National Education Policy 2020

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

Introduction

The National Education Policy 2020 is planned by the Indian Government to promote education throughout the country. It covers Primary education to colleges and higher education throughout India.

History of NEP after 1947

After Independence, this is the 3rd Policy on Education formulated 29th July 2020 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The first two were held in 1968 (Indira Gandhi) and 1986 (Rajiv Gandhi) which is then updated in 1992 under Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao

Ancient Institutions

Bharat had a large cultural heritage with world-class institutions like Taxila, Nalanda, Vikramshila, Vallabhi who have multidisciplinary teaching and research.

Some of the scholars from the universities were Chanakya, Patanjali, Susruta, Charaka, Panini, Gargi, Pingala, etc.

Important Elements in NEP 2020

  • Ministry of HRD is renamed to the Ministry of Education.
  • The Government has decided to reach 6% of GDP in the Education Sector
  • Best Indian Universities will be facilitated to set up their campus abroad and vice-versa.
  • The State Government should inspire the opening of  NCC wings in Secondary and Higher Secondary schools under the Ministry of Defense.
  • There is no compulsion of the English Language. Higher education and many more programs can be studied on their Local Language or Mother tongue to increase and promote the strength, usage, and vibrancy of all Indian Languages.

5+3+3+4 Structure

National Education Policy, NEP
National Education Policy 2020

  •  This Policy emphasizes on restructuring on 5+3+3+4 covering 3-18 years than the 10+2 education system.
  • The structure of education is composed of different stages like 3-8, 8-11,11-14 and   14-18 years
  • The Foundation Stage is divided into two parts in which the first part aged 3-6 years will be enrolled in Anganwadis/preschool/Balvatika before class 1 and second part  aged 6-8 years is enrolled for class 1&2 (Primary School)
  • Preparatory Stage involved an age group of 8-11 years for class 3-5. Here children education is more focused on activity-based and interactive classroom learning
  • Middle Stage for the age group 11-14 years for class 6-8.  Here Education focuses on experimental learning in sciences, mathematics, arts, and humanities.
  • The Secondary Stage for 14-18 years for class 9-12 is divided into two-part class 9&10 in the first and class 11&12 in the second. Here curriculum is focused in-depth, critical thinking, flexibility, and student choice of subjects. Here the student has an option to exit after class10 and can re-enter in the next phase to pursue vocationally or any other courses available in class 11-12 including on a more specialized school if desired.

Exam

  •  Student Education  focuses on logical understanding rather than memorizing and  learning for exams
  • As the name suggests, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) will develop guidelines and recommend appropriate tools for conducting an assessment from the foundation to the higher education stage including entrance exams.
  • Board Exam will be made easier and student can take their exam on that subject which they are interested in.
  • Board Exam will be held two times during any given school year, one main examination and other if the student wants to take another exam for improvement.
  • All students should take an examination of Class 3, 5 & 8.
  • The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct an exam twice every year and will be implemented by 2022. It will take the Common Aptitude exam and Specialized Common Subject exams in Science, Humanities, Languages, Arts, and Vocational Subjects.

 

 Exit and Entry

  •  Students can exit during their 4 years of Bachelor program. If a student exits after 1 year, he gets a certificate and after 2 years will get a Diploma.
  • If a Student is drop out due to the reason, he will get a chance to complete his degree.
  • M.Phil Degree will be suspended.
  •  There is Multiple Entry and Exit so that students can start their education if forced to exit in between due to a certain situation.

Teacher

  • All Anganwadi teachers will be trained through systematic effort. The teachers with 10+2 and above qualifications should be given a 6-month certificate program.
  • Teacher Education is more emphasized on foundational literacy and numeracy.
  • Teacher Eligibility Tests (TET) will be taken to improve the quality of teachers. It will cover across all stages (Foundation, Preparatory, Middle, and Secondary) of School education.
  • For Subject Teachers TET or NTA test scores in their respective subject will also be taken into account for the Recruitment of Teachers.
  • Teachers will not be engaged in non-teaching activities like administrative tasks.
  • Each Teacher will be expected to participate in at least 50 hours of CPD (Continuous Professional Development) opportunities every year for their own professional development.

Long term Impact

  •   By 2025, the Government has decided at least 50% of the learner through school and higher education systems shall have exposure to vocational education.
  • The number of a Drop out a student from the age group of 6-17 years is 3.22 crores (2017-18). It is a top priority to bring these school children into the education system and meet 100% Enrolment by 2030.
  • All Higher Education Institutions will be first planned to become multidisciplinary by the end of 2030.
  • The aim will  increase the Gross Enrolment from 26.3% in 2018 to 50% by 2035 for Higher Education

Conclusion

This National Education Policy tries to cover the entire education, according to current and future scenarios so that our student has overall personality development and focus on creative thinking than a bookish knowledge whose entire goal is to pass the exam.

 

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