Karnataka's education policy will 'retain' country's secular fabric: Minister Sudhakar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar on Monday said the State Education Policy will be "inclusive" and it will retain the secular fabric of the country along with creating employment opportunities for students.

The Congress government had earlier this month constituted a committee of experts to frame the Karnataka State Education Policy.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the "Asian Summit on Education and Skills" here, the minister noted that the government had formed a committee headed by former UGC Chairman Professor Sukhdev Thorat.

"We have an extensive committee formed for primary education as well as for secondary and higher education. So we have given a time limit till February 28, 2024 (to submit the report). They are going to start their process now and they are going to give us a policy which is going to be an inclusive policy and the secular fabric of this country will be retained," Sudhakar said.

"We cannot afford the education system to be penetrated with certain ideological issues that we are facing in politics right now. Our students and graduates should be free of all these issues," he said.

The committee has been given certain terms and references for drafting the policy, he said. "We are hoping for a very inclusive policy which will be very well accepted by various other states in the future." "....ultimately, our aim is to create employability at the end of the day. Our agenda is mainly to create employability as far as possible,” the minister said.

During the budget speech in the Legislative Assembly in July, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attacked the National Education Policy (NEP), saying it is incompatible with the federal system and has several anomalies which undermine the Constitution and democracy.

Siddaramaiah had said the Karnataka government would formulate a new education policy keeping in mind the local social, cultural and economic milieu of the state.

The new policy would elevate the higher education standards in the state to the global level and empower youth to compete globally and gain meaningful employment opportunities, he had said.

"The Uniform Education System does not suit a nation like India which has diverse religions, languages and cultures," Siddaramaiah had said.