Dr Anuradha Pandoh
The principal purpose of National Education Policy is to bring about far-reaching reforms in the educational system and to bridge the gap between current learning outcomes and the most expected and desirable outcomes. Taking into account the need to keep up with a rapidly changing educational world and knowledge paradigms, the NEP 2020 articulates the core purpose of the educational system is to develop good human beings capable of rational thought and action, possessing compassion and empathy, courage and resilience, scientific temper and creative imagination, with sound ethical understanding and value-orientation. It seeks to develop productive, engaging and contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive and plural society as contemplated in the Indian constitution.
With a strong and pronounced emphasis on equity and quality is highly commendable effort to broaden the scope of quality education. The policy proposes a move away from content-ridden curricula in order to make space for critical thinking, more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based and analysis-based learning. Ensuring equal importance to co-curricular activities i.e., arts, sports, vocational skills etc. It mandates a radical shift toward multidisciplinary education, away from rigid traditional spectrum of arts, science, and commerce streams, with renewed focus on 21st century skills. This is an extremely welcome move in view of the current system being strongly driven by rote learning and content-based examinations, detached from any real application to actual life.
The following are the most salient characteristic reforms that have been conceived by the National Education Policy 2020:-
* Insertion of early childhood education:
Education will begin at age 3, rather than at age 6 for students in first grade, to lay emphasis on children’s foundational years viz ages 3-8 yrs. Formerly, children’s right to education applied to grades one through eight i.e 6-14 years whereas the National Education Policy-2020 aims to extend this right to children falling in the age spell of 3-18 years. This is especially relevant for public schools, which serve a majority of children from low-income families as compared to middle-class families which often lack preschool education resulting in sharpening of the gulf between them further.
* Concentration on equity and inclusion:
An entire section is devoted to the inclusion of Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups, broadly classified as girls, transgender and children with special needs, children from rural areas, Dalits, and victims of trafficking. Moreover, it recognizes that children with disabilities are not getting the attention required to learn and prosper in schools, primarily because teachers are simply not trained or equipped to address their learning requirements. Thus, it makes an effort to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared in the area of special education through specialized training and workshops. Finally, the National Education Policy -2020 takes into recognition that children in SEDGs are those who most usually remained un-enrolled, become drop out, and learn less. It recommends that the policies and schemes designed to include students in SEDGs should be especially targeted with special reference to girls.
* Well-articulated concept of quality:-
Taking into account the present poor basic literacy and numeracy outcomes , the new NEP aims to create a solid foundation for children during their early development by establishing a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy that would prioritize the development of communication and early language skills, literacy and numeracy. The NEP also further seeks much-needed teacher education reform, including overhauling of pre-service programs like B.Ed etc. and for the first time, mental health and social-emotional learning were give broader significance. The need to apply latest and state of art technology has been well recognized in the said policy. Besides the intentions to extend optical fibers to the remotest villages and achieve universal digital access and literacy has also been given top priority to achieve most desired results.
The NEP 2020 is an ambitious, progressive, innovative, creative and reformative. There is a tremendous opportunity for India’s considerable young population to become its biggest strength. However, to achieve this, the Government must ensure the implementation of the said policy to its optimum level with a strong political will and high sense of urgency.
While the overall concept of the NEP has been advocating a more inclusive and equitable system, especially for girls. Admittedly Gender sensitivity has been thoroughly articulated. At the same time there is need for bringing about comprehensive systemic change in the multiple spectrums of educational processes.
The core of policy seeks to accomplish a wider reformational change in the National Educational set up. National Education Policy wedded to create a new generation of learners who have to be essentially engaging with the increasing dematerialisation and digitalisation of economies, which are in requirement of a completely new set of capabilities in order to be able to keep up with the world standards. This is virtually a vital prerequisite in current situation with the pronounced trend towards digitalisation and disruptive automation. Observing with penetrative analysis, the National Education Policy -2020 has been rightly addressing the need to develop professionals in a variety of fields ranging from Agriculture to Artificial Intelligence. India is to be prepared well for the future. Thus, the National Education Policy -2020 ushers the way ahead for many young aspiring students to be equipped with rationale mindset and practically required market skills. The National Education Policy -2020 has a laudable vision, but its strength will be dependent on whether it would be able to effectively integrate with the other policy initiatives of government like Digital India, Skill India and the New Industrial Policy etc. in order to effect a coherent structural transformation.
Hence, the policy linkages can ensure that education policy has a proper resolution to learn from Skill India’s experience in engaging more dynamically with the corporate sector to shape vocational educational curriculum in order to make it very successful. There is also a pressing necessity for more evidence-based decision-making set up, to meet all kinds of eventualities and challenges. National Education Policy -2020 has inspiring and supporting institutional inputs and rational technological strengths for real-time evaluation systems and a consultative monitoring and reviewing mechanism. This shall definitely empower the educational system to constantly keep on reforming itself, instead of expecting for a new education policy every decade for a shift in curriculum. This, in itself, will be an outstanding and worthwhile achievement. The National Education Policy -2020 is virtually a defining moment for higher education system in India. The core point is that there should be effective and time-bound implementation so that the policy will usher in a new era in Indian Educational System and turn it a truly globally relevant educational destination for ensuring the best and finest development of huge strength of India’s dynamically young learning population whose value will be internationally recognised.
(The author is Principal Govt Degree College Jourian)
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