A New Education Policy 2020
Objective:
The new education policy was introduced recently in 2020 which promotes the spirit of
“Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat”.
The new policy was introduced to make learning more practical and strenghting the
infrastructure by increasing the overall use of technology. These reforms were very
much welcomed by the teachers as well as the students to have a better educational
system.
The new education system will be able to reach a wide range of students and many
people have been waiting for a reform of the education system because of how
outdated the current system is. The new policies will make learning easier to
understand and provide with actual skills instead of just theory.
The main aim of implementing the new education policies is to ensure that everyone
gets good quality of education which contributes to India’s overall development.
NEP was drafted by a panel led by the former head of Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) Kasturirangan and presented to Union Minister for Human
Resources Development Ramesh Pokhriyal when he took office in 2019.
Introduction:
The NEP 2020 is is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the thirty-four year old
National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. Built on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality,
Affordability and Accountability, this policy is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge
superpower by making both school and college education more holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary,
suited to 21st century needs and aimed at bringing out the unique capabilities of each student.
Features of NEP 2020:
1)Ensuring Universal Access at all levels of school education:
emphasizes on ensuring universal access to school education at all levels- pre
school to secondary. Infrastructure support, innovative education centres to bring
back dropouts into the mainstream, tracking of students and their learning levels,
facilitating multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non-formal
education modes, association of counselors or well-trained social workers with
schools, open learning for classes3,5 and 8 through NIOS and State Open Schools,
secondary education programs equivalent to Grades 10 and 12, vocational courses,
adult literacy and life-enrichment programs are some of the proposed ways for
achieving this. About 2 crore out of school children will be brought back into main
stream under NEP 2020.
2)Early Childhood Care & Education with new Curricular and Pedagogical
Structure:
With emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education, 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. This will bring the hitherto uncovered
age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognized globally
as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child. The new system
will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
3)NCERT will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early
Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 . ECCE
will be delivered through a significantly expanded and strengthened system of
institutions including Anganwadis and pre-schools that will have teachers and
Anganwadi workers trained in the ECCE pedagogy and curriculum. The planning
and implementation of ECCE will be carried out jointly by the Ministries of HRD,
Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and
Tribal Affairs.
4)Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy:
Recognizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy as an urgent and necessary
prerequisite to learning, NEP 2020 calls for setting up of a National Mission on
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD. States will prepare an
implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all
primary schools for all learners by grade 3 by 2025.A National Book Promotion
Policy is to be formulated.
5)Reforms in school curricula and pedagogy:
The school curricula and pedagogy will aim for holistic development of learners by
equipping them with the key 21st century skills, reduction in curricular content to
enhance essential learning and critical thinking and greater focus on experiential
Advantages of Nation Education policy:
1)More Spending on Education Sector: At present, the education sector in India gets
only a 3% share from GDP, but with the implementation of NEP 2020, spending will
increase to almost 6% which is going to breathe a new life into the education sector.
2)Changes in the School Structure: The current structure of 10+2 school education
will be replaced with the 5+3+3+4 pattern, to reduce students’ burden of board
exams. There will also be a focus on vocational learning right from class 6 to 8, so
that the students can learn practical skills such as gardening, carpentry, plumbing,
artists, potters, etc., to introspect and understand their interests while developing a
better understanding, respect for these skills.
3)Broader Options to Learn: The children in classes from 9 to 12 will now have
multidisciplinary course options available to them, which means that the different
streams will be more porous with various subject combinations. Any student will be
able to take up subjects of their interest, even if they are outside of their core
discipline without strict adherence to the streams of Arts, Science and Commerce; a
science student will be able to study history and an art student shall be free to
pursue biology.
4)Focus on Critical Thinking: The board exams system that primarily tested the
memorization and rote learning ability of students will be replaced to develop critical
thinking, rationalization, and creativity of students with the practical application of
their knowledge.
5)Making Education a Basic Right: At present, the Government ensures that children
from the age of 6 to 14 years may get compulsory education for which numerous
programs were successfully carried out, including the one such as “Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan”. But it left out several children from the education system. Therefore, the
updated NEP promises to universalize education to include the children from 3 years
of age till 18 to provide them with free education at government-run establishments.
