NEW
EDUCATIONAL POLICY 2020 - POLITY
News:
National
Education Policy: What does NEP truly mean for students in India
What's
in the news?
● The
Central government’s National Education Policy (NEP), established in 2020, came
into effect during the 2023- 2024 academic Year - bringing with it a slew of
changes.
Key
takeaways:
● From
syllabus updates to grade structure modifications, emphasised by fundamental
changes in the way the Indian Educational System works, it’s evident that the
NEP aims to both disrupt and revolutionise the current system.
NEP
- Backdrop:
● An
NEP is a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the
country.
● The
Third NEP proposes sweeping changes including opening up of Indian higher education to foreign universities,
dismantling of the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE), introduction of a four-year multidisciplinary undergraduate programme
with multiple exit options, and discontinuation of the M Phil programme.
School
education:
● Universalization of
education by 2030 through 100% GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) from pre-primary to
secondary.
● Open schooling system
(no admission requirements like NIOS) for out-of-school children.
● The
policy focuses on overhauling the curriculum.
● Making
“easier” Board exams.
● Reduction
in the syllabus to retain “core essentials".
● Thrust
on “experiential learning and critical thinking”.
● “5+3+3+4” design
corresponds to the age groups 3-8 years (foundational stage), 8-11
(preparatory), 11-14 (middle), and 14-18 (secondary).
● Bringing early childhood
education (also known as pre-school education for
children of ages 3 to 5) under the ambit of formal schooling.
● The mid-day meal
programme will be extended to pre-school children.
● The
NEP says students until Class 5 should be taught in their mother tongue or
regional language.
● NCERT
will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early
Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8.
● NEP
2020 calls for setting up of a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and
Numeracy by Ministry of Education.
Higher
education:
● Proposes
phasing out of all institutions offering single streams and that all
universities and colleges must aim to become multidisciplinary by 2040.
● Doubling the Gross
Enrolment Ratio in higher education by 2035 (50% by 2035).
● Broad-based,
multi-disciplinary, holistic UG (Undergraduate) education with provisions of a
flexible curriculum, integration of vocational education, multiple entries and
exit points with respective degrees, and also undergraduate programs in
regional languages.
● Academic bank of credits
to enable transfers of credits between institutions
● HECI (Higher Education
Commission of India) as an umbrella regulator
except for legal and medical education.
● Promotion
of multilingualism in schools and colleges.
● Regulatory body NEAT
(National Educational Alliance for Technology) has been set up to integrate
technology for better learning outcomes.
Opportunities
offered by NEP:
1.
Develops skilling:
● Introduction
of vocational courses with an internship nudges the vulnerable sections of
society to send their children to school.
2.
Universalisation of education:
● NEP
proposes the extension of the Right to Education (RTE) to all children up to
the age of 18. Policy aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy.
3.
Inclusive education:
● Setting up of Gender
Inclusion Fund and also Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and
groups.
● Children
with disabilities will be enabled to fully participate in the regular schooling
process from the foundational stage to higher education.
● Efforts
will be made to incentivize the merit of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and
other SEDGs.
● Every
state/district will be encouraged to establish “Bal Bhavans” as a special
daytime boarding school, to participate in art-related, career-related, and
play-related activities.
4.
Transparency:
● In
spite of periodic inspection, transparency, maintaining quality standards and a
favourable public perception will become a 24X7 pursuit for the institutions,
leading to all-round improvement in their standard.
● PARAKH
(Performance Assessment, Review, and
Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), a national assessment centre
has been proposed to be set up to keep a regular check on the education system.
● Establishes
a super-regulator for education which will be responsible for standards-setting,
funding, accreditation and regulation of higher education India.
5.
Foreign Universities:
● Allows
universities from among the top 100 in the world to be able to set up campuses
in India.
● This
will lead to an infusion of international perspective and innovation, which
will make the Indian education system more efficient and competitive.
6.
Mother tongue:
● Making
mother tongue, local language or the regional language as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5,
considered as the best medium of teaching.
Challenges
faced by NEP:
● Currently,
India is grappling with huge learning
gaps. This is because the needs of children are more personalized and
cannot be addressed only through online mode.
● The
digital divide is also causing the
education divide in India. Today, in India, over 90 percent of students do not
have devices that allow them to access online learning holistically.
● When
the government is calling for greater
autonomy, several universities continue to function without full-time heads
and vice-chancellors. For instance, 10 central universities, including Delhi
University and JNU, remain without full-time heads.
● The
NEP asks for the highest priority to literacy and numeracy, but the government
has slashed the school education budget by almost Rs 5,000 crore; higher
education has suffered a Rs 1,000 crore cut.
● NEP
failed to voice out for the persistent
mismatch between the knowledge & skills imparted and the jobs available.
● NEP
also remains silent on education related to emerging technological fields like artificial intelligence,
cyberspace, nanotech, etc.
WAY
FORWARD:
● For
the NEP to move forward, India needs a robust institutional mechanism and
large-scale capacity building to create enthusiasm among stakeholders. Every
stakeholder at the state, district, sub-district, block-level has to have
ownership and understand the concepts of NEP.
● Directorates
of education have to be strengthened in order to ensure that the policy
permeates to the district and zonal level educational clusters.
● To
help children to realize their full potential, India requires effective
strategies to physically equip teachers and students with better tools in the
classroom, increase access to laptops and other gadgets, install interactive
whiteboards and provide fast and reliable internet access.
● The
state and national boards across the nation will have to start with pilot
programs. The creation of master trainers should be done, and they have to
train principals and teachers in urban and rural areas.
● Providing
the necessary financial resources such as
○ A
special purpose vehicle (SPV) needs to be created to ensure NEP funds are
available and that the implementation process is not delayed.
● India
also needs to promote private philanthropy for funding both public and private
higher education institutions.
● New
and additional forms of tax incentives and other forms of incentives need to be
evolved.
● To
emphasize vocational training, but to make it effective, there has to be close
coordination between the education, skills and labour ministry.