SC trashes plea to implement NEP in TN, Kerala and Bengal

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan opined that the apex court, in exercise of its writ jurisdiction, cannot directly compel any state government to adopt NEP.

“The court may, however, intervene if a state’s action or inaction related to the National Education Policy violates any fundamental rights. We do not propose to examine this issue in this writ petition,” said the Justice Pardiwala-led Bench as it dismissed the plea filed by advocate G.S. Mani, the petitioner-in-person.

Referring to the media reports, the plea said that five states, namely Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Delhi, have not yet signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Ministry of Education, while 30 states and union territories (UTs) have done so.

“Due to the change in government in Odisha and Union Territory of Delhi, only three remaining states, namely Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal have not signed the MOU with the Union government,” it added.

Further, the plea claimed that this MoU is necessary for the implementation of the National Education Policy and to receive funds of nearly Rs 13,000 crore over the next three years through the Centre’s flagship scheme for state-run higher education.

It said that the view of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister that the NEP undermines social justice, attacks the Tamil language, and is against the interests of Tamil people and Tamil Nadu, is totally false, arbitrary, politically motivated and against the fundamental right to free and effective education and learning of other Indian languages of Tamil and other Indian Children.

“The refusal or failure of the state government to implement the National Educational Policy (NEP) of the Central Government or sign an MOU may harm the public interest or infringe on citizens’ rights. The state government is under a constitutional or legal obligation to implement the NEP 2020 of the Central Government and to enter into an MOU for the implementation of the said policy, scheme, or project,” stated the petition.

As per the plea, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development brought the New National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to improve the quality of education in India by focusing on holistic development, critical thinking, and skill development, apart from emphasising foundational literacy and numeracy.

IANS