DW BUREAU / Chandigarh/New Delhi

Punjab's education minister Harjot Singh Bains, voiced strong dissent, stating that the centre government is overstepping its bounds and encroaching on states' rights through new education policy.

Punjab Education Minister Bains was here to attend the Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam organised by Union Ministry of Education at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was the chief guest of this national level event.

The Punjab Education Minister stated that as education being a concurrent subject between the Centre and the states, the Central Government is overpowering its authority through its new education policy.

The Minister highlighted that despite Punjabi being one of the 22 scheduled languages under the Constitution and being widely spoken and studied in several states other than Punjab, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had initially included it as an optional subject alongside languages like Thai, German and Mandarin.

He said that it was only after Punjab government registered strong protests that Punjabi was included as a main subject.

He said that the center had claimed that the NEP would promote the regional languages but contrary to these claims the center placed the regional languages under the category of optional subjects which is undermining the status of regional languages.

The Minister said that Punjab government has already announced to frame its own education policy and it will be formed soon.

He further said that the state will not tolerate any steps of the centre that undermine Punjab, Punjabbiyat and punjabi language under the guise of the NEP. He stated that Punjab has already announced its new education policy and is working sincerely towards the holistic development of education in the state.

The Minister highlighted that students from government schools in Punjab are excelling at the national level in various fields of education and competitive exams, bringing pride to the state.

Bains said that during this event, there was no discussion on the tragic accident that occurred due to the collapse of a school building in Rajasthan and even a two-minute silence was not observed on the death of innocent children, which is very unfortunate.

He said that in this conference, important issues like issues related to mid-day meal and increasing the salaries of workers, no increase in the funds for school uniform for a very long time were not discussed, whereas in Punjab, different school uniforms are required for summer and winter. He said that in this conference, new methods of education, block chain, artificial intelligence (AI), digital learning and other issues were not even touched.

(editor@dailyworld.in)