12)Propagation of Culture and Ethos: The Indian culture and ethos will be part of the
learning curriculum so that the students will be able to learn about India’s ancient
history and its glorious past, a step towards reviving our traditions and promote unity
and brotherhood right at the early stage.
14)Improvement in Teaching Quality: By 2030, B.Ed. will be made a mandatory
4-year course to improve the quality of education for teachers and steps will be
taken to make them capable of tackling various issues of the education system,
including providing support and mentorship to the students, as well as being trained
to teach the students with disabilities.
Disadvantages:
1. In the National Education Policy 2020, the have introduced mother languages for
each subject in academic institutes is a problem. Sometimes, finding a competent
teacher becomes a problem and now another challenge comes with the introduction of
the NEP 2020, which is bringing study material in mother languages and there will not
be unity since everyone will be learning their subjects in their mother tongues it will
become much harder to communicate and work together in the future.
2. According to the national education policy 2020, students willing to complete their
graduation have to study for four years while one can easily complete his/ her diploma
degree in two years. This might encourage the pupil to leave the course midway.
3. According to the national education policy 2020, students of the private schools will
be introduced to English at a much earlier age than the students of the Government
schools. The academic syllabus will be taught in the respective regional languages of the
Government school students. This is one of the major new education policy drawbacks
as this will increase the number of students uncomfortable in communicating in English
thus widening the gap between sections of the societies.
Impact of New Education Policy (NEP) 2020:
This national policy on education will impact billions of lives. But the two major
segments that would be affected are ‘Students and Teachers.
Impact on Students: NEP 2020 will open up new learning opportunities to the
students. Its biggest impact would be the change in the learning environment and the
learning process for the students. The new education policy will:
● Increase focus on the skill improvement and competency development of
the students.
● Make the students future-ready by building 21st-century skills.
● Make students focus on both academic and non-academic pursuits.
● Provide various learning opportunities for pre-primary, open, and
distance-learning students.
● Give access to counselling and other services for students.
This new national policy on education will also provide multiple exit options for
mid-term drop-out students with 1 year of training or 2 years of Diploma. With so
many growing opportunities, students’ curiosity and confusion will also grow. So,
they are suggested to take the help of the experts and professionals in making
the right career decisions.The first expert the students come across is the
Teacher. Hence, the Indian government has something to offer for the teachers
as well.
Impact on Teachers: The Government of India has decided to make their teachers
more skilled and equipped with futuristic teaching skills. See what teachers will get from
the new education policy:
● Introduction of professional teaching standards.
● Clearer outlined roles and responsibilities.
● Training to monitor and improve their capabilities.
● More focus on 21st-century teaching skills.
● A transparent recruitment and selection process for teachers to motivate
them and improve their performance.
Teachers not only guide the students for their academic excellence but also mentor
them in taking the right career decisions. Therefore, they should equip themselves with
new-age teaching methods. To cope up with the advanced teaching skills and
understand the current teaching trends, teachers can enrol in ‘Teach Online – Tools for
a Digital Age’ offered by Univariety. It is a 6 hours customized course for those teachers
who want to adapt to the latest and newer ways of teaching.
