The controversy surrounding the issue of implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in the affiliated colleges under NEHU has drawn severe criticisms from the Voice of the People Party (VPP) which accused NEHU vice-chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla of trying to force implementation of the policy despite the constraints faced by colleges in the State.
In a statement issued today, VPP vice president Dr. Kara H. Chen also asked the NEHU vice-chancellor and authorities of the university to clarify on the “serious” allegation made by the Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA) and the North Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) on the matter.
“The party is of the opinion that NEHU should implement the NEP 2020 only when thorough consultation with all the stakeholders is completed and by following the due procedure. Any attempt to implement the NEP 2020 through undemocratic, dictatorial and arm-twisting methods is unacceptable and should be resisted. The vice-chancellor should be prudent enough to realise that though he is heading a central university, he has to also look into the constraints faced by the State’s colleges. He has to balance between the Central government’s requirement and the ground realities in the State,” the VPP said.
The party also said that NEHU has never provided financial aid to the affiliated colleges for development and therefore, the promise made by the office of the vice-chancellor to extend all possible help to colleges for implementation of NEP is “hollow and meaningless”.
Further, the VPP also expresses serious disappointment with the MDA government since in September 2020, immediately after the Union Cabinet adopted the NEP 2020, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma declared that Meghalaya would be the first State to implement the policy.
“Beyond the thoughtless declaration, the Chief Minister did nothing in terms of preparation to implement the policy, especially at the higher education level. It is rather humiliating when NEHU notified that all undergraduate admission in colleges in Meghalaya had to be done through the CUET to be conducted by the National Testing Agency, the Government of Meghalaya had to rush in requesting the Central government to exempt the State from the test. Further, students of Meghalaya have to sacrifice their dreams of pursuing post-graduation studies given the inadequate availability of testing centres in the State. Therefore, the party would like to advise the Chief Minister to speak less but think and act more,” the VPP said.
The VPP also reminded the statement of State Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma on June 1 to the media that Meghalaya was not ready to implement the NEP 2020 in colleges from the academic session 2023-24.
“But what factors made Meghalaya ready to implement the NEP in less than two months from the time the minister made a statement? What steps has the State government taken in the last month and a half to make the colleges prepared to implement the policy? Is the State education minister so weak that the vice-chancellor is trampling upon the State education minister to brush aside his statement and findings? Is the state government too scared to displease the NEHU vice-chancellor and the political masters in New Delhi? What steps the state government has taken to negate the imminent increased cost of higher education with the implementation of the NEP? Is the state government aware that NEP if implemented without care being taken would push many out of higher education given the fact that Meghalaya is the second poorest state in India?” the VPP asked.
Stating that the silence of the State government on the unilateral action taken by the NEHU vice-chancellor on the implementation of the NEP baffled every one, the VPP said that it was surprised that the State government is subservient to the dictation of NEHU.
“The people of the State urgently need clarification from the chief minister or his education minister on these queries. Further, the present education minister seems clueless to run the department. The chief minister should seriously think of replacing him with a better and more capable minister. The future of our children cannot be entrusted to someone who has exhibited the quality of being administratively inefficient,” the VPP said.
