National Education Policy 2020 advocates increased use of technology with equity; Higher Education to have flexibility of subjects

New Delhi: Union Cabinet on Wednesday (July 29) authorised National Education Policy 2020, paving means for transformational reforms at school and better training methods within the nation. The new coverage goals for the Universalization of Education from pre-school to secondary degree with 100 % GER at school training by 2030, in line with a authorities assertion. 

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi authorised the National Education Policy 2020 at this time, making means for giant scale, transformational reforms in each faculty and better training sectors. 

“This is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the 34-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,” in line with the assertion.

Important Highlights: School Education

1. Ensuring Universal Access in any respect ranges of college training: NEP 2020 emphasizes on guaranteeing common entry to highschool training in any respect levels- preschool to secondary. 

Infrastructure assist, modern training centres to convey again dropouts into the mainstream, monitoring of scholars and their studying ranges, facilitating a number of pathways to studying involving each formal and non-formal training modes, affiliation of counselors or well-trained social employees with colleges, open studying for lessons 3,5 and eight via NIOS and State Open Schools, secondary education schemes equal to Grades 10 and 12, vocational programs, grownup literacy and life-enrichment packages are among the proposed methods for reaching this. 

About 2 crore out of college kids might be introduced again into major stream beneath NEP 2020.

2. Early Childhood Care,  Education with new Curricular and Pedagogical Structure: With emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education, the 10+2 construction of college curricula is to get replaced by a 5+3+3+Four curricular construction akin to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.

This will convey the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years beneath faculty curriculum, which has been acknowledged globally because the essential stage for growth of psychological schools of a kid. The new system could have 12 years of education with three years of Anganwadi/ pre education.

NCERT will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for youngsters as much as the age of 8. 

ECCE might be delivered via a considerably expanded and strengthened system of establishments together with Anganwadis and pre-schools that may have lecturers and Anganwadi employees skilled within the ECCE pedagogy and curriculum. The planning and implementation of ECCE might be carried out collectively by the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs.

3. Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: Recognizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy as an pressing and crucial prerequisite to studying, NEP 2020 requires organising of a  National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD.

States will put together an implementation plan for attaining common foundational literacy and numeracy in all main colleges for all learners by grade Three by 2025.A National Book Promotion Policy is to be formulated.

4. Reforms at school curricula and pedagogy: The faculty curricula and pedagogy will goal for holistic growth of learners by equipping them with the important thing 21st century expertise, discount in curricular content material to reinforce important studying and demanding considering and better deal with experiential studying. Students could have elevated flexibility and selection of topics. 

There might be no inflexible separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular actions, between vocational and educational streams.

Vocational training will begin in colleges from the sixth grade, and can embody internships.

A brand new and complete National Curricular Framework for School Education, NCFSE 2020-21, might be developed by the NCERT.

5. Multilingualism and the ability of language: The coverage has emphasised mom tongue/native language/regional language because the medium of instruction at the least until Grade 5, however ideally until Grade Eight and past. 

Sanskrit to be provided in any respect ranges of college and better training as an possibility for college kids, together with within the three-language system. Other classical languages and literatures of India additionally to be out there as choices. 

No language might be imposed on any scholar. Students to take part in a enjoyable mission/exercise on ‘The Languages of India’, someday in Grades 6-8, akin to, beneath the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ initiative. Several overseas languages can even be provided on the secondary degree.

Indian Sign Language (ISL) might be standardized throughout the nation, and National and State curriculum supplies developed, to be used by college students with listening to impairment.

6. Assessment Reforms: NEP 2020 envisages a shift from summative evaluation to common and formative evaluation, which is extra competency-based, promotes studying and growth, and assessments higher-order expertise, akin to evaluation, essential considering, and conceptual readability. 

All college students will take faculty examinations in grades 3, 5, and eight which might be performed by the suitable authority. Board exams for Grades 10 and 12 might be continued, however redesigned with holistic growth because the goal.  A brand new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development),  might be arrange as a standard-setting physique.

7. Equitable and Inclusive Education: NEP 2020 goals to make sure that no baby loses any alternative to study and excel due to the circumstances of start or background. 

Special emphasis might be given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SEDGs) which embody gender, socio-cultural, and geographical identities and disabilities. This consists of organising of   Gender Inclusion Fund and likewise Special Education Zones for deprived areas and teams. 

Children with disabilities might be enabled to completely take part within the common education course of from the foundational stage to increased training, with assist of educators with cross incapacity coaching, useful resource centres, lodging, assistive gadgets, acceptable technology-based instruments and different assist mechanisms tailor-made to swimsuit their wants. 