How will the New education policy help with economic growth:
1) Helps bridge the skill gap to make the Indian youth more
employable: According to the Skill India Report of 2019, significant percentage
of Indian graduates were employable, and there was a vast gap between industry
and academia due to the existing education system.The previous policy focussed
more on rote learning instead of practical skills. With the National Education
Policy, we aim to focus on bridging this gap. Instead of just building a sound
report card, the emphasis on skill building will lead to an increase in thee number
of employable graduates. The new policy will reduce the curriculum to core
concepts, and there will be an integration of vocational education right from 6th
standard. Instead of summative assessment, the focus on competency-based
formative and regular evaluation will encourage students to hone their skills and
confidence. Thus, the NEP will ensure that students get world-class training for
required skills, as per their interest. Further, students will also be awarded
certificates of completion in each academic year during graduation. They will
have multiple exit and entry points so that if they want to leave
2)preparing Indian human capital for the emerging multi-disciplinary
environment: With the changing work environment globally, the future workforce will
require utterly different aptitudes. The idea of mastering one stream is not feasible for
the future. Students will need a diverse knowledge base and skill sets to succeed. With
reference to this, NEP has focused on the ‘choice-based credit system’, a
multi-disciplinary approach that allows students to choose subjects from multiple
streams. This flexibility will provide the future workforce with the autonomy to explore
topics of their interest, while building multi-disciplinary and relevant skill sets. Students
will also be provided with mentorship and guidance to ensure that they do not get
overwhelmed due to the vast options. Besides, the essential skills like digital literacy,
coding, and computational thinking included in curriculums will make students more
digital-ready. The NEP will also encourage institutions to develop incubator facilities that
will develop new enterprises. All these changes will go a long way in transforming Indian
human capital.
3)enables India to capatalise on it’s human resources: The practical and reformist
approach undertaken by the NEP 2020, in regards to the employability and vocational
training of undergraduates from all education courses, is undoubtedly a giant leap
towards making education and employment more adapted to each other. The policy
proposes internships in private and public sectors for students enrolled in
undergraduate courses, to equip graduates with industry experience. Features that
stand out are the opening up of Indian higher education to foreign universities,
dismantling the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and
introducing a four-year multi-disciplinary undergraduate programme with multiple exit
options, and discontinuation of the M. Phil. programme. The guidelines make an effort
to systematically centralise the educational sector by moving towards collective
governance.
4)Inclusive education:The National Education Policy 2020 will enable India to
achieve its UN SDG Goal-4, i.e., to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. The
policy brings together multiple stakeholders like the central government, state
governments, the private sector, NGOs and educational institutions to realise the vision
of universal education. Public expenditure on education is likely to increase to 6% of the
GDP. Though the Right to Education Act has achieved great success in ensuring almost
universal enrolment in primary schools, retaining students is a challenge. The Gross
Enrolment Ratio decreases as students move to higher grades. This decline is more
elevated for vulnerable groups like women, backward classes, low-income households,
people living in remote areas, and people with disabilities. The policy talks about the
set-up of special funds to assist these groups. The policy envisages doubling the Gross
Enrolment Ratio in higher education institutions from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035.
There will be an increase in digital platforms to provide open distance learning courses
that will improve accessibility.
5)Empowers youth: The NEP is bringing significant changes in the current education
system which will ensure the intellectual development of the youth. Students will be
provided with updated resources and platforms. The existing education system has
limitations that made youngsters focus on lopsided priorities, like doctor or engineer.
NEP 2020 will help in changing this by mapping students’ interest, ability and demand. It
will empower youngsters to be creative, committed and driven to their interests and
abilities. We intend to stress on inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based and
analysis-based learning methods that will urge the students to constantly re-skill and
up-skill themselves.
NEP does realise the fact that we have a huge working population under 35 years of
age. To build "New India", we must proactively engage them. I have many hopes that
students will be able to compete successfully at a global level.
Economic Growth: measured as an increase of people’s real income which means that
the ratio between people’s income and the prices of what they can buy is increasing:
goods and services become more affordable, people become less poor. It is because a
person has more choices as their income grows that economists care so much about
these monetary measures of prosperity.
Why is economic growth important:
Growth can generate virtuous circles of prosperity and opportunity. Strong growth and
employment opportunities improve incentives for parents to invest in their children’s
education by sending them to school. This may lead to the emergence of a strong and
growing group of entrepreneurs, which should generate pressure for improved
governance. Strong economic growth therefore advances human development, which,
in turn, promotes economic growth. But under different conditions, similar rates of
growth can have very different effects on poverty, the employment prospects of the poor
and broader indicators of human development. The extent to which growth reduces
poverty depends on the degree to which the poor participate in the growth process and
share in its proceeds. Thus, both the pace and pattern of growth matter for reducing
poverty. A successful strategy of poverty reduction must have at its core measures to
promote rapid and sustained economic growth. The challenge for policy is to combine
growthpromoting policies with policies that allow the poor to participate fully in the
opportunities unleashed and so contribute to that growth. This includes policies to make
labour markets work better, remove gender inequalities and increase financial inclusion.
