The NEP 2020- In a nutshell.

(If there are any errors of any sort, I request you to pardon me. These are my views, and I do not intend to offend anyone)

For all those who didn’t quite get or are against the New Education policy of India, here’s an essay which explains the significant changes, that explains why we Indians need it and why 10 other countries are willing to implement it as well.

“Education is fundamental for achieving full human potential, developing an equitable and just society, and promoting national development”, this is the sentence present at the start of the introduction to the new education policy. The present education system in India however, does not aim to do the same. It instead tests one’s ability to memorise and one’s ability to be a sheep in the herd. It does not comply with the society and most certainly does not help with the present prejudices and other social biases in our country. However the NEP 2020-New Education Policy, aims to nip of these problems while the blooming generation is present at its bud stage.

Our present India loves the subject science. Young kids are persuaded to choose the subject after grade 10. Even then, if a person chooses commerce, the kid is appreciated if they do CA/ACS/CS. If chosen arts, it basically means the kid has chosen to be a subject of ridicule. In that case there are forced to be lawyers. Art, Startups, literature, History are not well appreciated in our country, which has to change. The NEP aims to change the present stigmas associated with particular subjects and promotes a more diverse and flourishing mindset needed for all round personal and national development. “While students must have a large amount of flexibility in choosing their individual curricula, certain subjects, skills, and capacities should be learned by all students to become good, successful, innovative, adaptable, and productive human beings in today’s rapidly changing world. Concerted curricular and pedagogical initiatives, including the introduction of contemporary subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking, Holistic Health, Organic Living, Environmental Education, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), etc. at relevant stages will be undertaken to develop these various important skills in students at all levels”, it says in the NEP. We can most certainly agree that this is way more progressive than prevailing system, and the kind of progression that we need.

In India, the low wage workers, plumbers, carpenters, waiters, etc., are disrespected for the most part. It is because, as kids, many are taught not to end up like them after growing up. This is the mindset that leads to the over exploitation of many factory workers, miners, etc. We are supposed to be taught to make a better place for these people, and shouldn’t be discouraged if anyone wanted to work in these fields. “Every student will take a fun course, during Grades 6-8, that gives a survey and hands-on experience of a sampling of important vocational crafts, such as carpentry, electric work, metal work, gardening, pottery making, etc., as decided by States and local communities and as mapped by local skilling needs”. Many fools in our country claimed that this would promote child labour. This promotes nothing but equality and independent nature in the young minds. It helps promote equality and teaches us not to disrespect anyone, after all, like everyone else, they too are working for a living. It also helps the children to grow up to be independent and do the little tasks by themselves.

In India, if you do not know English, you are looked down upon, and you are considered an illiterate. But in countries like Japan, France, USA, etc., they speak in their home languages no matter what. Now you might come to argue with me saying that “India has a gazillion languages, if each person speaks in a different language it would be to hard”. Well, it would only promote the richness in our languages and their history. Moreover, even at present we have Hindi as our National language, so we could talk in that language too. Also, according to a scientific study, it is said that kids learn better in their mother tongues and local languages. The NEP does not completely eradicate English, but instead of it being a necessity, it is made an option. This way our cultural richness remains. ”Teachers will be encouraged to use a bilingual approach, including bilingual teaching-learning materials, with those students whose home language may be different from the medium of instruction”, it says in the NEP. It might seem Ironic that I am advocating for an education system with our home languages and have this website and this whole essay in English. Well there are two reason for that- One, I grew up in a school with English as my First language and language of learning and second, I have explored other languages to learn in India, I know three Indian languages, but due to habit and comfort, I choose English to express myself in writing. Even with the NEP, the students will be given choice, and most importantly be taught their local languages with more enthusiasm than I was. “As research clearly shows that children pick up languages extremely quickly between the ages of 2 and 8 and that multilingualism has great cognitive benefits to young students, children will be exposed to different languages early on (but with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue), starting from the Foundational Stage onwards. All languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, with plenty of interactive conversation, and with early reading and subsequently writing in the mother tongue in the early years, and with skills developed for reading and writing in other languages in Grade 3 and beyond.”

“The reduction in content and increased flexibility of school curriculum - and the renewed emphasis on constructive rather than rote learning - must be accompanied by parallel changes in school textbooks.” This is one of the most significant and important change that our education system will be facing. Most Indians believe in rote learning, encourage competition from young ages and worship grades rather than the all-round development of the child. There are so many things which aren’t taught in our schools, which I wish had learnt earlier. “The aim of assessment in the culture of our schooling system will shift from one that is summative and primarily tests rote memorization skills to one that is more regular and formative, is more competency-based, promotes learning and development for our students, and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity. The primary purpose of assessment will indeed be for learning; it will help the teacher and student, and the entire schooling system, continuously revise teaching-learning processes to optimize learning and development for all students. This will be the underlying principle for assessment at all levels of education.”

This is just a short assessment of the NEP 2020, and not all points are covered. There is much more to this education policy, which proves that this is an artistically crafted one. I insist that you all read it for yourself and decide instead of believing random news, videos and articles that pop up. Have a great day!