National Education Policy 2020 - Preface

Preface

The Union cabinet in July 2020 approved the New Education Policy (NEP), which aims at universalization of education from pre-school to secondary level.

NEP-2020, which will replace the National Policy on Education-1986, is an inclusive framework focusing on the elementary-level of education to higher education in the country.

As the objective of any education system is to benefit children so that no child loses any opportunity to learn and excel because of circumstances of birth or background, NEP-2020 too has a target of 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GEER), in school education by 2030.

The fundamental principles of NEP is to accord highest priority to achieving foundational literacy and numeracy by all students by Grade III, which the government is committed to achieving by 2025.

To translate this particular vision of NEP-2020, under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ programme, a National Initiative for Proficiency (NIP) in reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN—Bharat) is being launched. This mission will fulfill the learning needs of nearly five crore children in the age group of 3 to 11 years. 

NEP would transform the education sector in the country as it focuses on making education accessible, equitable, inclusive but only if implemented at all levels.

Overhaul of Content & Curriculum

The 10+2 structure of school curricula 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. The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi or pre-schooling.

To implement the changes at each level a thorough restructuring of the curriculum, pedagogy and the content needs to be done as per the NCF (National Curriculum Framework) and content rubrics needs to be revisited to modify the textbooks.

Blending of technology with the teaching and learning process

National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) a regulatory body will be created to use technology for better learning outcomes. NEAT aims to use artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalized and customized as per the learner’s requirement.

But a big challenge here is establishing a robust digital infrastructure that even caters to the remote areas.

Assessment

The proposal to set up a national assessment centre, the PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) is to keep a regular check on the education system. Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project will include CERC (Contingency Emergency Response Component) will help the Government tackle the learning losses due to School closures or any such emergency that arise in the state.

NEP 2020 recognises now the need to evaluate “higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity,” and hence shifting the focus of assessments from marks based to competency based. 

The marking system should now be different, there will be a dire need to change the questions so as they have related answers, where based on the child’s aptitude he answers and based on the answers the scores could be calculated.

Schools will actually need to redefine the teaching and learning process for a proper implementation of NEP 2020 to actually witness a trajectory of transformation for a phenomenal outcome.

Schools need to focus on the literacy and numeracy skills inorder to get a remarkable metamorphosis in the reading, writing and speaking skills of the children up to Class III. Schools will have to revisit the strategies of teaching and learning.

There needs to be a tectonic shift in the pedagogical structure where the outcome of learning should not be based on the completion of course but on the understanding of the topic.

Assessment needs a complete revamp. The assessment should not define a child in terms of marks but should be an outcome of a qualitative analysis of the child. 

As every child is different and the same question can be understood in numerous ways by the different children.

Teachers should be encouraged to be bilingual as study shows that children pick up different languages quickly in the early ages. Till Class V education can be imparted in mother tongue if feasible.

There will be no hard discrimination between subjects and disciplines. Children will be encouraged to take multidisciplinary projects for better learning outcomes.

The NEP, which is designed to ease the burden of classroom teaching and examination on students, will play an important role in creating the future of the country. It’s success, however, lies in uniform and transparent implementation at all levels, with an equitable distribution of resources.