Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said the new policy lacks an action plan for effective implementation, which needs to be worked on. (File Photo)Speaking at the Governor’s Conference on the New Education Policy on Monday, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said the new policy lacks an action plan for effective implementation, which needs to be worked on.
“The implementation of this policy should be carefully planned so it is not limited to just a wonderful idea… Even after 73 years of Independence, we hide shortcomings of our governments by blaming Macaulay. In 1968 and 1986, new education policies were formulated. Macaulay is used as an excuse to hide failures in the implementation of those policies. Macaulay did not stop us from implementing our own education policy since Independence. Today, we should take a pledge that no one will ever take Macaulay’s name to hide his shortcomings,” he said.
For this, he spoke about ensuring expenditure on education. “This policy talks about spending 6% of GDP on education. It has been said in the 1968 policy as well but never implemented. Thus, a law should be made so that successive governments are bound by it and necessary resources needed for effective implementation of the policy can be guaranteed,” he said.
Referring to high statistics of student suicides, Sisodia also pointed to lapses in education policies which led to “immense pressure and stress among students”. Another area on which he focused on was boosting vocational education. “At present, about 80% of the youth having a degree are not considered employable. This needs our attention… It is inappropriate to treat a vocational degree differently from an undergraduate degree in any other subject. These courses should be given equal importance, only then will we be able to reap their benefits,” he said.