo suggested a "Give back to roots" programme and ways to involve alumni in generating more funding. Andhra Pradesh's Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh also stressed on the need of budgetary provisions.
"More funds are required and a proper allocation is necessary to implement the policy. Some of the initiatives like pre-primary education and about anganwadi workers are good but it is not possible for States to do it alone and Centre should provide funding," Minister of State for School and Mass Education Odisha Samir Ranjan Das.
Prabhuram Chaudhury, Madhya Pradesh's Education Minister demanded extra funds from the state and suggested that centralisation should be avoided. Lal Chanda Ralte, Minister of State for School Education in Mizoram, said. There are limited resources available to his state and interest of every stakeholder must be ensured in the NEP.
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 T S R Subramanian and formed by the HRD Ministry when it was being headed by Smriti Irani.