Shiv Sena welcomes New Education Policy, calls it 'more important' than Rafale

Shiv Sena weighed in on this week's two key events — the arrival of the first batch of Rafale fighter jets and the New Education Policy (NEP), 2020 unveiled by the Modi government — saying the latter is more important but raised concerns on the policy's proper implementation.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi did a good job. He changed the country's educational policy completely. This change occurred after 34 years. This is more important than the Rafale planes from France. We call the new education policy important as the country has now got the Ministry of Education. So now the country will get an Education Minister. If a person is knowledgeable in the education sector then let him become Education Minister. Many people who do not have finance-related information or who do not have health-related information, often those ministries were given to those who did not do good work there," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana read.

READ | New Education Policy: Manish Sisodia Welcomes Reforms, Wonders On Course Of Implementation

READ | NEP 2020: What Is The New Education Policy For College Students? Read Key Points

Praise for NEP

The Shiv Sena welcomed the policy for its focus on education up to class fifth in the mother tongue but expressed reservation whether this will only be limited to government schools and not spread to private schools run by missionaries and others.

"One thing is good that education up to the fifth grade is kept in the mother tongue. The demand for education in the mother tongue was constantly being made by the Sangh Parivar. The only question is that this mother tongue should not be limited to education only in government schools. There are English medium schools, ''convent schools'' of missionaries, Central schools and how will we implement this mother tongue education rule in the context of international schools?" the editorial read.

"Today there is a wave of education in English all over the country. Language and culture are dying due to this. People have assumed that the mother tongue is not suitable for livelihood, business, industry, and research. Marathi schools were closed in cities like Mumbai and Thane. Marathi teachers became unemployed. This picture is surprising," it added.

Saamna further said that the proposed change of education from 10+2 to 5+3+3+4 is a step towards a more practical, skill-based, and quality-oriented setup. But it went on to say whether the desired results will be achieved is circumspect as the quality is hardly valued in the system.

"According to the new policy, the exams of the tenth-twelfth have now ended. By cancelling their boards, the Central government has prepared a new framework of 5+3+3+4. Future education will not only be a book-making or graduate-producing factory but also practical and professional. The fear of results has been removed. Results will also be evaluated by the student, classmates and teachers themselves, not only by giving marks and remarks of teachers," it said.

(With ANI inputs)

READ | Chandrababu Naidu Welcomes NEP 2020; Terms It As A Boost To Education Sector

READ | New Education Policy Envisions Imparting 21st Century, Employability Skills: Kasturirangan