September 2020 focus

NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020 Every nation stresses the attainment of better educational levels for its people. India is a country with a history of 73 years as a politically free nation. Britishers came in 1600 AD as East India Company and remained in the country for close to 350 years, in different garbs. From a mere trading company, it grew in power of every kind by exploiting the weakness among Indians and ended up controlling the destiny of the nation. Although they started the company in the then Calcutta its presence grew all over India, controlling vast business empire of import and export by its exploitative regimes. Their activities needed men with knowledge of English to administer the day to day affairs of the empire. This is what Lord Macaulay, a member of the Privy Council, told the British Parliament in his address on 2nd February 1835. “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indian think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation”. This is how English language came to be in vogue in India. August 1947, India became a free nation. A need for an independent Education Policy was felt. In 1948; a University Commission was established under the chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. His brief was to get Macaulayism out and get a progressive educational road map. With appropriate recommendation the report was submitted sometimes after 1950. Political compulsion and the resultant amnesia pushed the report to wilderness. In 1957, Dr. Gokak committee was formed it under Prof Dr. V.K Gokak. The committee went to US to study and report back. Reportedly it was a good report, but influence of Macaulayism prevailed to keep the system going as it is now. Two more education policies namely NEP1968 and NEP1986 were adopted. NEP 1986 was also revised sometimes in 1992. So after a gap of 34 years the education policy is being revised, revamped. It is not out of place to mention here that we had 17 Lok Sabha elections and have seen 32 Ministers of Education, of which except 4 had a duration of tenure lasting less than 2 years and more than 13 had less than 1year stint in the ministry. This shows education was not an important priority to our political masters. The first National Education Policy 1968 had called for a National School System, which meant that all students, irrespective of caste, creed and sex would have access to education of a comparable quality up to a given level and it envisaged a common educational structure {10+2+3} which was accepted across the country and most of us have studied under that system. National Education Policy 1986 started most of our classic government schemes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS schools), Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV schools) and use of IT in education. More attention was paid on restructuring the teacher education, early childhood care, women’s empowerment and adult literacy. It also accepted autonomy of universities and colleges. In 42nd amendment to the constitution, education was transferred from State list to Concurrent List NEP 2020. The policy is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India. The policy aims to transform India's education system by 2040.The education in India is a concurrent subject and state governments can adopt flexible attitude switching over to NEP2020 or also can devise their own policy. It is only a broad direction. Hereafter MHRD will be named as Ministry of Education. It was very heartening to note that grass root participation happened prior to the drafting of NEP 2020. On this draft policy NEP2020 over two lakh suggestions from 2.5lakh gram panchayats, 6,600 blocks, 6,000 urban local bodies and 676 districts were received before approving the same by the government. NEP 2020 focuses on various aspects of school education, languages to be taught, higher education, technology, finances required and implementation stages The policy aims to-increase state expenditure on education from present around 4.43% to 6% of their GDP as soon as possible The present 10+2 structure will be replaced with 5+3+3+4 system. This means that children who have got right to education from the present age group of 6-14 will be replaced by an age group of 3-14. In other words, children are bestowed the right to education from an early age. Government schools will adopt to a system presently practiced by private schools already at pre-nursery, kindergarten levels. This raises the problem of training the anganwadi workers/teachers who are working at present. Most of them are not having essential qualifications .Those who are having essential qualification will be given 6 months training and those who don't have the qualification will be given 1year training by Distance mode education and online method The 5+3+3+4 format is divided into various stages: foundation stage is of 5years period which includes 3 years of pre primary school and 2 years of classes 1and2. Pre primary level will be full of activity only and no examination, it is only play and learn. The teacher’s role is to allow the child to play. The next two years are present first class and second class of primary school where the education will be only in the mother tongue. The next 3 year is termed as preparatory level. The child will study in regional language only and he or she will have first exam of academic career only at the end of the final year. If as in the present the child wants to study in English he or she has the option of private schools anyway which can continue to teach in English. The middle stage consists the present 6th, 7th, 8th standards. The student will be taught computer operations, given computer knowledge, imparted vocational training in his chosen field. The child will also study mathematics science, and arts. The student may be taught tailoring, drawing, carpentry, gardening or anything he or she likes to do at this level. He or she will collect marks for each of this activity. Another Indian language also will be of study at this stage an exam will be conducted at the end of the stage. Thus it raises the importance of mother tongue and regional languages. The medium of instruction until class 5 and preferably beyond should be in these regional languages. No language will be imposed on the student. School students will only answer three exams, in classes 3, 5 and 8 instead of present system of facing exams every year Final four year period termed secondary