In an address to a national meet of heads of ICSE and ISC schools, Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament and the leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien, vehemently opposed the National Education Policy brought about by the Union government, calling for the policy to be "trashed."
What did Derek O'Brien say?
"Let me make two or three points today. First, it's the National Education Policy. Let's be very straight about it. The National Education Policy brought about by this Union government has to be trashed. And I'll tell you why," O'Brien said at the meeting. The MP added, "The state governments of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Bengal have started their State Education Policy. And that's the way ahead, because a National Education Policy only makes everything come under one umbrella, and we lose the diversity of who we are and what we stand for."
O'Brien emphasised that pursuing a state-specific education policy is the way ahead and called on heads of institutions from other states. "Next, you'll come and ask me what can we do about it? How can we change the policy?" he said. O'Brien highlighted that if one is outspoken, and there are people who can be outspoken, that's the way to go. He further emphasised that the State Education Policy is the way ahead.
"Bengal made its own State Education Policy in 2023. First state. In 2025, it was Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, we discussed it, and they got their own State Education Policy," O'Brien said.
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Derek O'Brien pushes for higher spending on education
We went on to say that this is the key, as Article 30 of the Constitution gives religious or linguistic minorities the right to establish their own educational institutions. "It's very important what we are fighting for in Parliament, and what all of you need to join us to fight," O'Brien said in his address.
The senior Trinamool Congress leader noted that before each budget, there are promises of allocating 6 per cent of the GDP on education. He said that the budget is in one month's time, and predicted that the allocation will not be more than 3 to 3.3 per cent. He emphasized that the total GDP allocation on education has to be 6 per cent of the total GDP.
"We tend as a community to be in the news for the negative reasons. 'I know it's very sad that the church got burnt, so we react. No. My suggestion to you is - let's be in the news for the positive reasons. And there are two pillars here. One is education, the other is health," O'Brien added.
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Contribution of Christians towards education in India
The parliamentarian further talked about the contributions of the Christian community in India towards education. He said, "What is the great role this community is playing for education? 54,000 educational institutions run today by the Christian community. Three out of four boys and girls who go to these institutions are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain."
At the start of the meeting, Derek O'Brien remembered his teachers from school and paid tribute to them. He thanked the heads of Anglo-Indian schools in India for inviting him to address the meeting and pay tributes to the teachers who 'touched and changed his life.'
