The education policy is a structured framework to guide the development of Education in India. The revolutionary change has been fostered in the Indian Education Policy. Till date, India has three education policies, out of which the two earlier the policy was framed in the years 1968 and 1986 under the ministership of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi respectively. Later in 1992, the old education policy of 1986 was revised under the governance of PV Narasimha Rao.
Currently, the new National Education Policy (NEP) has been released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020.
The NEP,2020 has been re-constructed with the ideas to revamp education, teaching, and assessment methodology in schools and colleges. The draft of the NEP had been released in 2019, to seek suggestions from the Public. The suggested ideas have also been incorporated in the draft thereby releasing the final New Education Policy (NEP).
Let's have a detailed eye on the changes administered in contrast to the Old Education Policy (OEP). Broadly the NEP can be critically analyzed under the following headings :
• Schooling Education
• Language
• Higher Education
• Technology
• Finance
SCHOOL EDUCATION
In the Old Education Policy (OEP), the school education system was based on the 10+2 pattern in which for ten years all students studied common subjects, and in the last two years of class 11th & 12th, they had to study with the specific streams of Arts, Science and Commerce.
Now the NEP, states that the schooling pattern will be based upon the 5+3+3+4 formula
WHAT IS THE 5+3+3+4 FORMULA?
The format states that these numeral values denote the number of years in contrast to the various stages of school education.
FOUNDATION STAGE learning which will be of 5 years. This will further constitute the three-year Pre-primary school and two-year classes of 1&2. Till now, direct admission to government schools was taken from class 1 and the 3 years of nursery education were not functioning. But the NEP recommends Pre-primary Education to be mandatory in all government and private schools.
PREPARATORY STAGE, this stage constitutes 3 years which will include classes of 3 to 5.
MIDDLE SCHOOL, of 3years i.e, from class 6-8.
Lastly, SECONDARY SCHOOL, which will comprise of 4-year study from class 9th-12th.
STUDENTS CHOICE OF SUBJECTS
With the OEP, students had to choose their streams after class 10th. But with the entry of NEP, the students will be permitted to select their interest subjects right from the secondary school i.e, in class 9.
Students can now opt for courses as per their preferences. Till now, the selection of fixed streams was done in 10+2 format but now there will be no rigid separation among 'curricular', 'extracurricular', or 'co-curricular' between arts, humanities or sciences or between 'vocational' or 'academic' streams. This new policy will treat all the co-curricular and vocational subjects like sports, photography, etc at the same level. Equal importance will be given to all subjects.
As per the OEP age group of 6-14 years was considered mandatory schooling period but the NEP has expanded it to 3-18 years of schooling.
BOARDS ??
In the NEP Boards exam for grades, 10th & 12th will be continued, but they'll be of low stake.
As per OEP, board examination was conducted once a year but the NEP has come up with a second chance at boards so that students can improve their performance.
Prior to the latest education policy, no policy has provided students to decide the question paper level in which they want to take the exam. The NEP facilitates the students to choose the level (medium or advance) of the question paper in which they wish to take the board exam in a particular subject.
For example, A student weak in mathematics and has decided to make his career in photography can choose to appear in medium level maths paper in board exam instead of advanced level mathematics. This will reduce the anxiety in students and will help in scoring well on boards.
ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE
Earlier the student assessment was addressed by the teachers but now as per NEP a student's assessment will be based on the reviews of both peers and the teachers. Skills such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity will be the main focus rather than rote learning.
In the NEP the school curriculum overhaul will come in the shape of a new National Curricular Framework for School Education (NCFSE 2020-21) which will be undertaken by the National Council of Education, Research, and Training (NCERT).
The NEP has set the target for the Gross Enrolment Ratio till 2035.
As the current enrolment ratio in secondary schools (classes 11th & 12th) is 56.5% and the target has been set to strike a cent-percent ratio till 2035. Also in higher education, the target set is to attain a 50% enrolment ratio, as the ongoing ratio is just 26.3%.
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS & ENTRANCE EXAMS
Across the nation, admission in various colleges and universities are done on the basis of 12th board cutoffs or by organizing the Common Entrance Test (CET) by specific institutions.