stage consisting of the present ninth to twelfth standards and will have 8 semester examinations. No streaming will be there such as arts, science or commerce. Multiple subjects belonging to any streams can be chosen and studied. There will not be any water tight compartment between these selections of subjects. At this stage another international language will have to be studied. The testing will be more on the concept, critical thinking, knowledge application and analytical ability to grade the student and not the present parroting or rote system. Re-designed Board exams for classes 10 and 12 and the Standards for this will be established by an assessment body and to make them easier, these exams would be conducted twice a year. Students are offered up to two attempts and the exam would have both the objective and the descriptive parts. A second chance will be given to the student to improve his marks The curriculum will be more inter-disciplinary and multi-lingual and less burden on students. If a student wants to pursue history with physics, or if one wants to learn bakery with chemistry, they'll be allowed to do so. The Three Language Formula will continue but two of the 3 languages will at least be Indian languages. Anyway TN has rejected three-language formula. The syllabus will be revised by the NCERT so as that by 2022 -23 the first child comes out successfully out of the new system. As per the policy revision Mandarin has been removed from the languages to be studied in view of the present tussle at the China borders. Whether China is our foe or friend we have to study Mandarin. The government may review it later anyway. Sanskrit and foreign languages will also be given emphasis. Holistic Report cards will be, offering information about the student's skills. Coding will be introduced from class 6 and experiential learning will be adopted. The midday meal scheme will be extended to include breakfasts. More focus will be given to students' health, particularly mental health, through the deployment of counselors and social workers. The NEP has an ambitious plan to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio goals by 2035- the secondary school GER to be raised to 100% from present 56.5% and high school education GER from current 26.3% to 50% It proposes a multi-disciplinary bachelors degree in an undergraduate program with multiple exit options. Graduation will be of 4 years duration. If the student completes after first year he is given a Graduation certificate. If he leaves at the end of the second year he gets graduation diploma and he will be graduate degree holder at the end of third year, once he completes fourth year he will be awarded graduation research It is interesting to note that the student can re enter at any stage to complete his graduate levels, in case he wants to break from pursuing studies for whatsoever reason. He will join the course where he has dropped out and not to join from the initial year stage. Of course minimum years’ completion at each stage is required. Marks will be awarded based on four methods namely, the marks gained through examinations, self assessment, peers, and teachers assessment. The peers and teachers assessment means the student will have to keep up good relations with his peers and teacher Post graduation will be of one or two years course depending on the stage where the student left completing or not completing the graduation. M(phil) (Masters of Philosophy) courses are to be discontinued .No change has been done presently to Doctorate degree School fees will be fixed by the government categorizing the Schools. Vocational training will be imparted to cater to different needs both to teachers and to the students A Higher Education Council of India (HECI) will be set up to regulate higher education, with the goal to increase gross enrollment ratio .The HECI will have National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), to regulate higher education, including teacher education, while excluding medical and legal education, the National Accreditation Council (NAC), a meta-accrediting body; and the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), for funding and financing of universities and colleges. This will replace the existing NCTE, AICTE and the UGC. The National testing Agency will conduct entrance examinations for admissions to universities across the country, in addition to the JEE main and NEET. The policy proposes that higher education institutes like the IITs make changes with regard to the diversity of learning. The policy proposes to internationalize education in India. Foreign universities can now set up campuses in India. The earlier proposal made by the previous government to keep a security deposit of Rs 50 crore by the foreign universities was not acceptable to them. The present proposal will allow only topmost 50 foreign universities to open their campuses and this will also allow competitiveness amongst our universities and they will have to cope up with the trend. There will be 4 separate departments to deal with syllabus, regulations, salary structure and evaluation process in the education system. The fees structure of both private and public universities will be fixed by the government. The NEP 2020 puts forward many policy changes when it comes to teachers and teacher education. To become a teacher, a 4 year Bachelors of Education will be the minimum requirement needed by 2030. The teacher recruitment process will also be strengthened and made transparent. The National council for teacher education to frame a National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education by 2021 and a National Professional Standards for Teachers by 2022. The policy aims to ensure that all students at all levels of school education are taught by passionate, motivated, highly qualified, professionally trained, and well equipped teachers. Under NEP 2020, numerous new educational institutes, bodies and concepts have been given legislative permission to be formed. This includes National Education Commission, headed by the Prime Minister of India, Academic Bank of Credit, a digital storage of credits earned to help resume education by utilizing credits for further education, National Research Foundation, to improve research and innovation, Special Education Zones, to focus on the education of under-represented groups in disadvantaged regions, gender inclusion fund, for assisting the nation in the education of female and transgender children, National Educational