Gujarat govt goes slow on NEP to not ‘disturb existing system’ before Assembly polls

The state government that has been claiming to have achieved the implementation of NEP 2020 to a larger extent is yet to start Balvatikas, the pre-primary class for five-year-old children, along with the introduction of Bhagwad Gita in schools under NEP’s Indian Knowledge System (IKS).

Both the policies were to be implemented from this academic session that commenced on June 13.  However, despite declaration at the beginning of the year, there is no clarity yet on implementation. According to a government source, Balvatikas for children of 5 to 6 years age — between anganwadi and Class 1 — have been put on hold due to the assembly elections, this year.

“Since five-year-old children are admitted to Class 1 in government schools, parents would be asked to take out children from government schools and get them enrolled in Balvatikas. This might have a negative impression among the public,” said a senior education official, adding that course curriculum for Balvatikas has been prepared.

As per the new age criteria based on NEP 2020, the state government has also chalked out pre-school one for three-plus, pre-school two for four-plus and Balvatika for five-plus, Class 1 for six-plus and Class 2 for seven-plus year old children.

Similarly, the incorporation of Bhagwad Gita in schools in Gujarat that was announced by the Education Minister in the state assembly during the budget session in March is unlikely to take off this year. The Government Resolution (GR) issued soon after the announcement stated that students of Class 6 to 12 will be introduced to values and principles of Bhagwad Gita from the academic session 2022-’23. When asked about the uncertainty, Education Minister Jitu Vaghani said, “We want to launch it with full preparations so the implementation is taking some time.”

“The school education will include Indian culture and Knowledge System. For which in the first phase, values and principles of Bhagwad Gita will be incorporated in state government schools from Class 6 to 12 in such a manner that they are able to understand as well as generate interest for these,” the March 17 GR stated.

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In view of the upcoming assembly polls, NEP proposals in higher education under “governance and leadership”, including replacement of elected members of syndicate and senate, has been pushed from “immediate” to “long term” action plan, according to government sources. This is to rule out any opposition against major changes in the governance structure, they said.

Another initiative, though not declared as part of NEP 2020, that is on hold due to elections is the “Residential Schools of Excellence” under public private partnership (PPP) mode. Despite eight months of selection of over 70 applicants after rigorous scrutiny, the Gujarat government’s ambitious project did not take off this academic session.  In December 2021, out of around 350 applications for the programme, over 70 names were shortlisted after a scrutiny by the education department’s committee.