29th July 2020 will be remembered for a long time because of two reasons-
(1) 5 Rafale fighter jets touched down at Ambala Air base to join Indian Air Force, giving a big boost to our defence capabilities. It was an occasion for a grand celebration.
(2) Union Government announced new Education Policy 2020 (NEP2020)
This space being dedicated to Education based articles, we will look into the salient features of this policy and what exactly does it mean for all of us-students, parents and the educators.
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Why the reforms?
The world has undergone huge technical up-gradation in every field. Not remaining untouched, the education has acquired more of an applied nature. Artificial intelligence and Robotics are part of the curriculum now. One can envisage that five years from now, the entire scenario of education will change drastically. It is the time for survival of only the excellence. Unfortunately, the unprecedented pandemic caused by Covid-19 and the social distancing caused by it, forced us to accept realities like Virtual classes, Webinars and Distance Education.
India is a country of brilliant and hard-working people. There is no reason why we cannot make it among the top-ranking nations. It was important for a country of 1.3 Billion people to wake up to the new realities and overhaul the age-old education system so that more and more people from India also, can join the global intelligentsia. That is the reason for the reforms in the Education sector which were long overdue.
20 Main points of main points of NEP 2020:
General Changes-
Ministry of Human Resource Development will now be called Ministry of Education. That shows the intent of the Government to simplify and organize the conditions of Education.
Education needs many infra-structural changes. This calls for huge investments and therefore the increased allocation from 1.7% to 6% of GDP.
Sanskrit gets more importance at all the levels of education
School Level-
Present 10+2 system will be replaced with a 5+3+3+4 system of education. It means that the first 5 years will be for foundation education; 3 for Preparatory; 3 for Middle level and 4 years of Secondary Education.
The school students will appear only at Classes 3, 5 and 8 levels. Assessment in other years will shift to a more competency-based system that will promote learning and development. It will test higher-order skills, like analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity.
Art and Science streams will not be separate now. It means that a science student can opt for fine arts as a subject and an arts student may study Chemistry as a subject. It makes the education more flexible.
It is part of making education an applied one. The education will give practical training in various fields.
Coding is an important part of software development. This step will make the students technically proficient from early stages.
Content will focus on idea, application, problem- solving. It is a pity to see our little ones carry heavy bags loaded with books. Less of curriculum content would mean reduced load on them. To encourage this, the students will have 10 bags-less days in a year. The students will get holistic report cards that will show their all-round development.
Board examinations for Classes 10 and 12 will be re-designed with holistic development as the aim. PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), a new national assessment centre will set the standards for these examinations.
The medium of instruction plays a very important role in learning. This step will facilitate the children to learn in their mother tongue or regional language.
12.Changes in the schools
The school students will be getting Nutrition and health cards and regular health check-ups. This would mean less drop-outs from the schools.
Higher studies-
The high cut-offs of the marks for admission in the Undergraduate courses forced many students out of the reckoning. Now a SAT-like entrance examination will be conducted which can open ways for them to get the desired admissions.
These will have multiple exit options. This is very important. Earlier, if the student took admission in a 3-year degree course and had to leave the studies midway, due to any reason, he would not be getting any advantage and if he wanted to study again, he had to start from the first year. Now if the student leaves the studies after 1 year, he will get a certificate. Similarly, leaving after two years, he will get a Diploma. He will get a degree after three years but cannot seek admission in a post-graduation course after three years. For that, he will have to complete a four-year degree course. Besides, their credits will be stored and they can continue their studies from the same level.
It conforms to the international standards.
One will be able to opt for it just after post-graduation.
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Over a 15-year period, the colleges will get graded autonomy for giving degrees instead of affiliation with the universities.
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It would enable the students from the weaker sections of the society to get the desired education.
Top-ranking International universities will be encouraged to open their campuses in India. Similarly, good Indian institutions will be facilitated to go global.
By 2040, they will have greater inclusion of arts and humanities subjects for students studying science subjects, and vice versa.
Conclusion
The importance of the policy can be judged by reactions of various prominent people. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said, “It will transform millions of lives by making India an Education Hub in an era where learning, research and innovation are important.” It appears to be true, if implemented in letter and spirit, NEP2020 will take India on the super highway of Education and bring back the old glory to the country.
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