in the 484 page draft national education pol-
icy to address this issue of social exclusion
in higher education. Despite this, the docu-
ment stresses that Private higher education
institutions shall not be mandated to adhere
to reservation guidelines other than those
stated in this Policy and their formative Acts
with respect to local State students. This may
lead to a situation of more wider exclusion
while the policy is intend to increase the
number of private institutions with autono-
mous status. The negligence towards the
fundamental duty of ensuring social justice
is the major lapse in the document.
The NEP 2019 has been utterly insensitive to-
wards the issues and needs of the people with
disabilities. The draft which claims to be in-
clusive uses the term ‘Children with Special
Needs’, a term rejected by persons with disa-
bilities themselves. It not only fails to provide
Braille or audio version of the draft but also
shows no concern of the organisations that
work for the betterment of disabled students.
In fact, the role of special schools which are
run mostly by NGOs is being neglected in
the draft. Moreover United Nations Conven-
tion on Person with Disabilities (UNCPRD)
and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Act,2016 which predominantly deal with the
education of the disabled students have given
an iota of attention. The draft is completely
oblivious of the constitutional remedies es-
tablished for the upliftment of disabled stu-
dents such as the 25 percent reservation for
the marginalised sections mentioned in the
Right to Education Act and the issue of sui-
cide of students indicated in Mental Health
Care Act 2017. Commercialisation of educa-
tion being the central agenda, the draft push-
es the disabled children who mostly come
from poor socio economic background to
further deprivation and discrimination. The
suggestion to construct school complexes
by merging schools will adversely affect the
disabled students. The idea of alternate edu-
cation suggested in the draft will prevent the
children with disabilities from getting quality
education. By undermining the federal sys-
tem of the country the NEP 2019 has failed
to incorporate best strategies adopted by var-
ious states in dealing with the disability issue
in academia. There are references on sexual
harassment and legal protections and enti-
tlements for girls and women including the
Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses
Act (POCSO), Prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, the Maternity Benefit Act (along with its
Amendment), and the Sexual Harassment
of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Pro-
hibition and Redressal) Act. While these are
welcome still sufficient measures have not
been introduced to tackle the issues of gen-
der discrimination, harassment and gender
gaps. Many of the language used in regard
to address gender offences lacks clarity and
ends up without offering concrete long-term
structural mechanisms of gender sensitisa-
tion, especially for men.Though the draft indicates the necessity
of “changing mindsets and halting harm-
ful practices to foster gender equity and in-
clusion, any explanation about what these
‘harmful practices’ remain vague. Moreo-
ver, any kind of mentioning about sexual-
ity or alternative sexual orientations fails to
find a place in this 21st century document.
The discussions about sexuality is hushed
up throughout the draft though it mentions16 Student Struggle | June - July 2019