Srinagar, Jun 22 (KNS): J&K Private School Association trashed draft of new national education policy, which it said, has not taken on board the recommendations of the private schools for the betterment of the school education in the State.
These views were expressed in a Conference themed “National Education Policy – 2019” here at Press Club Jammu.
Notably, The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, has uploaded the draft National Education Policy 2019 on its website. It has invited comments and suggestions from the public till June 30, 2019, after which the draft will be finalised.
While reviewing the draft policy, JKPSA President Kamal Gupta said the policy has stiffened the norms for the private schools, which will further make their functioning cumbersome and create hurdles in providing quality education to the students.
He said JKPSA had time and again provided feedback and suggestions to the government on how the education system can be smoothly improved “but none of their demands and suggestions has been incorporated in the policy.”
He said the government has instead made the functioning of the schools tougher, which will only hamper school education.
The speakers on the occasion said private schools have been making all-out efforts to provide best education to the students with the start of the art infrastructure which has fetched them best results.
“Private schools have been consistently preforming well and much better than government run schools.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelInstead of appreciating them and easing the norms, the draft seems to be quite opposite. We reject the draft and government should incorporate suggestions from the private schools,” he said.
President JK Joint Coordination Committee of Private Schools Showkat Chowdhary who also spoke on the occasion said government should consider the suggestions of the private stakeholders who have performed well and helped students build better careers.
“Government should draft school friendly policy to help in strengthening private schools further,” he said.
He also urged government that private schools should be taken on board before finalizing the draft.
Chowdhary said the central government should have removed the shortcomings in the previous draft policy, which has hampered the growth of the education sector.
“No sector grows if the government intervenes with strict policies. The government should ease the norms to provide a good environment for hassle-free functioning,” said Chowdhary.
Others who spoke on the occasion include President National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) Kulbushan Sharma, Vice President JKPSA Rameshwar Mengi, General Secretary JKPSA Ajay Gupta.
Kulbushan Sharma said they are holding such conferences across many states seeking suggestions on the draft policy.
Sharma urged Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India to extend its date as the draft has been published on 400 pages, which will take time to review properly. (KNS)