Relantionship between growth and employment:
Economic growth is directly linked to employment in such a way that they are both
dependent on each other. If there is no growth there will less employment and if there is
a significant amount of growth then there will also be growth in employment. An
economic growth consists of people working towards generating GDP and if there is
more employment more people will be able to work .
Case Study:
The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) aims to change the education landscape in
India for the better, incorporating modern techniques like digital learning, revamping
student evaluation, and curriculum in favor of skills that serve the fast-changing
requirements of the job market.
Education is a state subject and therefore the burden of effectively implementing NEP
falls upon state governments. State governments must view the implementation of NEP
as an avenue for competitive federalism. They must seize the initiative to implement its
provisions in letter and spirit so they can stake claim on having built the best education
system in the country, one which can stand the test of scrutiny by throwing up
exemplary data across key metrics.
On the operational front, NEP provides an opportunity for state education boards to
make the decisive shift from education for all to ensuring quality education for all.
India's education sector is one of the world's largest, with 1.5 million schools, 8.5 million
teachers and 250 million students. The sector was waiting for substantive positive
intervention, and NEP is a definitive step in the right direction. The policy makes the
right set of provisions with firm focus on multidisciplinary education, due emphasis on
online modes of learning, rationalization of course fees and introduction of subjects like
coding, artificial intelligence, financial literacy, and data science in school curriculum.
Some states have started making the right moves with urgency. The governments of
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh have taken the
lead in implementing NEP. The Madhya Pradesh state administration has even directed
the state’s private university regulatory commission to closely monitor the effective
implementation of NEP and to focus on the quality of education and its delivery. The
state administration has made it clear that attention must be paid to improving existing
courses, research, and innovation in the context of the NEP.
Implementation of NEP in the state has brought to light some interesting results that
have the potential to unlock the dynamism of students and serves as an example for
other states. As an innovation in NEP, students in Madhya Pradesh have been given the
freedom to choose optional subjects. If a student wants, they can choose a subject from
any faculty other than their own. Students can choose from 27 subjects from the Arts
faculty, 20 subjects from the Science faculty, five subjects from Commerce, apart from
subjects like NCC, NSS and Physical Education, among others.
Subjects like Yoga, organic farming, and personality development have emerged as
students’ favorites. All these subjects are governed under the state's vocational
curriculum, and after two rounds of admission conducted by the Madhya Pradesh
Higher Education Department, as many as 86,495 students have chosen Yoga as a
subject. Over 80,000 students have chosen organic farming, 77,833 students have
opted for personality development, 28,201 students have shown preference for
information technology, 22,511 students have selected digital marketing and about
17,879 students have opted for tourism as a subject for vocational studies. Additionally,
around 17,500 students have selected e-accounting and taxation with GST, while 14,
627 students have chosen to study medical diagnostics.
What’s more, state governments will find willing partners in civil society organizations to
implement NEP in its truest sense as many of them have experience of working on the
ground to increase access to quality education among a vast section of children – those
from the marginalized sections of society. A case in point is Smile Foundation, a
national level NGO engaged in educating 50,000 children in 22 states through its
Shiksha Na Ruke initiative that provides access to continuous learning through alternate
learning mediums. More state governments must come forward and work to iron out
issues in implementing NEP. They could seek the central government’s assistance in
easing their journey to effective implementation. NEP has a direct bearing on the future
of our country. This reform was long awaited as the education policy was revised after a
gap of 34 years to meet the changing needs of the international education system and
the job market. India has only to gain if states implement the policy in its true spirit.
State governments will, in this process, honor the spirit of federalism and enable India to
truly reap its demographic dividend.
