New Education Policy: Opportunities & Challenges

A futuristic education policy is essential for a country’s progress as it directs the progression of education and educational system in a country. Till 2020, India was majorly governed by the National Education Policy 1986 (revised in 1992). The New Education Policy based on the needs of 21^st Century was released by the Government of India in 2020.It is based on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability and is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

• It aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making school and college education more holistic, flexible and multidisciplinary. It focuses on bringing out the unique capabilities of each student.

Need for a New Policy

The 1984 education policy is obsolete and do not cater to the changing demands of education system in the fast changing world.

• There are swift changes taking place in the knowledge landscape. Rapid developments take place in the scientific and technological realm, including the rise of big data, machine learning, robotics, artificial intelligence etc. India will require a highly skilled workforce, particularly involving mathematics, computer science, and data science. There is increasing need of multidisciplinary learning with emergence of epidemics and need for collaborative research in areas such as infectious disease management, development of vaccines, etc.
• Learning ‘How to Learn’ is more important for the children in 21^st century. Education should move towards learning about how to think critically and solve problems, how to be creative and innovative, etc.
• There is need to address gaps in learning outcomes at all levels of education starting from early childhood care.

Key Features of the NEP 2020

In School Education

• A restructured school curriculum with a 5+3+3+4 approach corresponding to 3-8 years, 8-11 years, 11-14 years, and 14-18 years respectively.
• Bringing the gross enrolment ratio to 100% from preschool to secondary school by the year 2030.
• It recognizes Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) as an urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning.
• Vocational education to start in schools from the 6th grade, and will include internships.
• Mother tongue/local language/regional language to be promoted as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5.
• Recruitment of Teachers through a robust and transparent process. A common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed.
• School Standard Authority to be setup to create separate system for policy making, regulation, operations and academic matters.

Higher Education

• Increase GER to 50 % by 2035
• Envisages broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Undergraduate education with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education. There will be multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs) to be set up as models of multidisciplinary education of global standards
• National Research Foundation to be setup as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture.
• Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to be set up as an umbrella body for improving regulation.
• Open and Distance learning to be expanded to increase Gross Enrollment.

Advantages

It will ensure universal access to education at all levels. It is aligned with the target under SDG 4.

• It will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which is considered as a crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child.
• The policy aims to increase education spending from 4.6% to 6% of GDP. Improved funding will result in building basic infrastructure such as schools and colleges and recruiting teachers.
• Improvements in recruitment of teachers will improve teaching standards and learning outcomes of children.
• Increased use of technology will help in bridging the gaps in access to education for the socio economically disadvantaged sections. Use of digital means will defy the barriers of caste, class, religion etc.
• Vocational education at the school level will bridge the gaps between education and skills required in business.
• Use of vernacular languages will improve learning capabilities of children.

Challenges associated with the Policy

Countrywide implementation of the Policy will be a huge task as India’s education system is very large which includes 25 crore school students and nearly 4 crore students in the higher education. It will need to involve multiple stakeholders at state, district, and block levels, which requires extensive planning.

• The education system in India is underfunded, heavily bureaucratized and lacks capacity for innovation and scale up.
• The existing organisational structure of the ministry and its ecosystems will have to undergo a massive overhaul for successful implementation of the policy.
• Implementation of the policy is based on cooperation between the Centre and states as most services-related education are performed by the state governments.
• The Union government will need to balance the principles of cooperative federalism and decentralisation while rolling out key initiatives under the policy.
• The government will need to create mechanisms to work with the private sector as nearly 70 percent of higher education institutions (colleges and universities) are run by the private sector.
• Raising the level of public spending on education to 6 percent of GDP will be a daunting task.