Introduction

• Karnataka government released a 2,197-page State Education Policy (SEP), an alternative to NEP 2020.

• Key focus: Free education for girl students up to graduation and extending reservations to private institutions.

• SEP emphasizes affordability, quality, and social justice, aligning with constitutional socialist principles.

NEP vs SEP: Goals and Challenges

1. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 Objectives:

• Increase Gross Enrollment Ratio from 27% to 50% by 2035.

• Consolidate higher education institutions from 58,000 to 12,000.

• Promote multidisciplinary learning, AI, skill development, and foreign university collaboration.

2. Observed Challenges:

• Only 12% of graduates pursue post-graduate studies; 1% proceed to research.

• NEP encourages multidisciplinary learning, but specialisation is crucial for research readiness.

• The mushrooming of private HEIs often focuses on profit over access.

3. SEP Approach:

• Facilitates foreign universities helping local institutions through technology transfer, joint research, and exchanges.

• Prioritizes social inclusion for girls, Muslims, OBCs, SC/STs, and marginalized communities.

• Affordability and quality are central, but curricular transformation is needed for genuine inclusion.

Structural and Institutional Concerns

• SEP does not clarify NAAC and NIRF assessment alignment, crucial for institutional credibility.

• Non-implementation of NEP components can lead to loss of UGC funding and rankings.

• Assessment systems often compare urban and rural institutions on the same scale, ignoring contextual differences.

• Intellectual upward mobility of first-generation learners and marginalized students is overlooked.

Inclusivity and Curricular Transformation

• Higher education should focus on producing socially responsible global citizens aware of constitutional duties and human rights.

• Curricular reform must integrate:

  • Indian Knowledge System (IKS) meaningfully.

  • Two-language policy with adequate teacher training.

  • Practical learning synchronized with digital tools and local contexts.

• Paulo Freire’s principle: Education as “the practice of freedom” to enable learners to perceive social and economic contradictions.

Rural-Urban Divide and Digital Challenges

• 43% universities and 61.4% colleges are located in rural areas.

• SEP’s success depends on bridging infrastructure gaps and addressing the digital divide.

• Digital learning must be accompanied by teacher capacity building, context-relevant content, and linguistic accessibility.

• Practical, hands-on learning cannot be replaced by online theory-only methods.

Holistic Education and Social Justice

• SEP promotes life skills, social skills, and soft skills, ensuring students are competent and compassionate.

• Inclusion must be beyond policy rhetoric, requiring institutional ethos overhaul, infrastructure improvement, and pedagogical reform.

• Higher education should reflect the Constitution’s Preamble, ensuring social, economic, and political justice.

Conclusion

• SEP is a positive step for affordability and social justice, but real inclusivity requires:

  • Curricular transformation.

  • Support for marginalized communities in access, retention, and upward mobility.

  • Integration of IKS and two-language policy meaningfully.

  • Addressing rural infrastructure and digital readiness.

• The challenge is not only opening the gates of higher education but also reforming what lies within

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