India is a country of diversity. Multilingual cultures and assorted religions adorn our country. It’s commonly said that India’s strength lies in Unity in Diversity. But sadly, this diversity is nowhere to be seen in our education system. It has been the same for everyone since many years with minimal fundamental changes.
Our education system is a robust one with main emphasis on acquiring bookish knowledge. One may have many high degrees and a brain full of all types of theoretical knowledge but when it comes down to solving everyday problems, almost all of us have to struggle with basic things like repairing an electric fuse in our house! All of us studied how a fuse works in middle school only but no one bothered to actually try to do it(save for some bravado who like to open up everything).
This approach towards studies is going to change in coming years (thankfully) because of a new education policy offered by the Indian government. It is called National Education Policy(NEP) 2020.
Our education policy is being revised after a long 34 years and the world has changed completely in this time. With advanced technology and Internet at our fingertips, it’s imperative to make some big and practical changes in the education system of our country.
Today, I’ll discuss this policy point by point and how it’s going to be revolutionary and beneficial for our future generation. This change can be historic for India provided we give our full support to it.
National Education Policy
1. Basic Structure
10+2 board structure is dropped from the current system. New structure will be 5+3+3+4. This corresponds to age groups rather than year groups. Age groups 3-8 years will be the Foundational stage, 8-11 will be Preparatory , 11-14 Middle and 14-18 will be Secondary. This brings early childhood education under the ambit of formal schooling. The mid day meal programme will be extended to pre-school children.
2.Vocational Courses for Children
6th std onward there will be an option for choosing a vocational course. This means that children can learn new life skills along with their normal studies. By this feature, children will not only benefit by learning a new skill, they will also be able to understand the dignity of labour and craftsmanship.
Today with the reach of the internet to everyone, anyone can start a small business of their interest and take it to new heights. This will open up new means of employment.
3. Flexibility With Subjects
Another feather in the cap is the ability to choose diverse subjects from class 8 onward. This means that students can choose Music with Mathematics and PE with Biology. The subjects offered will not be classified in groups for the benefit of students to choose any subject from the collection. After studying the subjects for three years they will be capable of deciding where their interests lie and can choose subjects accordingly in class 11.
4. Medium Of Instruction
The medium of instruction up to class 5 should preferably be in mother tongue of the student. This point has been very controversial since the policy was proposed. Although the government has clarified that this decision lies in the hands of States and is applicable only where possible, still the ambiguity continues.
5. Overhauling of Curriculum
In school education, the policy aims at total overhaul of the curriculum retaining only the core essentials in subjects and do away with extensive and elaborate syllabus. A continuous evaluation system will replace the annual exam pattern to test the student’s overall knowledge of the syllabus.
6. Credit System For Graduation Program
For higher education, some big reforms are proposed. All graduation courses will have major and minor courses example a science students can choose Music or even PE as minor subject.
Credit system for graduation student is proposed, this means each year a student will get some credits which he/she can utilize if they take break in course and come back again to complete it.
7. Integrated Bachelor’s Program
There’s also a proposal for integrated four year bachelor’s program. Multiple entry and exit options will be there in every course. For completion of first year, the student will get a Basic Certificate, for second year completion, a Diploma and on completing the full course they will get the corresponding Degree. So no year will be wasted if a break is taken in between. If a student chooses to complete 4 year bachelor’s program then he /she can enter a research degree program directly depending on how well they have performed.
8. One Supreme Authority
All higher education except for Medical and Legal courses will be governed by only one authority. UGC and AICTE will be merged. All Universities; government , private, open, deemed, vocational etc will have same grading and other rules. The policy also plans to bring Universities from top 100 in the world to set up campuses in India. This means our children can get world class education and courses in India and need not go abroad.
9. Emphasis on Practical Knowledge
More focus on student practical and application knowledge so that no more unemployed graduates are created. With practical knowledge in hand students will be better equipped to handle the job challenges and companies employing them will also not waste valuable time and money on training the learned but not skilled manpower.
10. Capping On College Fees
All the graduation course feed of all Universities will be governed by single authority with capping on each course. This means from now on no college can charge arbitrary fees from the student decided by them.
NEP 2020 In A Nutshell
What Do You Think About It?
So this is our new Education Policy with a whole lot of promises in the future. It promises the change which was being sought after for a long time by both parents and educators. After this policy is implemented, India’s education system will be at par with other developed nations of the world and students need not go somewhere else for better education. This will save money and brain drain from India.
So now it’s up to you to decide to support or oppose the policy based on these facts. There are always teething troubles with everything new but keeping in mind the benefits it should be overcome. For the better future of our children and future generations it’s important for us to give a heads up to this system proposed by the government of India.
Seems lot of research and hardwork behind the blog!! Very interesting and forward thinking step by Indian Government..way to go!!
Thanks 😊
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Wonderful analysis. Hope the government implements it in a proper way. Since the emphasis is more on the practicals, the government has to invest a lot in the practical labs whose should be to make the studies interesting. Same time the level of teachers should also increase
Thanks for the appreciation Yes the govt has to work so much in this way but I hv confidence in Indian govt