‘Communal, Coercive Agenda’: Sonia Targets Modi Govt On Education

Sonia Gandhi, an MP and chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, has strongly criticized the Modi-led government for its approach to education, claiming it is following an agenda that is causing significant harm. She has identified three main issues plaguing Indian education today: centralization, commercialization, and communalization, which she refers to as the “3Cs.”

Sonia Gandhi argues that the government is coercing state governments into implementing the PM-SHRI scheme for model schools by withholding necessary grants under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. This tactic, she claims, undermines the autonomy of state governments and forces them to comply with the central government’s directives.

In her critique of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Sonia states that the policy obscures the reality of a government that is indifferent to the education of India’s children and youth. She asserts that the Union government’s track record over the past decade shows a focus solely on three core agenda items: centralizing power within the Union Government, promoting the commercialization of education by outsourcing investments to the private sector, and communalizing textbooks, curricula, and educational institutions.

Sonia highlights the damaging effects of centralization in education, noting that the Central Advisory Board of Education, which includes education ministers from both the Union and State Governments, has not convened since September 2019. This lack of dialogue, she argues, demonstrates the government’s unwillingness to consult state governments or consider their perspectives, even when implementing significant changes like the NEP 2020. She describes this as a testament to the government’s determination to ignore any voice other than its own, particularly on matters that fall under the Concurrent List of the Indian Constitution.

Furthermore, Sonia accuses the government of exhibiting a “bullying tendency” in its dealings with state governments, using the PM-SHRI scheme as a prime example. She believes that the government’s approach to education is not only coercive but also detrimental to the quality and accessibility of education for all.

Sonia Gandhi also addresses the commercialization of education, stating that it has been occurring openly and in line with the NEP. Since 2014, there has been a significant closure of public schools—89,441, to be exact—while 42,944 new private schools have been established. This shift has forced many poor families out of public education and into a costly and poorly regulated private school system.

In higher education, Sonia points out that the government has replaced the University Grants Commission’s system of block grants with the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA). Universities are now encouraged to take out loans at market interest rates, which they must repay from their own revenues. According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education’s 364th Report, between 78% and 100% of these loans are being repaid through student fees, effectively passing the financial burden onto students and leading to increased tuition costs.

Sonia Gandhi further accuses the government of pursuing a communal agenda in education. She claims that the Union government’s actions align with the long-standing ideological goals of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party, aiming to indoctrinate students and foster division through the education system.

She notes that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revised textbooks to sanitize Indian history, removing significant events such as Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and sections on Mughal India. The Preamble to the Indian Constitution was also omitted from textbooks until public backlash forced its reinstatement.

Additionally, Sonia raises concerns about university appointments, stating that many professors are hired based on their loyalty to the government rather than their qualifications. Leadership positions in prestigious institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management, have been filled with individuals who align with the government’s ideology.

Essentially, Sonia Gandhi believes that over the past decade, the education system has been systematically stripped of its commitment to public service, with policies increasingly neglecting access to and the quality of education.