Karnataka will implement NEP from August: Minister

Bengaluru, July 31 Karnataka will implement the new National Education Policy (NEP) from August after merging a draft state policy with it, a minister said on Friday.

"In two weeks' time, the NEP and a state policy would be merged to bring out a separate policy for Karnataka," said Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar.

Kumar revealed these plans in a video conference he had with NEP draft committee chairman Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan.

He said the state will be at the forefront in implementing the policy systematically and observed that NEP is a complete policy.

The Karnataka government has already passed a resolution accepting the Central government's National Education Policy and held a meeting on how to implement it.

"A resolution was passed accepting the NEP," said Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher Education, C.N. Ashwath Narayan.

He held a meeting with the members of the 'Task Force on the Implementation of NEP 2020'.

According to the minister, the task force will present a plan of action on August 16 and a detailed plan of action on August 20.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the NEP 2020, making way for large-scale, transformational reforms in school and higher education sectors.

As the first education policy of the millennium, it will replace the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.

On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa and Narayan met Kasturirangan and honoured him.

"Visited and congratulated Kasturirangan, chairman of the committee on NEP 2020, in the presence of Yediyurappa. NEP is set to transform our nation's education sector for which all of us are grateful to Kasturirangan and his team," said Narayan.

Kasturirangan was former chairman of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and also a former Rajya Sabha member and held several other important positions across the country.

( With inputs from IANS )