Education Policy should promote inclusiveness and constitutional values – MTB, JIH

New Delhi 8^th August, 2020: Appreciating a large portion of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Mr.Nusrat Ali, the Chairman of Jamaat’s Markazi Taleemi Board, JIH expressed concern on usage of the term “Indian ethos” and the exclusion of some basic values enshrined in the constitution viz – secularism, fraternity, and rights of the citizens.

Addressing a virtual Press Conference from the JIH headquarters in New Delhi, Mr. Nusrat Ali said: “The NEP 2020 expects the citizens to learn the duties of citizens but misses out at teaching the rights of the citizens. This leads to a suspicion that the policy wants to nurture subjects and not citizens. Critical thinking and creativity are among the appreciable features in the policy. These qualities are essential for our students to make the country a “knowledge superpower” but these are not taught by our textbooks in the classrooms. We would need a society in which citizens raise questions and dissent is tolerated. The present social and political climate of the country does not provide a favorable environment to inculcate these desired values.”

Among the demands made by the Markazi Taleemi Board, JIH was the inclusion of the Arabic language in the list of foreign languages to be offered. Explaining the importance of Arabic, the Chairman of MTB, JIH said: “A large number of NRIs live in Arabic speaking Gulf countries and contribute immensely to the country’s exchequer. The country has business and cultural ties since the ancient period with these countries.” Replying a question on the issue of the education of those belonging to the minority community, Nusrat Ali said: “We have demanded special education zones in all the 60 Muslim concentrated districts in India because without providing equitable quality education to a large population of minority our aspiration to become knowledge superpower cannot be achieved.”

He also observed that the introductory part of the policy only documents the ancient history of India and glorifies it while ignoring the contributions made during the medieval and modern periods. He emphasized to include the names of Rabindranath Tagore, Abul Kalam Azad, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Jyotirao Phule, and Savitribai Phule.

Markazi Taleemi Board, JIH has been working in the field of education to promote value-based holistic education. Mr. Nusrat Ali also announced that they would be submitting their observations and suggestions to the education ministry.