Every state/district might be inspired to determine “Bal Bhavans” as a particular daytime boarding faculty, to take part in art-related, career-related, and play-related actions. Free faculty infrastructure can be utilized as Samajik Chetna Kendras

8. Robust Teacher Recruitment and Career Path: Teachers might be recruited via sturdy, clear processes. Promotions might be merit-based, with a mechanism for multi-source periodic efficiency value determinations and out there development paths to grow to be academic directors or trainer educators. 

A standard National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) might be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education by 2022, in session with NCERT, SCERTs, lecturers and professional organizations from throughout ranges and areas.

9. School Governance: Schools will be organized into complexes or clusters which would be the fundamental unit of governance and guarantee availability of all sources together with infrastructure, educational libraries and a robust skilled trainer group.

10. Standard-setting and Accreditation for School Education: NEP 2020 envisages clear, separate methods for coverage making, regulation, operations and educational issues. States/UTs will arrange unbiased State School Standards Authority (SSSA). 
Transparent public self-disclosure of all the fundamental regulatory info, as laid down by the SSSA, might be used extensively for public oversight and accountability. 

The SCERT will develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) via consultations with all stakeholders.

Higher Education: Important Highlights:

1. Increase GER to 50 % by 2035: NEP 2020 goals to extend the Gross Enrolment Ratio in increased training together with vocational training from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035. 3.5 Crore new seats might be added to Higher training establishments.

2. Holistic Multidisciplinary Education: The coverage envisages broad primarily based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate  training with versatile curricula, inventive combos of topics, integration of vocational training and  a number of entry and exit factors with acceptable certification. 

UG training will be of three or Four years with a number of exit choices and acceptable certification inside this era. For instance,  Certificate after 1 yr, Advanced Diploma after 2 years, Bachelor’s Degree after Three years and Bachelor’s with Research after Four years.

An Academic Bank of Credit is to be established for digitally storing educational credit earned from totally different  HEIs in order that these will be transferred and counted in direction of closing diploma earned.

Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be arrange as fashions of finest multidisciplinary training of worldwide requirements within the nation.

The National Research Foundation might be created as an apex physique for fostering a robust analysis tradition and constructing analysis capability throughout increased training.

3. Regulation: Higher Education Commission of India(HECI) might be arrange as a single overarching umbrella physique for whole increased training, excluding medical and authorized training. HECI to have 4 unbiased verticals  – National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC ) for standard-setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,  and National Accreditation Council( NAC) for accreditation. 

HECI will perform via faceless intervention via expertise, & could have powers to penalise HEIs not conforming to norms and requirements. Public and personal increased training establishments might be ruled by the identical set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and educational requirements.

4. Rationalised Institutional Architecture: Higher training establishments might be reworked into giant, nicely resourced, vibrant multidisciplinary establishments offering prime quality educating, analysis, and group engagement. The definition of the college will permit a spectrum of establishments that vary from research-intensive Universities to Teaching-intensive Universities and Autonomous degree-granting Colleges. 

Affiliation of faculties is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to schools. Over a time frame, it’s envisaged that each faculty would grow to be both an Autonomous degree-granting College, or a constituent faculty of a college.

5. Motivated, Energized, and Capable Faculty: NEP makes suggestions for motivating, energizing, and constructing capability of  school thorugh  clearly outlined, unbiased, clear recruitment , freedom to design curricula/pedagogy, incentivising excellence, motion into institutional management. Faculty not delivering on fundamental norms might be held accountable

6. Teacher Education: A brand new and complete National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, might be formulated by the NCTE in session with NCERT. By 2030, the minimal diploma qualification for educating might be a 4-year built-in BEd diploma. 

Stringent motion might be taken towards substandard stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).

7. Mentoring Mission: A National Mission for Mentoring might be established, with a big pool of excellent senior/retired school – together with these with the power to show in Indian languages – who can be prepared to supply quick and long-term mentoring/skilled assist to college/faculty lecturers.

8. Financial assist for college kids: Efforts might be made to incentivize the advantage of scholars belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and different SEDGs. The National Scholarship Portal might be expanded to assist, foster, and observe the progress of scholars receiving scholarships. Private HEIs might be inspired to supply bigger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their college students.

9. Technology in training:  An autonomous physique, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), might be created to supply a platform for the free change of concepts on using expertise to reinforce studying, evaluation, planning, administration.

Appropriate integration of expertise into all ranges of training might be achieved to enhance classroom processes, assist trainer skilled growth, improve academic entry for deprived teams and streamline academic planning, administration, and administration