SHILLONG, June 17: Even as the state government is struggling to implement National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP), the Meghalaya Trinamool Congress said the burden of NEP may be passed on to the citizens and education may become expensive if the institutions in the state are not properly supported.
TMC vice president George B. Lyngdoh said NEP is a national policy and all states have to take concrete steps to meet same standards.
“All state governments normally try to upgrade and retune themselves to ensure that their state policy is in line with national policies. This is a convention to measure all policies across the country. It helps the funding pattern,” he said.
Citing the delay in the implementation of NEP, 2020 in 2023, Lyngdoh said the state government has to step up its efforts and ensure that the state comes in line with the national policy.
Pointing out that resources are the biggest challenge for NEP implementation, he said, “All institutions will now have to upgrade themselves to be able to cope with the demands of NEP. The biggest question is whether the resources will be made available to the state so the institutions can upgrade themselves.”
He said one perspective when it comes to NEP is that education may become expensive because the institutions have to upgrade their infrastructure, keep trained teachers, add vocational training etc. He said these require resources.
“I fear that this burden of resources may be passed on to the citizens. If the institutions are not properly supported, then the burden of NEP may be passed on to the citizens and education may become expensive,” the TMC leader said.
Justifying the fear, he said, “We have seen that the state has been consecutively adjudged as one of the poorest in terms of infrastructure. In terms of vocational training, we are still lagging far behind. So, will we be able to come to the standards required within the time frame? The expectation will be that the state will fulfil the parameters of the institutions meeting the NEP standards.”
Lyngdoh said the biggest question is if the state government will be able to give that kind of resource support, manpower and teaching tools to the institutions.