Data:
Economists have long believed that investments in education, or “human capital,” are
an important source of economic growth. Over the last 40 years output has risen about
3.5 percent a year. Growth in the productivity of labor, the major driver of increases in
wages and standards of living, has measured about 2.4 percent per year. The
contribution of education to labor productivity growth is estimated in different studies to
be between 13 and 30 percent of the total increase. Whatever the contribution of
education to growth in the past, investments in human capital may rise in importance
relative to investments in other forms of capital as we transition to a post-industrial,
knowledge-based economy. To increase the economic growth of the country the
government needs to spend more on the education. The states need to increase the
amount of money that is being spent on education.The Union Budget FY23 has
allocated Rs 1,04,278 crore for the education sector—an increase of 11.86% compared
to the revised 2021-22 gross allocation of Rs 93,223 crore. While it is still lower than the
NEP-recommended 6% of GDP, it is a positive sign and an acknowledgement that this
sector needs more focus. If we look at the Budget from a sub-sector perspective, it is
interesting to see the allocation and hence the trend.
Analysis:
The New Education Policy is a very crucial step to economic development of the
country since it will increase the human capital of the country and then more people will
be able to contribute the economy. NEPwas made to transform India’s education system
by 2040 which hbuilt on the foundation of access, equity, quality, acessisblity and
accountability. It will transform the nation into a knowledgeable society. This policy also
plans to raise the state expenditure as soon as possible and it also aims at achieving
100% gross enrolment ratio in schol education by the year 2030.
The New education policy encourages states to allocate more money towards the
education sector to ensure the growth of the education sector. This will help India’s
economy to grow significantly because the countries that have placed greater
emphasis on developing an education system that can produce workers able to function
in new industries, such as science and technology. This is partly because older
industries in developed economies have become less competitive and thus are less
likely to continue dominating the industrial landscape. Also, a movement to improve the
basic education of the population has emerged, with a growing belief that all people
have the right to an education.
The New education policy works towards increasing the litreacy rate, The literacy rate is
one of the most important indicators of social development and is closely related to the
socio-economic growth of any country. Increasing the literacy rate in India will not only
provide the country with employment opportunities but it will also help reduce the
poverty in the country which currently prevails. People will be offered more jobs if they
are educated and they can even start their own ventures will also generate employment,
India will be able utilise it’s available human capital to its maximum efficiency due to a
increased literacy . Literacy also leads to sustainable development because
development of the knowledge, skills, understanding, values and actions required to
create a sustainable world, which ensures environmental protection and conservation,
promotes social equity and encourages economic sustainability.
The education policy will also help bridge the gap in male and female litreacy rate by
making high quality education ensured for all people regardless of their gender currently
in India The female literacy rate (64.6%) is still much lower than the male literacy rate
(80.9%). However, the increase in literacy rate is comparatively higher in the case of
females in all age groups. Thus, the gender gap in literacy rate is gradually decreasing
over the years and has come down from 21.6% in 2001 to 16.3% in 2011.
Conclusion:
The National Education Policy 2020 consists of 4 parts and 27 chapters. In the policy,
the government of India drafted various barriers and situations that affect children
education. The draft initially starts with the introduction part which states about the
fundamental requirement of the children, how to achieve human potential, development
of equality and just in the society, National development, quality education, scientific
advancement, national integration and, cultural preservation. NEP 2020 will also help
students from dropping out of education between the age of 3- 18. This also helps
students in pursuing a flexible system of education without any restrictions. NEP 2020
will also help students from dropping out of education between the age of 3- 18 which
means that more people will be able to achieve and education because of this policy.
Education is a crucial component to grow as an economy as well as overall
development of ant country. National education policy was formulated keeping this
notion in mind and fulffling all the necessary requirements to grow. The New Education
policy which has been approved is a step taken in the right dierection by the
government .
The New education is a big step taken towards a good cause but the success of NEP
depends on how well the government will be able to implement the policy and how well
people will be able to adjust to the new education system. NEP will provide people with
the practical knowledge required instead of just the theoretical knowledge which will
helpful to the people in the future. NEP will definitely expand the opportunities available
to the younger generations so they will have more opportunities that they will be able to
explore.
