The Centre’s new education policy proposals have found mixed reactions in the Kolkata civil society with a section of the intelligentsia strongly criticising the neo-education system as “pro-rich, unrealistic” and un-India specific.”

Questioning the “logic and intellectual prowess and profile” of those drafting the new proposal veteran linguist, educationist and Sanskrit scholar Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri on Wednesday said that “such proposals are highly India unspecific … and such policies are the handiworks of intellectually some below par people who have imported such novel ideas from countries where education is a luxury.”

In India education is a necessity and not a luxury he said wondering why the Central Government has decided to minimize the importance of Class X. “Instead of further consolidating the syllabus of class X making it more informative updated and competitive we are virtually diluting and trivializing it. This will be counter-productive and you will find numerous students and job applicants without enough basic skills in future … Only foreign-returned fools can suggest such kind of reforms,” he said comparing it to the act of “cutting its roots and watering the plant.”

He said “the Government is putting additional stress on research at higher education level but can you do it by weakening the base?”

Left educationist and economist Debashis Banerjee condemned the new proposal as “a system which is aimed at making education a rich man’s affair… education will be made finance-specific … only rich will be able to pursue an academic career whereas the common man will languish below with some trivial basics … this will also help the rulers because there will be lesser men to protest and raise questions.”

However veteran educationist Pabitra Sarkar said the new system may bring in some kind of “democratisation of education with students getting better choices… this will mark an end to colonial system.” He however added the test of pudding would be in its eating.