Karnataka to form committee to create state education policy, will replace NEP in a year

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the government would form a committee to formulate a state education policy within a year while continuing the existing system for now. A week ago, he had announced that the state would scrap the National Education Policy (NEP), provoking dire warnings from the BJP about the move "taking the state backwards by several decades."

Addressing a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) meeting, the CM said that as education was a state subject, the centre could not legally formulate country-wide laws about it. "The NEP has been created without consulting the states," he added.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah met with vice chancellors and officials from universities across the state. Calling the NEP a "conspiracy," he said a uniform curriculum was not possible for a country as diverse as India.


The NEP came into effect on July 29, 2020, promising a meaningful change in the education system. Karnataka was the first state to switch to the NEP from the old education policy of 1986.

Last week Siddaramaiah blamed the previous BJP regime for implementing the NEP and said he could not do much to reverse it as the academic year had already commenced by the time the new Congress regime took over. The new government did not wish to change things midway and disrupt things, he added.

Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said the committee would be convened within a week. "The National Education Policy (NEP) was brought in 2021, but let me tell you none of the BJP ruling states have taken interest in it and adopted it," he said.

The state, he said, intends to develop a tailored education policy that aligns more closely with Karnataka's unique educational requirements.

On Friday, the deputy CM had slammed the centre on twitter, accusing it of undue haste in implementing the NEP in Karnataka. "After coming to power, we promised to cancel the National Education Policy and we are committed to that promise. What is the rush to implement NEP first in Karnataka? Why has NEP not been implemented in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh?" he tweeted.