NEP 2020: A Game-changer In The Education Sector

The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 marks a tectonic shift from the earlier standardized to more customized learning. While providing holistic and skill-based learning, the NEP 2020 promotes the changes that will boost multidisciplinary education and remains a move towards transforming the country into a vibrant knowledge hub. 

To be implemented in a phased manner from the 2020-21 academic year, with the government-funded institutions taking the lead in adopting the new norms first, NEP 2020 has many game-changing pointers that underline the progression of education delivery in the long run.

Learning in mother tongue: With a student-centric approach, NEP 2020 promotes the adoption of a mother or native tongue as an option to teach children in their early years. This is an impactful point mentioned in the policy. 

The NEP 2020 also includes the three-language policy wherein all students will learn three languages in their school. At least two of the three languages should mandatorily be native to India. 

The core aim is towards increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education. The cause for dropping out has been found to be the inability to cope with languages like English. 

Usage of technology in the delivery of education: The policy recognizes the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) for both student and teacher learning. 

At the primary education level, the policy proposed that coding be introduced in school curriculums as an important skill-set. 

Similarly, the policy aims to promote interdisciplinary research and innovation. For example, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) would serve the purpose of start-up incubation centres and technology development centres and a National Research Foundation is also proposed to be set up to nurture a culture of research. 

Curated curriculum: In a more holistic move towards education and assessment, there will be infrequent exams only in classes 3, 5, and 8. A change is expected in class 10 and 12 board exam patterns in the future, too. 

While being more aligned with the global education system, all these education reforms will boost multidisciplinary education. The process will continue even in higher education with all institutes set to become multidisciplinary and more focused on research in the long run. 

Teacher training: There was a need to introduce a paradigm shift and include emerging subjects like child psychology and development, information and communication technology, issues related to health, safety, and nutrition of children. It was also felt that teaching-learning and child development should go hand in hand. The NEP 2020 suitably addresses these issues. 

A move will be initiated to convert standalone Teacher Education institutions into multi-disciplinary institutions by 2030 offering a 4-year integrated teacher preparation program. 

Special focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): The first five years of life are extremely vital when a child’s brain remains the most flexible and more receptive to learning. These first five years form the central building blocks for the holistic development of the faculties of a child. The NEP 2020 has focussed on ECCE and included it in its pedagogical structure in the form of the foundation stage. 

Benefits of NEP 2020: 

Multiple entry-exit options The NEP 2020 has introduced one of the biggest changes by bringing in a 4-year undergraduate or Bachelor's degree with multiple entry-exit options. A student would now be able to decide how much to study as well as will be able to decide when to study. For example, a student may need to start working after four semesters, but have the right and ability to go back at a later time to complete their education and graduate with a 4-year degree. 

Offering a broad-based education 

The NEP 2020 offers students the ability to have a broad-based education through multidisciplinary institutions. It has been observed that students in India generally tend to focus on their subject matter at an early age, whether it is engineering or medicine, or law. They miss out on exposure to other aspects of life such as humanities and music and arts. A general consensus exists among educators that student learning with multidisciplinary learning leads to higher-order thinking abilities and more in-depth learning. 

Moving away from rote learning 

Students all this while have been used to rote learning and memory-based assessment. A student should be capable of understanding the process of learning and how to integrate different viewpoints and to generate their responses depending on the changing environment and inputs. There is a need for students to develop their thinking process and to deal with uncertainty, which is more in tune with the real-world scenario.

Rustom Kerawalla

Guest Author The author is Founder Chairman, VIBGYOR Group of Schools