AIR Spotlight - New Education Policy

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. In this article, a discussion on the new education policy is featured.

Participants:

• Dr. J.S Rajput, Former Director, NCERT
• Sonu Sood, AIR Correspondent

Context:

In July 2020, the Cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi replaced the thirty-four years old Education Policy of India. The article will discuss the various aspects of the New Education Policy.

Preparation of the New Education Policy:

• The New Education Policy is the continuum of all the efforts that have been made in the last 75 years of independence.
• Education has to be a dynamic process because education initiates changes, prepares students to understand and comprehend the changes, and continues with the change in the interests of the people.
• The New Education Policy has taken note of all the developments that took place in the last three decades.
• It has also taken the aspirations, expectations, and new requirements of the nation & international relationships into consideration.
• The New Education Policy was prepared after intensive deliberations at every stage & with every sector of society.
• It took 4 years for the members of the committee to prepare this new policy. There were two committees appointed for the preparation of the New Education Policy.
• First Committee was headed by Mr. T. S. R Subramanian, a former cabinet secretary, and the second committee was headed by Dr. Kasturi Ranjan.

Read more on the New Education Policy, 2020 in the link.

Changes incorporated in the New Education Policy (NEP) at the School level:

Education at an early age:

• The new schooling system brings three years of kindergarten classes or playschools under the ambit of formal education.
• Since the NEP 2020 also increases the span of the Right to Education Act and will now cover ages 3 to 18, it looks at organizing the total school education period so that in the Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) or pre-school level, there is more access, affordability, accountability and universalization, and all with better quality education.
• If this measure succeeds, then this will be the biggest transformation because the growth of the minds of children takes place at a very significant speed at this age. This will bring about the structural change that will make the difference.

5+3+3+4 System:

• The NEP replaces the 10+2 schooling system in India with a new 5+3+3+4 system.
• This change from the 10+2 to the 5+3+3+4 system would help with a more seamless and inclusive transition from the pre-school ages right to the higher classes (9 to 12).
• As per the new school education system of 5+3+3+4 outlined in NEP 2020, children will spend 5 years in the Foundational stage, 3 years in the Preparatory stage, 3 years in the Middle stage, and 4 years in the Secondary stage.
• The division of stages has been made in line with the kind of cognitive development stages that a child goes through in early childhood, school years, and secondary stages.

Changes at Higher Education Level:

Academic Bank of Credit:

• According to the national education policy 2020,  an Academic Bank of Credit will be established. The credits earned by the students can be stored and when the final degree gets completed, those can be counted.

Multidisciplinary education and research:

• According to the NEP, Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities at par with the  IITs and IIMs will be set up in the country. These are scheduled to be set up for introducing multidisciplinary academics.

Well-prepared students:

• For making the students prepared for future pandemic situations, online academics will be promoted on a larger scale.

Future Forward Methods:

• Selecting subject combinations is a big deal and for young students, it is one of the first steps of legitimate choice in their career path.
• As per the new school system, they have completely gone away with the stream system, and the students can choose their own subjects and formulate their own course packages.

Areas to be focused on:

Common School System:

• India must proceed towards the Common School System that was recommended by the Kothari Commission. That would be able to improve the education system in India.

Private investment in education:

• India should welcome private investment in education because in India, on the one hand, there are schools that are endowed with all the facilities and on the other hand, there are some schools that may not have more than one teacher, toilets, drinking water, building, etc.

Filling the gap:

• There are those students who have no option but to go to the government schools unwillingly and on the other side, there are those who are fed up with the increased fee in the private schools. This creates a kind of gap.
• Therefore, all the stakeholders must come forward and equip the government primary schools with all the necessary amenities so that the gap is filled.

Conclusion:

The government wants NEP 2020 to be implemented on a fast track across states, paving the way for a wider choice of subjects in higher educational institutes, setting up education complexes, and allowing flexible entry-exit schemes in colleges and universities.

Read more Gist of AIR Spotlight here.

AIR Spotlight – New Education Policy:- Download PDF Here