Technology Forum, a platform to facilitate exchange of ideas on technology usage to improve learning. The policy also proposes new language institutions such as the Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation and the National Institute/ Institutes for Pali, Persian and Prakrit. Other bodies proposed include the National Mission for Mentoring, National Book Promotion Policy and National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. In this context the various observations made by the stakeholders may be relevant and interest to the public. Briefly these are summarized The criticism of the policy emanates from, that the policy brings out the differences between the unequal level of training received by the private and government schools teachers; state verses state problems as regards languages, English remaining the dominant language of interest, accentuation of class divides and creates the problems to the children of all India transferable central government employees, etc. Study in the mother tongue may bring down the level of professional knowledge and the regional language experts may have to take special interest in making medium of instruction suitable and strong to cope with English and other international languages so that our students do not suffer due to fierce competitiveness in the field. Many of the observations on the policy are worth noting. As per K Kasturirangan; the chairperson of the National Education Policy (NEP) drafting panel, “No language is being imposed. Multi-lingual flexibility is still the basis for the new NEP 2020". V Ram Gopal Rao Director IIT Delhi tweets that the "NEP proposes path breaking steps which will impact higher education in a significant way". The Director IIT Kanpur says that the "NEP is an important milestone with far-reaching impact" The chancellor of JNU, as well as the vice-chancellor of JNU called the policy a "positive step forward" .The vice-chancellor of Jamia milia islamia says that the policy is "ground-breaking". Former Delhi University vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh says that "the policy lays down the road map pretty nicely". Shri Shashi Taroor MP welcomed the decision but stated his concerns about the implementation of the new policy Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India, welcomed the policy’s emphasis on a holistic, learner centered, flexible system that seeks to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and rightfully balances the rootedness and pride in India as well as acceptance of the best ideas and practices in the world of learning from across the globe. He also appreciated its loftier goal to bring out-of-school children into the school system and reduce dropouts.UGC has asked that awareness about the policy should be spread among students and teachers. Dhiraj Kumar Nite from Ambedkar University Delhi stated that the removal of the M Phil course was not in harmony with the principles of the NEP, since multiple exit points were offered at the undergraduate level but those interested in a PhD would have no quick exit point, which the M Phil provided. The JNU Students Union and Delhi University Teachers' Association criticized the government for approving the policy amidst the pandemic stating that they had opposed the policy since its draft stage. Kumkum Roy of the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, stated that the subjects on the studies of Gender Studies, Media, Environment and Development, Culture, Dalit, Discrimination and Exclusion, and Media have not been mentioned for development. In the study of the Constitution, Fundamental Rights have been left out. The Draft NEP of 2019 was criticized for some other reasons. A social media campaign protested over the inclusion of Hindi in schools in the south Indian states. The SFI stated that it threatened the federal character of the educational structure, commercialized education and undermined independent research activity. Madhu Prasad of Front line pointed out how the draft's "merit-based" college admissions criteria did not take into account reservations and the caste-based discrimination and oppression faced by many in the country. Another lacuna that can be noted is that the common entry examination for admission across the country envisaged is not mandatory for different universities for admission into their colleges. Today, we have a lot more learners than ever in the history of mankind, the number of subjects and complexity has increased multi-fold. 'Gurur brahma gurur vishnu gurur devo maheshvaraha '' has become the mantra of the past. It is impossible for the guru to have the kind of comprehension that was once possible. The advent of digital storage and the internet, the requirement for learning due to rapidly and dramatically the original curriculum becoming obsolete and the attitude and approach of the current generation putting education and work together etc, the onus of learning is shifting from the teacher to the learner. This is particularly pronounced in higher education and hence learner-centric models for universities have to be thought of. In spite of the above the position of the teacher at the centre of the fundamental of reforms cannot be denied in school and college education He has to be trained continuously to keep abreast with the changing environment both within education and off -the education field, as the learner has the choice to start and stop learning this will become all the more important. Many of the questions that will have to be resolved for successful implementation of the policy include -provision of both infrastructure and super structure for schools and colleges, infrastructural furniture & fixtures, digital connectivity, etc. training of teachers suitably - erecting suitable edifice of educational system right from supervision to guiding administration, revision of pay structure, working out interfaces and sorting and smoothening out difficult areas of professional standards and ethics, drafting entirely new syllabus right from pre nursery to university level, industry education interfaces, etc. This will need a dedicated team to implement the policy in right earnest. A stupendous task is ahead which the Prime minister have launched to take a shape in the country and to demolish the century old MacAulay system of recruiting clerical staff for Her Majesty 'empire. M R Vasudeva The author is a former Director, Mangalore International Airport, so also a Visiting Faculty-Aviation, Srinivas University.