National Education Policy: Where we are & road ahead

With groundbreaking initiatives, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has introduced much-needed reforms in building a modern and holistic educational infrastructure, from early childhood to secondary and higher education. Given its wide ambit, the policy will be implemented in a phased manner over the next 20 years, which will facilitate a planned inclusion of these sweeping measures.

The success of NEP 2020, therefore, will depend on the success of its staggered implementation.

Two years after its launch in July 2020, it is important to take stock of its progress and assess the way ahead.

Emphasis on regional languages

At the K-12 level, the NEP has changed the two-language model to a three-language model, to foster multilingualism and national unity, with the local language now more widely adopted as the second or third language. As per the three-language model, the medium of instruction till class 5, preferably till class 8, should be the mother tongue, or the local language. The choice of implementing the model will depend on the state, student, or region. However, two of the three languages must be native to India.

Early childhood education and care

In the NEP 2020, there is a focus on early childhood education and care (ECCE), its universalisationand its implementation across all Indian states. This emphasis has come about because of the long-standing scientific evidence that the early years in a child's life, up until 5 years of age, are some of the most important in terms of human development. Hence, the NEP outlines the creation of a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) by NCERT, for children up to the age of 8. Thus, by making ECCE a priority, India can ensure that its future generations can be taught with a holistic approach wherein their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive needs are catered to, forming a solid foundation for their overall wellbeing and lifelong learning.

Competency Based Learning (CBE)

The NEP 2020 also calls for a move away from the traditional assessment system that primarily tests rote memory skills. The idea is to adopt a more competency-based approach that promotes true learning development for students, and tests important skills such as analysis, critical thinking and problem solving. To put this into practice, SAFAL (Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning Levels), a competency-based assessment framework for Grades 3, 5 and 8, was introduced in CBSE schools last year, marking the one-year anniversary of the NEP.

Revised evaluations

To facilitate creative and critical thinking among students, the CBSE has tweaked the board exam pattern to include analytical and competency-based questions. To implement these guidelines, CBSE is conducting class 10th and 12th board exams in two phases. Term 1 focuses on objective-type questions while Term 2 focuses on subjective questions. For grades 3, 5, and 8, CBSE is following SAFAL.

AI, Data Science and Financial Literacy

To facilitate learning in data science and coding, the CBSE has partnered with tech companies such as Microsoft. At the same time, it has collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India to promote financial literacy, with school curriculums being modified to include these two domains. To further facilitate tech preparedness and industry-ready skills among the students, the government has also launched an AI-based website.

Strengthening teacher training and educational delivery

The government has taken several initiatives in this regard, from the NCERT-designed integrated training programme for teachers to the launch of the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), a framework for building a self-governed educational ecosystem. Apart from facilitating assessment techniques, NDEAR will be of great help to educators in guiding their students in choosing their specialisations and in understanding their career prospects.

What lies ahead

While the CBSE has already made a beginning in implementing NEP, the state-level execution is expected to pick up steam in its second year, as regional boards also start following the guidelines. Accordingly, Karnataka will become the first state to mandate NEP from FY22. At the K-12 level, these measures will enhance integrated and multidisciplinary education with a modern curriculum that seeks to enhance conceptual understanding along with fostering creativity and critical thinking.

(The author is the Vice Chairperson of the VIBGYOR Group of Schools)

Experiential learning

 Another focus of the NEP has been experiential learning. The policy highlights that experiential learning will be infused into all subjects of a curriculum, be it arts, sports or standard school subjects like mathematics and science. Today, experiential learning is becoming increasingly important as it works to shift children away from rote learning and steers them towards comprehensive learning through experiences and activities, such as field visits and interactive simulations. Furthermore, the NEP also focuses on storytelling-based pedagogy that allows students to make sense of complex concepts and distil events through well-crafted narratives.