An RSS teacher turned politician and now Union Education Minister in the Modi-II government explains the Importance of the New Education Policy and its long term impact on the Indian Education system.
The article appeared in the Statesman on October 3, 2020
Ramesh Pokhriyal, the union education minister, started his career as a teacher in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Saraswati Shishu Mandir. He is also an accomplished poet and published his first collection of poems in 1983. He represents Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency. In this interview with ABHIJEET ANAND, he speaks about the National Education Policy which has got approval from the Cabinet. He has dismissed all misgivings about the policy.
Q. 1. What are the guiding principles of the new education policy, and how is it different from the old
Policy?
The New Education Policy takes into account the significant changes that have taken place in our country, society, economy and the world at large. New technologies have transformed how we live, work, and communicate with each other with an easy flow of information and knowledge, within the country and across the world.
The corpus of knowledge has vastly expanded, and research has become multi-disciplinary, and far more collaborative. The education sector needs to gear itself towards the demands of the 21st century and the needs of the people and the country. Quality, innovation and research are the pillars on which India has to build its position in the global knowledge system while maintaining and developing its traditional knowledge systems. The National Education Policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each individual. It is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities - both the foundational capacities of literacy and numeracy and higher-order cognitive capacities, such as critical thinking and problem-solving – but also social, ethical, and emotional capabilities and dispositions.
Q 2) Some proponents feel that higher education needs to be liberalized further. What is your opinion on this?
The NEP fosters liberalisation on the critical aspects of regulation, academics and research. As the Honourable Prime Minister, Narender Modi Ji mentions that the New Education Policy has adopted a middle path between autonomy and regulations. At every stage autonomy and accountability will be there, with transparency. The change has already begun through the IIMs. Thus, the new regulatory system envisioned by this Policy will foster this overall culture of empowerment and autonomy to innovate, including by gradually phasing out the system of ‘affiliated colleges’ over fifteen years through a system of graded autonomy. Each existing affiliating university will be responsible for mentoring its affiliated colleges so that they can develop their capabilities and achieve minimum benchmarks in academic and curricular matters, teaching and assessment, governance reforms, financial robustness and administrative efficiency. All colleges currently affiliated to a university shall attain the required benchmarks overtime to secure the prescribed accreditation benchmarks and eventually become autonomous degree-granting colleges. This will be achieved through a concerted national effort including suitable mentoring and governmental support for the same
Further, the NEP advocates that an imaginative and flexible curricular structure will be imbibed in higher education which will enable creative combinations of disciplines for study, and would offer multiple entries and exit points, thus, removing currently prevalent rigid boundaries and creating new possibilities for life-long learning. Similarly, to enable a culture of research to permeate through our universities, National Research Foundation will be established. This will help to develop a culture of research in the country through appropriate incentives for and recognition of outstanding research, and by undertaking significant initiatives to seed and grow research at State Universities and other public institutions where research capability is currently limited.
Q 3) How do you counter the argument that having an overarching body to regulate higher education will be undemocratic and may prevent the flow of new ideas?
More than ever, the New Education embellishes the principle of democracy through both letter and spirit. As mentioned in the Policy, the regulatory system of higher education will ensure that the distinct functions of regulation, accreditation, funding and academic standard setting will be performed by different, independent, and empowered bodies.
Not an overarching body but a body of four structures will be set up as four separate verticals within one umbrella institution, the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
The first vertical of HECI will be the National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC). It will function as the common, single point regulator for the higher education sector, including teacher education and excluding medical and legal education. The second vertical of HECI will be a meta-accrediting body called the National Accreditation Council (NAC). The third vertical of HECI will be the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), which will carry out funding and financing of higher education based on a transparent criterion. The fourth vertical of HECI will be the General Education Council (GEC), which will frame expected learning outcomes for higher education programmes, also referred to as graduate attributes. The GEC will formulate a National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF).
The functioning of all the independent verticals and the overarching autonomous umbrella body (HECI) itself will be based on transparent public disclosure and technology will be extensive to reduce the human interface to ensure efficiency and transparency in their work. The separation of functions would mean that each vertical within HECI would take on a new, single role which is relevant, meaningful, and essential in the new regulatory scheme, re-energising the higher education system. The re-energised system will enable the democratic flow of ideas.
