SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY-2020

Abstract

National Education Policy 2020 emphasizes that, “Education is the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and equality”, which talks about the development of inclusive society, culture within the educational institutions and also the outside. The NEP also emphasized to provide facilities or services for the Children with special needs. The sustainable Development goal adopted by India in 2015- “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030. The national policy on education 1986 talks about women’s equality, Education for SC/ST or other backward section, minorities. But the new education policy included all the students irrespective of caste, class, religion, gender, transgender, marginalized, disadvantages and underrepresented groups. It proposed that education is best leveler and is the best tool for achieving economic and social mobility, inclusion and equality. It is true that government has accepted the problems in the society and trying to eradicate the social problems like caste, gender or religion-based discrimination and this kind of problems also reflected in the higher education institutes. Darshan Solanki, a student of IIT Bombay allegedly committed suicide in 2023 and his family accused it was due to caste based harassment. Aniket Ambhore second year electrical engineer student of IITB wanted to get admission through general category and finally he quitted this world in 2013. We also aware about the incidents like Rohit Vemula, PhD scholar at University of Hyderabad and Dr. Payal Tadvi, second year resident doctor of Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai died by suicide allegedly over caste-based discrimination. So, in this paper I am trying to locate the various issues of discrimination faced by marginal groups or lower caste people and also trying to study the drop out problems in India’s Higher Educational Institutions. NEP gives us vision to eradicate these kinds of social problems but we need to critically think that vision of NEP is really implemented or not or what is the actual to addressed these problems in higher education institutes.