NEP completes four years: Educator talks about how far education has come and how much further it needs to go

The NEP 2020 stressed on making India a knowledge super-power. The purpose of education is not only to add grades, years, and certification. The purpose of education is to build societies.

The NEP makes this vision clear. All educators should be happy about the focus on the shift of assessments and restructuring of the grade levels.

However, implementation is the tougher task. India is a country that changes every 100 km. A policy made in the metro cities may not reflect into similar implementation at ground level.

And, the new structure makes sure that students and their learning stays at the center of teaching-learning process. 

The big shift as was highlighted in the media at the time of launch was the structure of 5 + 3 + 3 + 4.

As an educator, I believe that this structure allows for more age-appropriate learning experiences. It helps in addressing the developmental needs of students at different stages, thereby increasing engagement.

Further, it helps focus on strengthening of strengths and making better the improvement areas.

Let’s take the example of state wide or nation wide exams at multiple grades. It has been reported by many agencies that students in India lag behind the learning outcomes in early years of their school education, and there was no standard benchmarking of learning till Class X. This is far too late, and would impact holistic development of students.

In line with the new structure, the NEP introduced the concept of benchmarking at classes III, V and VIII through a central exam.

At Jaipuria, we have been doing benchmark assessments for years, and this has helped us identify the students who need help in time and address the learning gap rather than wait many years and do a post mortem of their improvement areas only in Class X!

According to a report by the NCERT, schools that adopted the 5+3+3+4 structure saw a 15% increase in student attendance and a 20% increase in participation in extracurricular activities. 

Reportedly, there is more focused and relevant content, and higher motivation and engagement due to a more continuous and perhaps personalised learning experience. By virtue, this would indicate a smoother transition between grades, reducing dropout rates, especially in smaller towns and cities. 

Flipped classrooms, self-paced learning, project-based and multidisciplinary approach have become a reality and are no longer only buzzwords. Perhaps, we will make further efforts to change the psyche of being a marks and grades-focused society. At least we’ve taken steps in the right direction. 

India, with its 320 million students (and rising), is the El Dorado for the rest of the education world facing multiple challenges with reduced funding, declining local student populations and significantly increased competition, both qualitatively, as well as quantitatively.

The National Education Policy 2020 reimagined India’s educational paradigms in order to actualise the country’s potential as a social, economic, cultural, human resource ( and most importantly), knowledge super power over the next 20 years with great focus on skills.

Statistics reveal that over 14% of students in secondary schools are now enrolled in vocational courses, and a study by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) highlights that 70% of vocational graduates find employment within six months of completing their training.

The recently announced budget by the Finance Minister too emphasised skills as the cornerstone of development in the country.

With Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) taking the lead on subjects such as automotive technology, healthcare, and retail as part of its curriculum, schools too have greater confidence to position the same in their planning.

Most educational institutes are progressing by focusing on skills development merely as a minimum number of hours requirement. Vocational education integration in the curriculum and timetable, as well as club activities has triggered the awareness amongst students and parents for lifelong learning.

Students will have ability to adapt to changing job requirements and continue their professional development throughout their careers, given the fact that jobs of the future are completely unknown. 

Using the mother tongue and regional languages until Class V has been a novel attempt of the policy, though been significantly challenging.

It is well known that for enhancing comprehension and cognitive development, especially during early years, students engage more in a language they’re more familiar with. This would help build a stronger learning basis for concept clarity and implementation.

UNICEF suggests that students who learn in their mother tongue until Class V show a 25% higher proficiency in early literacy and numeracy skills compared to their peers who start learning in a second language. 

The major challenges have been resource availability, training of teachers to teach and ensuring that learning outcomes are consistent across multiple languages.

In India, with over 1,600 spoken languages, creating quality educational resources in each language is a significant logistical challenge. There are baby steps being taken thus far.

Reportedly, the combination of a well-structured curricular framework and multiple language sensitisation has created a more engaging and effective learning environment. It has enhanced academic performance, supported cultural connection, and has improved overall student well-being. Students have a greater sense of identity. 

Technology may be the canvas, but it's the heart of our educators that paints the masterpiece of learning.

During the last few years teachers and students have gotten used to teaching and learning online. We must make use of this newly learned skill in order to keep them growing.

Finally, technology will not be an enabler in theory but in the true sense, the delta between the generic and excellent. 

There is great learning from the NEP not to pit technology against tradition, but rather to harness the strengths of both to create a dynamic and holistic learning environment. By embracing innovation while honouring the timeless principles of effective teaching, we aspire to cultivate agile, critical thinkers who are equipped to thrive in an ever-evolving world.

Erudition happens through empathy, engagement, excitement and discarding ego. Where technology meets tradition, innovation becomes the cornerstone of timeless education.

I am a big believer in technology and scaling up can happen only when we are able to provide access of highest quality of learning to children at what is called dis-advantageous geographic locations.

As an edupreneur, I see bulk of growth coming through Tier II tier III cities, and that is where the requirement of education is the most as well.

Education is more of a self awareness, a collective communication for the distribution of collective responsibility. 

NEP has focused on technology and collaboration. Through proactive engagement with all stakeholders, we have been empowered to infuse our curriculum with forward-thinking approaches that inspire curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity in our students.

The objective of quality higher education is to increase the pace of sustainable economic development of the nation. Generally, higher education is linked with the professional career of the students. However, quality higher education can be imparted only if the appropriate changes are made in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment of school education.

Many of the higher education institutes have already introduced outcome based education system (OBE). In order to create synergy between higher education and school education, OBE should also be introduced in school education. 

We are seeing the great transformation of the Indian higher-ed space, with rigour and interest in the Indian universities too. There’s continual and growing focus. 

1. Life skills, creative and critical thinking, values and ethics, flexibility; flexibility in learning process (different students learn the same topic in different ways)

2. No hard separation between streams and activities (arts and science, curricular and extra-curricular)

3. Multi-disciplinary and holistic education at all levels. Learning has become more transferable, transparent and non-merchanical. It’s not robotic. 

In order to create synergy between higher education and school education, OBE should also be introduced in school education.

Why am I saying this — students, parents and society at large need to understand that typically the 21^st century skills that we are talking about and the technical skills — which are far fetched for them even at remote geographies are possible through technology.

For example thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, generally statistical physics is the principle that one needs to understand the stock markets. But, a physicist is stereotypically away from stocks and an investment banker stereotypically identifies physicists as geeks.

There’s focus that our school education and higher education address this, so that there is sensitisation at the engagement level itself. We are finally breaking boundaries, providing access, democratising education.