Kerala General Education Minister V. Sivankutty Slams RSS-Linked Education Conference In State
New Delhi: Kerala general education minister V. Sivankutty launched a sharp attack against a higher education conference being organised by an organisation linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Kochi. He urged people to exhibit strong resistance against the attempts to impose a majoritarian view on India’s education sector.
Sivankutty said that the Kerala government strongly condemns attempts to saffronise the education sector under the garb of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The conference named ‘Gyan Sabha’ in Kochi, which Sivankutty was referring to, is reportedly being convened with “300 top educationists, including vice-chancellors, academicians and education ministers from states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Puducherry”.
The gathering, termed a national education conference, is organised by the Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, a body linked to the RSS and which concerns itself with education.
‘Gyan Sabha’ is being held from July 25 to 28 and will focus on the theme ‘education for a developed India’. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat spoke on the so-called ‘Indianisation in education and the broader implementation’ of the NEP 2020 on July 27.
Sivankutty said efforts to bring the education sector under the purview of any particular ideology or political agenda are unacceptable under any circumstances.
"Education should be secular and accessible for all. However, it is worrying that some organisations are trying to distort education policies according to their interests," the minister said in a statement.
The fact that vice-chancellors of five universities in the state are participating in an event led by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is “very much worrying”, he said.
He asserted that universities must be independent and impartial. The misuse of such institutions for political interests, instead of a focus on academic excellence and research, would have far-reaching consequences, he said.
The Kerala government is committed to protecting the state's public education and higher education sectors, Sivankutty said, adding that their objective is to ensure an education system that is in line with the fundamental principles of the constitution and democratic values.
The minister said the people of the state must take all steps to resist and defeat saffronisation bids and uphold the secular nature of the education sector.
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