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document decrees a host of the college affiliation system under
new ultimately government- which undergrad colleges — often
controlled supervisory and 500-700 — are affiliated with parent
regulatory bodies for school universities. The new policy recom-
and higher education. More- mends conferment of autonomy on
over, despite the reality that high performing colleges and their
post-independence India’s gradual evolution into autonomous
middle class has been almost multidisciplinary universities.
entirely educated in private Overall, although NEP 2020 makes
schools and institutions, NEP the right noises about institutional
2020 is clearly prejudiced autonomy and level playing fields for
against private initiatives in public and private education institu-
education. tions, it is essentially a continuation
Patently, NEP 2020’s elab- of past policies of government con-
orate supervisory and regu- Eager school children: doomed to suffer trol and command of the education
latory architecture has been system.
designed to “protect parents and encourage the flow of private invest- Neither the Kasturirangan Commit-
communities from usurious commer- ment into the education sector even tee nor the professedly market-friend-
cial practices” of private education as government (Centre plus states) ly BJP government at the Centre have
providers. It ignores the reality that expenditure in public education has grasped the logic of conferring true au-
India’s private educators provide the averaged a mere 3.25-3.50 percent of tonomy on education institutions and
cheapest school and collegiate educa- GDP as against 6 percent recommend- letting academics govern and manage
tion worldwide and educate 48 per- ed by the Kothari Commission in 1967 academic institutions. Therefore, the
cent of school-going children and 70 and by NEP 1968, and NEP 1986. auguries are not good for the world’s
percent of youth in higher education. Yet, despite mandating greater largest — and most high potential —
Consequently, it has not liberalised government control, NEP 2020 para- child and youth population, doomed to
and deregulated Indian education to doxically recommends abolition of suffer more of the same.

JULY 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 45