Members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) attempted to burn a copy of the draft National Education Policy (NEP) here on Tuesday.
Dhinesh Raja, district president of SFI, led the protest in front of the Government Arts College.After raising slogans against the draft NEP, the protesters attempted to burn its copy. However, police rushed in and snatched the copy from the protesters. This was followed by a brief argument between the protesters and the police.
Addressing mediapersons after the protest, Mr. Raja alleged that the draft NEP does not provide information regarding scholarships or reservations to students and that it prioritised private schools over government schools.
He also criticised the draft's proposal of starting formal education from the age of three and the attempt to conduct entrance examinations for arts and science courses.
The two demands of the protesters were to translate the draft NEP into local languages and provide a six-month period for discussions on the draft. Terming June 30 deadline as inadequate, Mr. Raja accused the Central government of being in a rush to implement the NEP.