Bengaluru: The Task Force constituted under the Chairmanship of former Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath on implementation of the much-publicised National Education Policy (NEP-2020) submitted its final report to the State Government on Saturday.

One of the major recommendations has been the establishment of Karnataka Education Council (KEC).

The report was submitted to Deputy Chief Minister Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan, who is also the Higher Education Minister and to Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar in Vidhana Soudha.

After receiving the report, Dr. Ashwathnarayan  told media that “Coordination and alignment across a range of departments, functions, bodies, and entities are essential. To address this, the Task Force has suggested a Karnataka Education Council. The Chief Minister will chair this body, and convene meeting at least twice a year, or as often as is deemed necessary, to review the progress of education in the State in its totality, and to appropriately empower and motivate the KEC as needed through his/her authority. The State Higher Education Minister as well as Secondary Education Minister should be Vice-Chairpersons of the KEC.”

The policy will be implemented from the 2021-2022 academic year in a phased manner. Prior to it, deliberations will be held with all the stakeholders based on the new policy which can be implemented within 15 years. However, the State Government has decided to implement it within 10 years, Dr. Ashwathnarayan informed.

The Task Force which was formed on March 4, 2020, has come out with the final report with the assistance of three sub-committees and after several rounds of consultation with the stakeholders. 

Arun Shahapura, MLC, M.K. Sridhar, Member of the Task Force, and others were present on the occasion.

  Major recommendations of Task Force 

•  To establish an Implementation Mission with specific targets that are mapped on a quarterly calendar for the next 3 years.

• Public review of implementation in every quarter; constitute an Implementation Task Force (ITF).

• Immediate provision to be made for the ‘implementation fund’ in SSK (Samagra Shikshana) and Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).

• Establish regulatory bodies — the State School Standards Authority (SSSA) and the Karnataka Higher Education Regulatory Council (KHERC).

• New KSU Act for establishing the proposed Higher Education structure.

• Establish Special Education Zones (SEZs) across identified sections within the State.

• Set up gender and disability funds along with other inclusive education measures for students from socio-economically disadvantaged groups (SEDGs).

• Curricular reforms should drive the transformation of the current structure of schooling to 5+3+3+4 (Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary Stage).

• The Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) will have to revise curriculum — particularly on the Foundational and Preparatory stage and reduce the existing curriculum load.

• Identify successful schools, particularly the KPS and other special schools, and build them into School Complex Centres.

• Strengthen Guru Chetna further and make it the exclusive teacher professional development platform in the State.                     

• The new HEI governance and regulation structure should be created through appropriate legislation.

•  Mentor institutions to be identified and workshops conducted to ensure alignment with Policy principles. 

• The Government should enable an adequate number of Type 1: Research-intensive Universities (RIUs) and Type 2: Teaching-intensive Universities (TIUs) by identifying existing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the State.