Karnataka will soon have its own education policy as the newly elected congress government will shun the National Education Policy.

Presenting his 14th budget, the record number of budgets by any chief minister in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said that the New Education Policy will be formulated bearing in mind the social, cultural and economic milieu of the state.

Suggesting that a ‘one-size,fits-all’ approach will not suit the state’s education needs, Siddaramaiah said that each of these aspects must be considered.

“The National Education Policy implemented by the Central government is incompatible with the federal system of governance. It has several anomalies which undermine the constitution and democracy. The Uniform Education System does not suit a nation like India which has diverse religions, languages and cultures. A New Education Policy will be formulated keeping in mind the local social, cultural and economic milieu of the state. The new Policy will elevate the higher education standards in the state to the global level and empower our youth to compete globally and gain meaningful employment opportunities,” he announced.

Among the other significant announcements in higher education, Siddaramaiah said that counselling will be introduced for allocation of PhD seats in all varsities. He said that to bring in uniformity, common counselling will be conducted for PhD seats of all government universities and 40% of seats under private universities.

The standard of education delivery in government institutes is also being measured. 10 Good Governance Indicators have been framed and an incentive of Rs 50 lakh each will be provided to universities which show commendable performance.

All scholarship schemes in the state are being integrated into one, to simplify them.

Other announcements:

Grant of Rs 25 crore to provide infrastructure upgrade to University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bengaluru.

To prevent the menace of fake marks cards, it is mandatory for students to register in ‘Academic Bank of Credits’ and to access marks cards and certificates from NAD/Digilocker.

224 residential hostels housing 13,169 students, currently under the Higher Education Department transferred to Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare Department.

Textile technology department in S.K.S.J.T.I. Engineering college, Bengaluru to be upgraded as a Smart and Technical Textile Centre under National Technical Textile Mission and PM-Mitra scheme.

Conversational English classes in all government higher education institutions in association with the British Council and Regional Institute of English.

Rs. 8 crore grant to impart training through prestigious institutions for two years for the students studying in minority PU residential colleges to prepare them for competitive exams.

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