Suggestions:
1. Reformulate the RTE based on outcomes
There is a dire need to revisit The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
Act (RTE)-2009. RTE has been successful in providing universal access to elementary
education, increasing retention and improving school infrastructure. But it has failed to
improve learning levels of children.The annual nationwide ASER (Annual Status of
Education Report) shows that between 2009 and 2014, the reading levels across India
(barring a few Southern states) have either declined or stagnated.Basic arithmetic
abilities of children have largely worsened all across the country. The government
acknowledges this and has prioritized ensuring the learning outcomes in elementary
education as the top priority in the consultation theme. It needs some introspection as
to why, despite increased budgetary outlays, infrastructure and pupil teacher-norms
through RTE, the learning levels are showing no signs of improvement. Perhaps the
RTE Act is to be blamed. The Section 16 of RTE states that no child shall be expelled or
held back in a class until he/she completes elementary schooling.Although this was
done to remove the burden of exams and prevent dropouts, many teachers feel that this
clause has dis-incentivized learning. They complain that rural kids don’t even bother to
attend exams citing reasons such as festivals or household events. Children, like adults,
respond to incentives, in the absence of which motivation to study and excel
subsides.RTE should do away with the gift of automatic promotion of students, and
instead, may provide additional coaching and options of re-appearing in the exams in
the same year for badly performing students. Along with this, there is a need for
examination reforms.The NEP consultation theme does stress the need for reforming
the examination systems. It is evaluating the feasibility of adopting Continuous
Comprehensive Examination (CCE), currently followed by the CBSE board, across all
schools.
2. Improve public schools for quality and social integration
Another mandate of RTE which needs careful rethinking is the one-size-fits all approach
of reserving 25% of seats (Section 12 (1) (c)) in private schools for the weaker sections
of the society. This clause was conceived to expand the options for poor parents to
send their kids to private schools, an alibi for the voucher system. It reflects an implicit
assumption by the government that private schools are better than the public
schools.There is mixed evidence of whether private schools (barring a few elite schools
in urban areas) fare better than public schools. The trend captured by ASER over ten
years reveals that, although enrollment in private schools is increasing tremendously
even among the poor in rural areas, learning levels have not showed any significant
improvement. By mandating reservations in public schools, the Government is
abdicating itself of its responsibility towards improving the quality of public
schools.Contrary to its original intent of integrating students of different economic
backgrounds, reservation of seats in private schools has created segregation in
schools. Many private schools show differential treatment towards these reserved
students, and puts them in different sections, citing lack of preparedness as a reason for
not being to compete with their regular students.Way back in 1966, the Kothari
Commission had recommended Common School System (CSS) where kids from all
socio-economic backgrounds study together and learn from each other’s life
experiences. It is essential to bring back the trust in public education system by
improving its quality rather than turning blindly to private schools. The Government can
learn from its success in schooling systems such as Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya
Vidyalayas, which have a proven track record of getting excellent results.
3. Increase budgetary allocation on education
To improve the schooling system, budgetary allocations have to be increased. Right
from the time of Kothari Commission, there has been repeated calls by educationalists,
NGOs and policy analysts that the governments should allocate 6% of GDP towards
education.
However, Indian allocation for education has stuck between 3.5-4% of GDP. In recent
times, there is an alarming trend of decreasing central funding to elementary education.
An analysis by Accountability Initiative, Center for Policy Research and ASER reveals
that central funding for SSA and mid day meal program has decreased from Rs 38,797
crore in 2013-14 to Rs 31, 236 crore in 2015-16.
Bibliography:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/news/states-must-seize-in
itiative-to-make-nep-successful-101635868894281.html(case study)
https://www.globalcareercounsellor.com/blog/the-new-education-polic
y-its-impact-how-to-prepare-your-students/#Impact_of_New_Educatio
n_Policy_(NEP)_2020(impacts)
https://byjus.com/question-answer/read-the-passage-given-below-edu
cation-is-the-most-powerful-tool-which-can-lead-to-5/
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