NEP Draft 2019: A Technocapitalist Policy Document

The Draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 envisions an ‘India-centred education system that contributes directly to transforming our nation sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society.’ I would like to focus on knowledge economy, avowedly the central agenda of the document and the least discussed aspect, in this article. At the outset, let us keep in mind the theoretically unassailable truth that it is not the Commission Report but the dominant economy which decides the NEP. Until recently academics used to draft the Policy document, but their recommendations hardly ever got implemented. Working under budgetary constraints and the influence of industrialists, bureaucrats ignored the Policy document in their action plans. From 1991 onwards, policy designers have been increasingly under the influence of the WTO (World Trade Organisation). Since 2005 the nation has been legally bound by GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) to adopt an education policy that suits trade in education. It was in this context the the National Knowledge Commission (NKC), a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister, was constituted, for the making of a vibrant society competent to meet the knowledge challenges of the twentyfirst century. It demanded that the government revamp higher education for enabling production of new knowledge in science and technology, improving the management of institutional intellectual property rights (IPR), and make government an effective service provider. Ever since, the expression ‘knowledge economy’ began gaining currency in policy documents, often with little care for its technical meaning. This article seeks to explain what it means and how it works.