NEW EDUCATION POLICY: A CRITICIAL ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
India
will have the highest youth population in the word in the upcoming decade and
it is a shared responsibility of the government in order to provide
contemporary educational opportunities to the students in order to shape the
future of the country. This can be done only if the education policy targets
the idea of universal access to quality education which will be a key to social
and economic justice. There is a rapid change going on in the world in terms of
the knowledge landscape. We have observed that how our work force has moved
from manual stages to machines, and now the whole world is trying to move to
the next step being the Artificial intelligence. This will increase the need of
skilled workforce with the knowledge of data science, mathematics and computer
science in conjunction with multi-disciplinary abilities across the sciences,
social sciences and humanities. It is very important that the approach of the
education system should make children not only learn but learn to learn. The
aim of the revised policy is to develop a critical thinking in students since
the inception of their schooling. To provide a holistic development which not
only includes cognitive skills but also social and emotional skills referred to
as ‘soft skills’ including cultural awareness, empathy, teamwork, leadership,
among others. The foundational pillars of the policy are access, equity,
affordability and accountability.
No policy could do justice to the system if
teacher and teaching measures are not regulated, this policy has addressed
these issues and proposes to empower teachers, and help them to work as
effectively as possible. To ensure teachers not only their livelihood, respect,
dignity and autonomy, while also having accountability and quality control. The
policy is based on certain principles such as flexibility, no hard separations
of streams, multi-disciplinary, conceptual understanding, creative and critical
understanding. Constitutional values etc. in order to provide holistic
development to the students.
ECCE and School Education
There
has been a fundamental change in the school education system in every aspect
from the elementary, secondary and Higher education system. The present system
is based on 10+2 system where the students study a particular set of subjects
for the first ten years starting from class 1 and then respective streams as
per their interest. This system will be changed to 5+3+3+4 which means that the
state will keep a record since the start of the schooling rather than from
class 1. The policy also introduces a term ECCE (Early childhood care and
education) which is to ensure that children entering Grade 1 are school ready.
Over 85% of the child’s cumulative brain develops prior to age of 6. It is been observed that due to lack of
investment in ECCE, most of the young children, particularly from economic
disadvantaged families are not mentally prepared to go to school easily and are
also afraid of the school environment. Keeping all such observations into
consideration, the first bracket which is the first five years of school are
termed as foundational stage (3-8 years) based on play/activity based learning
and ECCE. It will also focus on good behaviour, ethics, courtesy, teamwork,
cooperation, etc. Exams for this section has been removed to ensure that there
is no pressure on the child in these early stages, and the child should be
mentally prepared to go to school without any fear. The second stage is the
next three years which are also termed as the Preparatory stage (8-11 years)
which will begin from grade 3. This stage will observe a transition from
play-based learning to more formal but interactive classroom learning, with an
introduction to some light textbooks in order to lay a solid groundwork across
subjects such as arts, languages, science and mathematics. The stage will also
include exams and, the approach will be based on study and activity. The stage
also highlights the language policy which is, that the students till this stage
should study in their regional languages. There is some contention with this
policy and many people believe that there is an imposition of a language,
howsoever the policy has made it clear that this is not mandatory. The private/public
schools can still use English as a language or the medium that they decide,
however no school can impose the same. The next stage is termed as the Middle
stage (11-14 years) which is again for the next three years. This stage
introduces various courses such as computer coding, vocational courses, Maths,
Science, arts, etc. Apart from all these subjects a child also has to study one
Indian language as per his or her interest. There is again a contention among
people that this Indian language is an imposition of any particular language
such as Hindi, but that is not the case. One could study any of the National
languages which are given in schedule 8. Apart from the subjects the child is
studying. The last four years of the school system from Grade 9 to Grade 12 is
termed as secondary stage (14-18 years). There will be a major change in this
stage as compared to present system. The separation of stream has been removed
and one could select subjects from various behaviour science, arts &
commerce streams. This stage also includes an optional foreign language and the
exams will be conducted every six months. The idea is to stick with the
objective of the policy which is to provide a holistic growth. The teachers
will be encouraged to ensure developing a habit of critical thinking in their
students.
Graduation and
Post-graduation
There
is also a major change in the policy in terms of years required for graduation.
At present the graduation is of three years in subjects like Arts, Science and
commerce. This has been changed to four years, however the way the certificates
will be provided is different. As soon as a student completes the first year,
he or she shall receive a certificate by the title Graduate Certificate.
Similarly by completing second year, he or she will get a certificate by title
Graduate Diploma. If the third year is completed, Graduate Degree will be given
to the student and as soon as the student completes the fourth year, he or she
shall receive a certificate by title Graduate research. The policy has also
proposed a new system of Re-entry of students in any of the respective years of
the graduation. This is done in order to address the untimely dropping out of
students in the middle of the graduation majorly due to economic reasons or
personal reasons. So, now if any of the student leaves the college after first
year due to lack of money and after a few years he or she gets some money to
continue his or her studies, they can continue directly from the second year.
