Making The NEP-SARTHAQ Reality For Education Reform In India.

Swati Popat Vats May 15, 2021

In 1918 Tagore wrote Tota Kahini, a satire on our education system, about how we turn our students into parrots with rote learning; the sad reality of which still prevails today. In 1932, Indian Educationist Gijubhai Badheka penned Divaswapna, a story about revolutionary changes in primary education. In 1937 Mahatma Gandhi wrote the Nai Talim, about education based on experiential learning and vocational learning. All these visionaries showed the way to change the face of education in India much before our independence! In 2020, after 34 years since the last education policy, the new National Education Policy was released and it is heartening to see that the vision set by Gijubhai Badheka, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Krishnamurthi and many others is now soon to become a reality in our education system…provided the planning and implementation process is smooth and consistent in all states.

NEP implementation has to be based on a balance of trust and freedom as education is a concurrent subject in this country. On 8th April, the Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal released an implementation plan for school education known as 'Students' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ). It is part of the Amrit Mahotsav on 75 years of Independence. SARTHAQ takes care of the spirit and intent of The National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP) which is founded on the five guiding pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. It will prepare our youth to meet the diverse national and global challenges of the present and the future. The major focus of SARTHAQ is to define goals and set deadlines. It links the recommendations of the NEP with 297 ‘tasks’ along with responsible agencies/departments/ministries, timelines and 304 outputs of these tasks. SARTHAQ is the guiding star for all the stakeholders to undertake transformational reforms in the school education sector. The flexible nature of this implementation plan will help in cohesive implementation and joint monitoring by the centre and states. An attempt has also been made to ensure that the activities identified are built upon the existing structure rather than creating new structures. Clear timelines and outputs defined will help the states understand the planning and implementation happens on time and without delay…as we are already 75 years late! Towards this end, it is envisaged that SARTHAQ will be able to translate the vision of the policy in the field and will reach to grass root level creating adequate awareness and motivation and competencies among concerned stakeholders, thereby transforming and building a globally recognised education system that is rooted in Indian ethos and is aligned with the principles enunciated in the NEP to transform India into a global knowledge superpower.

The NEP has outlined many transformational changes in education and SARTHAQ has organised them into outputs and timelines, each of the themes such as Early Childhood Care and Education, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Curtailing Dropout Rates and Ensuring Universal Access to Education at All Levels, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Teachers, Equitable and Inclusive Education, Efficient Resourcing and Effective Governance, Regulation and Accreditation of School Education, Teacher Education, Reimagining Vocational Education, Adult Education, Technology - Use and Integration, Financing: Ensuring Affordable and Quality Education for All. SARTHQQ has outlined sub-plans on each of the major actionable areas in consultation with different bureau heads, autonomous institutions of the MOE, and consultation with states/UTs by the circulation of a draft plan to states/UTs etc.

SARTHAQ, a detailed Implementation Plan has been developed in consonance with NEP vision of revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st Century education including SDG 4, while building on India’s traditions and value systems.

Three of the major areas that will need a lot of work for effective implementation of the NEP are:

Teacher Education
Online and Digital Education: Ensuring Equitable Use of Technology
Curtailing Dropout Rates and Ensuring Universal Access to Education at All Levels

SARTHAQ has outlined tasks, outputs and timelines for each of the above ensuring that all aspects of the required changes suggested in the NEP happen simultaneously as all are interlinked and it will not help if work is done only on certain aspects of the NEP. Revival of our education system will require state governments to work on revamping and streamlining teacher education, online equitable education and curtailing dropout rates, on priority.