Six-member Cabinet sub-committee to review the State Education Policy (SEP)

Six-member Cabinet sub-committee to review the State Education Policy (SEP)

News –

• The Karnataka government formed a six-member Cabinet sub-committee to review the State Education Policy (SEP) report and plan its rollout.

Key Details

• Chairman: Home Minister G. Parameshwara.
• The Task: Review the 8-volume SEP report submitted by Prof. Sukhdeo Thorat.
• Main Focus: Assess the ₹10,000+ crore annual budget requirement and university reforms.

Karnataka State Education Policy (SEP) Commission,

• It is led by former UGC Chairman Prof. Sukhdeo Thorat,
• It serves as the state’s alternative to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020,

Key Recommendations of the SEP Report

• New School Structure (2+8+4 Model) – The commission rejected the federal NEP’s 5+3+3+4 design.
• Instead, it recommended a 2+8+4 structure to simplify school scaling

1. 2 Years: Pre-primary education.
2. 8 Years: Elementary education, standardising the Class 1 admission age to 6 years.
3. 4 Years: Secondary education.

• RTE Extension: Recommends extending the Right to Education (RTE) Act to cover children from ages 4 to 18 (pre-primary through secondary).

Two-Language Policy

• The report discards the conventional three-language formula in favour of a strict two-language framework
• Medium of Instruction: Mandates Kannada or the student’s mother tongue as the medium of instruction up to Class 5, and highly encourages it up to Class 12 (II PUC).
• Bilingual Framework: The curriculum will balance the local language/mother tongue alongside English.