Education Policy Changed

 

 

By DR. GYAN PATHAK 

 

NEW rules are set in 2022 for an entirely new dynamics of education in India. Implementation process of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 were reviewed in a meeting in May 2022 chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which elicited detailed plans from education leaders for achieving the goals. Thereafter, education sector of the country has been changing fast with the rolling out of new rules across the country and education institutions. The country is all set to see and feel the impact of the new dynamics in operation in 2023.

The fundamental changes would include a changed pattern of education system which would include non-traditional educational disciplines at almost all levels of education, saffronisation, technological inclusion in and out of classrooms, and greater push for privatisation of education that would make education costlier than ever before, making quality education, especially higher education unaffordable for majority of the people of the country.

Universal access to education, especially higher education, would remain a theoretical proposition because poor students would not be able to access quality education at all levels.

An ‘updated and corrected version’ of Indian history has been prepared for students in the country under the NEP which would be taught by next year’s Vasant Panchami (Saraswati Puja) on January 26, 2023, Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan has said. Books are being re-published with new compositions and these books will give clarity to the world about India, he has claimed. Since he has revealed these in a programme organised at the fag end of 2022 jointly by Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana, there is no doubt left that the year 2023 would see changes in education in India in a big way.

After the two years of pandemic, there has been greater acceptance of technology in classrooms and online courses which has transformed the education system of the country. It has been planned to give even equal status to physical and online education.

Though education is in concurrent list of the Constitution of India, which enables both the Centre and the States to legislate on it, it seems that most of the States are willing to implement the NEP, barring a few, such as West Bengal which is preparing for their own education policy, from the next academic year 2023-24.

Apart from several higher education institutions of the country, several States have already announced to implement the new education system. Karnataka had announced it in August, which is followed by Assam, Goa, and Uttarakhand. Modi Government has planned to implement uniform education system across India, and it would not be very difficult, since states ruled by BJP, NDA, or even Opposition has agreed to implement various provisions of NEP. It goes without saying that the implementation process would differ from State to State and institution to institution, but the key objectives would remain the same for greater part of the country.

Skilling or vocational education has been planned to be brought into almost every domain of education. It is likely to transform the traditional education being followed in the country for decades.

Major changes have been planned in the primary and higher education. NEP would do away with 10+2 system and implement education in four stages – 5+4+3+4 ie foundation, preparatory, middle and secondary.

India has for the first time planned education at a foundational level to create a roadmap for early childhood education. Later, formal education and skills training would go hand in hand.

With privatisation push, education has been perceived as an industry, which is a significant move. Institutes of higher education are increasingly adopting the new education system that makes it costly at the cost of poor students. All these are being done under UGC’s new guidelines.

There has been churning in edtech companies which are now making money. They are providing educational material to educational institutions even run by the Centre and States. Such a hybrid education has been changing the entire educational landscape in the country. Many find it advantageous for the students, but educational experts are raising fingers on handing over education to edtech companies. Common Entrance Tests for universities and other technical and medical institutions have been introduced. CUET was rolled out by UGC for undergraduate and postgraduate examination in July 2022. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has become more active in 2022.

UGC has released the new Curriculum and Credit Framework for Undergraduate Programmes (CCFUP) for four year undergraduate programme which will replace the existing choice based credit system across higher education institutions. It would facilitate students with multiple entry and exit options with UG certificate, or UG diploma, or degree certificates based on their earned credits.

UGC has also announced new PhD regulations which will allow candidates having four year bachelor’s degree in any discipline with a minimum of 75 per cent marks to do PhD. There is a plan to support Economically Weaker Sections student in university education. Education in regional languages have been planned for school students in a big way. (IPA)