State education policy report likely next year

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: For mer University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman and current chairman of Karnataka State Education Policy (SEP) commission Sukhdev Thorat on Friday disclosed that a tentative six-month period had been set aside for submission of the SEP report.

He said that the plan was to submit the report in March but added that an extension may be obtained for the same. He added that the education policy would be “comprehensive and futuristic”.

“Our primary mandate is to submit the policy to the government within the stipulated time frame. If need be, we might seek an extension from the government. As for the implementation, it is for the government to decide,” Thorat said.

Thorat, who was trained as an economist, said that he and his compatriots were tasked with studying the status of the school and higher education institutions in Karnataka to address “both short and long term challenges of the education system in the state”.

It may be recalled that back in August, the State government had given an in-principle nod to form the relevant committee to formulate SEP for the 2024-25 academic year.

The Siddaramaiah-led administration issued a Government Order (GO) on October 11 constituting a 15 member committee, composed of professors, both working and retired, IAS officers and writers.

The initial deadline had been February 28.

9 working groups

It is to be noted that the committee has nine groups under its umbrella.

Each group would study various aspects of the state’s education policy such as student enrolment, governance, financing, professional education, value education and others.

Stakeholders such as civil society members, student organisations, former vice chancellors and other experts would also be consulted.

“The report will be based on facts and data and not on presumptions and assumptions,'' Thorat said.