“Wonderful”, “path-breaking” and “ambitious” –is what most educationists have to say about the National Education Policy 2020 approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday. Roping in parents for educating kids below six, throwing away the 10+2 Board pattern, stress on vocational education in schools and multiple entry and exit points in college education are some of the steps that have been welcomed whole-heartedly by all. Teachers feel a large number of students will now be able to pursue fields they are truly interested in. Experiential learning is more useful and child-friendly, and on par with what all the other countries are doing, opine teachers.
Focus on early school education
With emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), the NEP 2020 replaces 10+2 structure of school curricula with 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively. This brings the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6, a crucial stage for development of mental faculties, under school curriculum.
“The 5+3+3+4 formula recognises the importance of early education, and people like me, who are working in the field of ECCE, couldn’t be happier,” says Sumeet Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, LEAD School. “I am more concerned about school education because if that is taken care of, the higher education will automatically give results,” says Dr Om Prakash, Professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Gautam Buddha University, appreciating the changes in school education.
“We expect patents, research and innovation, but forget to take care of the nascent stage, when the seeds are to be sown,” he says. “Training in various skills from Class 6 onwards is a very good idea as it will increase students’ practical knowledge,” says Prof Sharad Maheshwari, Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology, IEC College of Engineering & Technology, Greater Noida.
Power of mother tongue
The new policy emphasises mother tongue/local language/regional language as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond. Stating it as a very wise decision to give children the opportunity to study in their mother tongue, Dr Om Prakash says, “A child has little cognitive load when he gets education in his mother tongue. The first language is the construction of all knowledge around you. It is a natural acquisition process. When you give knowledge in a language other than the mother tongue, the child struggles to translate and this interferes in the smooth learning process.”
Read also: Highlights of National Education Policy 2020
Option to exit & choose cross learning
The exit option and multi-disciplinary approach in college education is a brilliant move as it will boost innovation, startups, patents, research work, opportunities and give freedom to take what was earlier considered a ‘bold’ career decision. “It gives a lot of leverage to students. Many times a student is unable to continue college education, which wastes the entire effort of studying in that year. The government is capitalising on dropping out which is very good,” says Dr Om Prakash, adding that this option of being graded and rewarded and then counted for in the next step to learning, is very student friendly.
Agrees Dr RK Gupta, Regional Higher Education Officer, Meerut & Saharanpur Division, Uttar Pradesh. “Getting a certification at each stage motivates a student for further studies. This will hugely benefit drop out students, who till now had no opportunity,” he says. “The flexible entry and exit, and breaking down the barriers between Arts, Commerce and Science will herald a new era of cross-disciplinary learning, and raise the level of education,” says Mehta.
Stating that there will be a marked change in career choices students make due to availability of interdisciplinary studies, Mohammed Zeeshan, Co-founder & CEO at the Online Learning platform MyCaptain, says, “The declining enrolments in engineering colleges show that a shift in career choices is already underway. The NEP 2020 will further facilitate it. The students will be able to make more informed career decisions. The vocational studies and internships will give them practical hands on experience with hard-skills.”
Implementation
The NEP is ambitious, and expects a lot of activity in the beginning. But there is one major caveat. Do we have the resources to implement it? Many faculty members have their doubts. “Barring a few schools and colleges, most children don’t have enough teachers and infrastructure like libraries, laboratories, playgrounds, which poses a huge challenge. Look at the condition of schools in rural areas. The government must have a strong will to implement it and also pump in huge money into education for NEP to succeed,” says Dr Om Prakash.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
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