Now the NEP has streamlined the college admissions in the country with the Common Entrance Exam (CEE), which will be organized by the National Test Agency (NTA). Also, the CEE exam will be conducted twice a year.
Note:- For admission in professional courses like medical, law, and engineering CEE will not be the basis of examination. It has its own exam conducting body like NEET and IIT JEE Main | IIT JEE Advance.
LANGUAGE
In which language the knowledge should be delivered has always been a controversial issue be it the old or new Education Policy. The NEP only recommends the mother tongue as the medium of teaching and has not made it compulsory (as education comes under the concurrent list).
Like the Old Education Policy, NEP also runs on the 'Three Language Formula' track. According to which, at least two of the three languages should be Indian, but no language will be imposed on anyone.
The policy states that "Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least grade 5, but preferably till grade 8 and beyond will be the home language, local language or mother tongue………"
The NEP also focuses on multilingualism, as it has great cognitive benefits to students.
HIGHER EDUCATION
In the old education policy, the body called UGC used to govern all the universities but now the NEP has replaced UGC with the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) which is a single overarching umbrella body for the entire higher education except Medical and legal education.
Also, the new NEP has set the target to phase out the affiliation of colleges in 15 years which prevailed under the older one. A state-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION
With the OEP there were universities like IITs that offered a single stream education system. So, the reform will be made to provide a multi-disciplinary Higher Educational System in all the single-stream Education bodies by 2040 i.e, bodies like IIT along with the science stream will proffer other subjects from streams like Humanities.
GOVERNANCE
Light but tight, regulation by a single regulator for higher education has been claimed by the NEP.
MULTIPLE ENTRY & EXIT OPTIONS!!
Earlier the Under Graduate course was of 3years and the students who dropped out in between the year were left out with no degree in hand and also students' time was wasted. So to cope with this problem NEP has come up with a remedy stating that the under graduation will be of 3 or 4 years with multiple Entry and Exit option i.e if a student studies the course for 1 year - he'll be rewarded with a certificate degree in that particular subject. Similarly, a student studying for 2years - will get an Advance Diploma degree ; 3 years - Bachelor's degree, and if studied for 4 years - he will get a Bachelor's degree with Research.
Unlike OEP, the NEP has come up with Academic Bank of Credit for digitally storing academic credentials earned from different HEIS so that these can be transferred and counted towards the final degree. Thus with the NEP students who dropped out higher education due to some reasons can now be able to complete their higher studies after many years and that too from any college.
M.PHIL SCRAPPED!!
Till now before pursuing Ph.D. students need to have a Master's in philosophy degree which now has been scrapped in the new Education Policy of India. M.Phil was a middle research degree between a master's and a Ph.D., offered in developing countries like India.
Earlier Foreign colleges were not allowed to open their campus in India but the NEP has permitted foreign universities to set up campuses in our nation.
TECHNOLOGY AND FINANCE
The policy focuses on the advancement of Technology in teaching and Education System. The NEP will reinforce the odds of technology in -
• Teaching, learning and assessments
• Education Planning
• Digital India Campaign
• Administration and management
• Regulation through Public Disclosures.
It also states to orient a National Education Technology Forum (NETF) which will foster MOOCs, DIVYANG Education software, e-Content in various languages, virtual labs, online assessment and evaluation, and many other related platforms.
TEACHER RECRUITMENT
The NEP states that the Teacher must be at the center of the fundamental reforms in the Educational System, as they are the most respected and crucial members of our society who shapes our next generation.
As per NEP classroom, demonstration or interview will become an integral part of teacher hiring which will be used in assessing the proficiency of teaching in the local language. Earlier minimum qualification for teaching was based on the 3+2 formula but by 2030 the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be the 4- years integrated B. Ed degree.
Finance
Be it the last two Education Policy or the latest NEP, all states that current public expenditure on Education should be 6% of GDP which has not yet attained to date. As the current expenditure on Education is 4.43% of the national GDP (gross domestic product).
NEP - A BIG PICTURE
The New Education Policy NEP only provides us a broad direction and is not mandatory to follow since, Education is a concurrent list subject, the changes proposed can only be implemented in collaboration by the center and the state.
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