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NEP: Result Matters

NEP: Result Matters

The New Education Policy (NEP), which had been in the making for over five years, is out. The last education policy was brought out 35 years back, and the nation has moved fast forward during this period necessitating forward-looking policy guidelines in the sector. Starting from Anganwadi, the new policy document leaves its mark in the entire gamut of education up to Ph.D level. Some of the key take-aways worth mentioning are: formal education will begin at three and there will be no rigid separation between arts and science; every child to learn at least one vocational craft from among skills like electric work, metal work, gardening, pottery and many more; the choice of three languages -- at least two of which should be native to India -- will be left to States and students, instead of being imposed by the Centre as earlier envisaged; provision of nutritious breakfast, besides the mid-day meal, in schools; use of schools/school complexes beyond school hours for adult education and similar courses; 6 per cent of the GDP will go for education which presently stands at an abysmal 4 per cent; four-year undergraduate course with exit options; more autonomy for colleges, etc.

But the problem lies in implementation. The NEP talks about better learning outcomes, but the ground reality, according to some reports, is that one out of four teachers is absent in government schools. The new policy focuses on quality education but in many States the percentage of teachers passing Teacher Eligibility Test is 10 per cent or even less. Some surveys say that less than half the students in Class 5 can read or do a math sum from Class 2 text. There is a need to reverse the present trend of students leaving government schools and moving towards private English medium schools even when parents find it hard to make ends meet.

The new policy has left several grey areas with a lot of scope for ambiguity. For example, it recommends primary education in mother tongue. But in a country with diverse mother tongues and much mobility among people, lack of a common medium of teaching could lead to unprecedented problems. Another notable feature is promoting critical thinking instead of rot learning. Ironically, the very government that plans to boost free thinking is suppressing the same in colleges and universities where students are intimidated to fall in line with the thinking of the ruling party and its supporters. The policy talks about promoting Indian ethos and culture, themes close to the heart of the present regime. How are they going to be reflected in the curriculum will be known only when the entire policy document is released and implemented. However, the government’s track record of tampering with syllabus and textbooks at school and college levels casts shadow over its intentions.   

Howsoever well-intentioned a policy may be, what matters is its execution. A partisan government can tweak the policies to suit its ideology, defeating the core principles and values. With lakhs of teaching posts lying vacant at school level, thousands of posts unfilled in higher education institutions, and lack of infrastructure at various levels, one can only make a guess on the success of the new policy till the final result emerges. Till then educators are left with fears and cheers depending on how one looks at the new policy.

(Published on 17th August 2020, Volume XXXII, Issue 34)