Also, it is not compulsory for any student to study all the four years. A
student can apply for job after the degree received in the third year, if in
case the student wants to continue his research in the subject he or she may study
for the fourth year.
In
terms of post-graduation, the duration is kept one or two years depending on
the number of years completed by the student in his under graduation. If a
student completes three years in his under graduation, he shall study for two years
in order to complete his post-graduation. If he studies four years during his
under graduation, he may only study one year in order to complete
post-graduation. The proposed policy has given ample stress on the area of
research to encourage the young mind in this field.
Financial planning and Budget
Even in the first national education policy of 1968, it envisages
provision of 6 percent of GDP to be allocated for the education sector. The
same allocation is maintained in the proposed policy.
At present we are spending around 3.1 percent of the total GDP in this sector.
The policy will implement a regulatory regime which will have clear separation
of role, empowerment, and autonomy to institutions which focus on smooth,
timely and appropriate flow of funds and the usage of the funds with probity.
The policy also recognizes two type of funds being formula and discretionary
fund give to the state to implement priorities defined by the central
government and to deal with localised specific context barriers to girls in
order to get access of high quality education. To ensure transparency the funds
or investment which are made available either to private or public industry in
this sector will come under the ambit of RTI (Right to Information). The
details of flow of funds can be accessed by public at large.
One
of the major contentions against the policy is with reference to
commercialisation of education, this contention has been addressed in the
policy by using a ‘light but tight’ regulatory approach that mandates full
public disclosure of finances, procedures, course and programme offerings, and
educational outcomes; the substantial investment in public education; and
mechanisms for governance of all institutions, public and private.
Promoting Indian culture
The
rich Indian heritage has been the guiding path of the policy since the
beginning. The aim of education in ancient India was based on complete
realisation and liberation of the self in addition to acquisition of knowledge
as preparation for life in this world or life beyond schooling. It is the very
cultural and natural wealth that truly makes India as ‘Incredible India’ as per
India’s tourism slogan. Culture awareness is not only important for the nation
but also to an individual in order to develop a sense of identity, belonging,
as well as an appreciation of other cultures and identities. In order to
preserve and promote one’s culture, it is very important to promote and
preserve a culture’s languages. This is the reason Indian languages are taken care
of throughout the policy. Now, this has been a major contention and people have
also alleged that this is because of the implementation of the ideology of
Hindutva. Many developed countries have demonstrated time and again that
studying in one’s culture, traditions and languages is indeed a huge benefit to
educational, social and technological advancement. India is trying to achieve
the same. Applying a political colour to this approach will fail the major
objective of the policy. With respect to Hindutva the Supreme Court in Ramesh
Yeshwant Prabhoo case in the year 1995 has been very clear that it is a way of
life and should not be equated with the Hindu fundamentalism. It represents a
culture which in itself is very inclusive in nature. If one goes to the text of
Hindutva given by Veer Savarkar, he always meant it as an inclusive term and
nothing to do with the religion. Anyone who lives between the Himalayas and the
Indian Ocean and considers this land as his fatherland and holly land is under the
impression of Hindutva. Although, the policy in no means has used the word
‘Hindutva’ in the principles or visions of the policy. In my opinion using
Hindutva would also never make any difference because it was never meant to be
an alienating term. It has been all inclusive and cultural preservation.
Conclusion
Indian
education system has revolutionized itself after 34 years. The policy has
finally understood the problem with content education and has proposed a sound
solution for the same. The increase in budget will ensure the proper allocation
of funds as done by many developed countries like USA, Israel and Germany. The
ECCE will ensure more number of enrolments in the elementary level and
different forms of languages will ensure culture preservation. The vocational
subjects will prove a holistic development and an adaptive behaviour. No hard
separation of streams will motivate students to explore other career paths. The
Re-entry policy in the graduation system will be effective only if the administration
is able to manage normal students and drop outs with respect to the seats they
have. As India is an evolving democracy
with strong presence of parliamentary democracy, the policy can be amended if
required after the implementation. For achieving successful implementation the
policy proposed for creation of Rashtriya Siksha Aayog (RSA), an apex advisory
body at the central level and Raj Siksha Aayog (RJSA) at the state level. I
believe all the benefits that the policy claims to achieve i.e. affordable and
quality education for all, is likely to be visible within a decade of the
implementation.
This article was published by me at 'The Legal Arc Volume I' on 24th December, 2020-
http://kpmsolpublications.nmims.edu/tla/932
References
https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English.pdf
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