It’s been more than three decades; India is following the same education policy. The education policy was formed in 1986 and was last modified in 1992. Since then, several changes have taken place in the economy and the world. In this context, changes in the education system were much needed to cope up with the needs of the 21st century and to enhance the quality of education in the country. The government initiated the process of drafting the new policy and uploaded the Draft of New Education Policy 2019 (DNEP’19) on MHRD’s website and MyGov portal to get views/suggestions/comments of the readers including common public. The policy was formed with the help of expert opinions, stakeholder feedback, field experience, empirical research and lessons learnt from past practices.
Promotion of mother tongue, local or regional language is a good step to make students realise the importance of their language, but by this English will take back seat. Since English has been imposed on us since ages……..
Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 with the aim for universalisation of education from pre-school to secondary level and to make Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) 100% by 2030. Several changes have been introduced in the education system,
School Education
- The mother tongue or local regional language will be made the medium of teaching in all schools up to class 5th; and if possible, up to class 8th;
- The (10+2) structure will be replaced by (5+3+3+4) structure, i.e. Pre-Nur–2nd, 3rd–5th, 6th–8th, 9th–12th. Schooling will start from age three after the implication of NEP;
- Exams will be conducted in Grades 3rd, 5th and 8th by a proper examination authority. Board examinations of 10th and 12th will be conducted as it is, but with a new approach. The policy will also remove rigid distinctions between different streams;
- Vocational training and internships to start from class 6th onwards;
- Assessment of students to be done under 360degree holistic report cards;
- NCERT will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education. Also, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) 2021, will be formulated by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in consultation with NCERT.
Higher Education
- To increase Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to 50% by 2035. A total of 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education institution;
- Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to be set up under one single body. Public and private institutions to be regulated by the same norms;
- Undergraduate education to be made more flexible by providing multiple exit options during 3-4 years programme;
- System of Academic Bank of Credits to be introduced to facilitate multiple exist system;
- IITs, NITs and some other institutions are supposed to introduce multidisciplinary education.
Other Changes
- Internationalisation of education will be facilitated through collaborations with the foreign institutes and setups will be made easier for the world’s top institutions;
- Public investment in education to be increased to 6% of GDP;
- An Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) to be set up for Pali, Persian, Prakrit, Sanskrit and all other languages. Use of mother tongue to be encouraged in all higher institutions;
- To set up the Gender Inclusion Fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups;
- To build digital infrastructure in schools and colleges to encourage e-learning;
- Private Institutions to offer more free-ships and scholar-ships;
- To build an autonomous body called National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology.
All of the above changes are to achieved over a period of 30 years. The policy has been designed with the motive of covering almost every loop in the previous education system. The introduction of vocational training from class 6th will help children learn how the outside world is, how it works and will help them in getting good jobs in future. It will enhance their skills and will provide practical experience of theoretical knowledge. Allowing foreign institutions to set up in India, will give easy access to students to study in foreign schools and colleges. Many students who were unable to go abroad due to multiple reasons will be able to experience global exposure. The setup will also encourage Foreign Direct Investments in India and will increase our country’ GDP shortly. The introduction of a single entrance system will help students save a lot of their time, which they used to spend on different entrances for different colleges. The increase in public sector participation in the education system will make education cheaper and affordable.
The main focus is to make students’ lives easier and to allow them more exposure from early ages. While these changes will take the immense burden off from the shoulders of students, there are several parts of the policy which needs to be work upon. Promotion of mother tongue, local or regional language is a good step to make students realise the importance of their language, but by this English will take back seat. Since English has been imposed on us since ages, it does give us a comparative global advantage because it is the language in which the whole world talks. Also, if we look from the point of view of underprivileged children or children from lower classes of society, they won’t be able to learn the English language from their childhood itself, but the children from rich families will anyhow learn from the family itself. It will create a clear divide, those who know English will get preferences over those who don’t. Government schools which are unable to provide proper mid-day meals to the children, how will they arrange funds for technological advancements needed for making students learn to code? The policy says ‘exams only for classes 3, 5 and 8’, examinations are conducted to check students’ potential and eliminating them is not a solution. A more sensitive approach should have been introduced, rather than just eliminating exams.
No doubt, the said policy is a tremendous step towards improving the education system. But does the government have taken into view all the loop holes it still has? Does the government have a road map of how this will be achieved? Will all the States/ UTs get success in implementing the new education policy? Leave all this, Will government be able to invest enough to make it a success? The answers to these questions would be known as the time moves ahead.
Charu Mehta is a student at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. Her email ID is mehtacharu911@gmail.com .
©️ The content of this Article is intellectual property of The 4th Estate and can not be used except with prior written consent of the Editor, The 4th Estate.
