NEP 2020: An overview

  23-Aug-2020 12:05:51

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The last modification in our Education policy took place in 1992. Since then, there have been significant changes at social, economic levels that have taken place not only at the National level but at the international level too. Therefore, the Education sector needs to be accelerated to meet the demands of the present scenario. To achieve the same, the Government had initiated the process of formulation of new education policy through the consultation process for an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach, which takes into consideration expert opinions, field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback.

The new policy aims for universalization of education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 percent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030 and targets to raise GER in higher education to 50 percent by 2025.

Some of the key highlights of the new Education policy are:

Expansion of mandatory age group schooling:

The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/pre-schooling, which was earlier from the age group 6- 14 years.

The 10+2 structure of the school curriculum is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively, to provide emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education.

Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction

In NEP, the focus has been on mother language as a medium of instruction. But, it mentioned that no language would be imposed on anyone.

The reason behind putting this clause that students learn and grasp nontrivial concepts more quickly in their home languages.

“Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language, mother tongue, local language, or the regional language. Thereafter, the home or local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools," the policy states.

Universal body for higher education (Dismantling of UGC)

Public and private education institutions will be governed by the same set of rules and regulations, accreditation, and academic standards by having one governing body (no UGC, AICTE, NCTE).

Govt will phase out the affiliation of colleges in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.

No more demarcation of Science, Commerce, and arts

Under NEP 2020, there will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extracurricular activities, between vocational and academic streams. Students can select subjects of their liking across the streams. Vocational education will start in schools from the 6th grade and will include internships.

Efforts to curb dropouts and making students employable:

Under the NEP, undergraduate degrees will be of either a 3 or 4-year duration with multiple exit options within this period. The college will be mandated to give a certificate after completing 1 year in a discipline or field including vocational and professional areas, a diploma after 2 years of study, or a Bachelor's degree after a 3-year program.

The Government will also establish an Academic Bank of Credit for digitally storing academic credits earned from different HEIs so that these can be transferred and counted towards the final degree earned.

Setting up of a National Research Foundation

Discontinuation of the M.Phil program

A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), will be set up as a standard-setting body.

NEP emphasizes on setting up a Gender Inclusion Fund and also Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.

Implementation of these reforms:

The NEP only provides a broad direction and is not mandatory to follow. Since education is a concurrent subject (both the Centre and the state governments can make laws on it), the reforms proposed can only be implemented collaboratively by the Centre and the states. This will not happen immediately. The incumbent government has set a target of 2040 to implement the entire policy. Sufficient funding is also crucial; the 1968 NEP was hamstrung by a shortage of funds.

The government plans to set up subject-wise committees with members from relevant ministries at both the central and state levels to develop implementation plans for each aspect of the NEP. The plans will list out actions to be taken by multiple bodies, including the HRD Ministry, state Education Departments, school Boards, NCERT, Central Advisory Board of Education, and National Testing Agency, among others. Planning will be followed by a yearly joint review of progress against targets set.

How the New Education Policy would benefit generations to come?

The New Education Policy would provide a strong structural basis of society by promoting regional languages.

Anganwadi and pre-schooling will be given much importance as NEP 2020 will give thrust on early childhood care and education. This will further broaden the thinking skills of students at an early age and make them competent enough for future academics

The dropouts at school and colleges would reduce las the government aims to provide internship opportunities at school and college level.

Internationalization of education will be facilitated through both institutional collaborations and student and faculty mobility and allowing entry of top world-ranked universities to open campuses in India. Therefore, Indian Universities would touch the International standards of education.

Thus, it is hoped that the New Education Policy will bring revolutionary changes in the education standards of India with a target of educating everyone.

Drawbacks

However, this revolutionary policy has some drawbacks as well. As stated in the constitution that education is a concurrent subject meaning the implementation of the underlying clause largely depends on state government. In a federal system, implementation and coordination form a complex process, which can span a long period of time. Another limitation is that NEP is clear about the target to be achieved but obscure about how the objective will be achieved. Critics have claimed that without creating socio-economic opportunities in terms of providing access to education, changing the culture of institutions in education, regulators, and governments, and ending the political intrusions in the education sector, transformation is impossible. NEP fails to address the Government school teachers who are not accountable for their work. They receive a significant salary even when they are absent in schools. Consequently, learning outcomes are also poor. This leads to dropout rates among students. NEP fails to shorten the gap between education standards between private and government schools. For higher education, as there is an exit option for students after every year it will be a challenging and testing task to design a stable curriculum for both the sets of students. The flexibility should be given in selecting the choices of courses rather than proving them a choice to leave the course.

By: Rupika Tomar

(This article was originally published on https://rupikatomar.wordpress.com/. The article has been modified for publication purposes)