Q 4) Under NIRF, we find the same institutions making it to the top year after year. How will the Policy ensure that the institutions that have lagged also improve their ranking?
The New Education policy envisions a complete overhaul and re-energizing of the higher education system to overcome these challenges and thereby deliver high-quality higher education, with equity and inclusion. The Policy’s vision includes the following fundamental changes to the current system enabling every institution to provide good quality education at par the global standards.
The higher education institution will start moving towards a higher educational system consisting of large, multi-disciplinary universities and colleges, with at least one in or near every district, and with more HEIs across India that offer a medium of instruction or programmes in local/Indian languages. A transition will be imbibed towards faculty and institutional autonomy. There will be gradual revamping of curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and student support for enhanced student experiences. The integrity of faculty and institutional leadership positions will be re-affirmed through merit-appointments and career progression based on teaching, research, and service. There will be the establishment of a
National Research Foundation to fund outstanding peer-reviewed research and to actively seed research in universities and colleges. A reform in the governance system will be visualized by high qualified independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy; this will be supplemented by light but tight regulation by a single regulator for higher education.
The Higher Education system hereon will witness increased access, equity, and inclusion through a range of measures, including more significant opportunities for outstanding public education; scholarships by private/philanthropic universities for disadvantaged and underprivileged students; online education, and Open Distance Learning (ODL). All infrastructure and learning materials will be accessible and available to learners with disabilities.
The plethora of measures as recommended by the New Education Policy will help every higher education institute to offer a quality education system and improve themselves on the core five parameters of the NIRF; i.e. Teaching, Learning and Resources, Research and Professional Practices, Graduation Outcomes, Outreach and Inclusivity, and Perception.
Q 5) English may be a colonial legacy. But it is globally recognized as an international language. Shouldn’t the education policy remember this?
As Honourable Prime Minister, Narender Modi Ji highlighted in the ‘School education for 21st-century’ conclave that whatever language a child can learn easily, the same should be the language of instruction. He emphasised that the countries with top ranking in PISA 2018 such as Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Japan, South Korea, Poland impart primary education in their respective mother tongues. Young children learn and grasp nontrivial concepts more quickly in their home language/mother tongue. Home language is usually the same language as the mother tongue or that which is spoken by local communities.
Aligned with the same, the New Education 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/mother-tongue/local language/regional language. The Policy presents greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and thereby no language will be imposed on any State. The three languages learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and of course, the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. Further, 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. All efforts will be made in preparing high-quality bilingual textbooks and teaching-learning materials.
Thus, nowhere the Policy talks about shedding the English language or its role; instead, it emphasised on the importance of multilingualism which has a tremendous cognitive benefit for young children. Through the NEP, the children will be provided to learn other international languages other than English while persevering their regional language, making learning an easy process.
Q 6) There are over two dozen boards apart from CBSE. Some boards are considered more lenient. Don’t you feel that having more than one board is not good for school education?
To reverse the harmful effects of the current assessment system and the adversities of multiple boards, the New Education Policy proposes to set up a National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), as a standard-setting body under MHRD that fulfils the primary objectives of setting norms, standards, and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognized school boards of India, guiding the State Achievement Survey (SAS) and undertaking the National Achievement Survey (NAS), monitoring achievement of learning outcomes in the country, and encouraging and helping school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century. This Centre will also advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and latest researches, promote collaborations between school boards. It will also become an instrument for the sharing of best practices among school boards, and for ensuring equivalence of academic standards among learners across all school boards.
Q 7) What mechanism will be adopted to make college faculty accountable?
The New Education Policy epitomises that the most critical factor in the success of higher education institutions is the quality and engagement of its faculty. Acknowledging the criticality of faculty in achieving the goals of higher education, various initiatives have been introduced in the past several years to systemise recruitment and career progression, and to ensure equitable representation from multiple groups in the hiring of faculty. Through the NEP, excellence will be further incentivized through appropriate rewards, promotions, recognitions, and movement into institutional leadership. Faculty not delivering on basic norms will be held accountable.
Q 8) How will the new Policy improve the quality of government and government-aided schools?
The public education system is the foundation of a vibrant democratic society, and the way it is run must be transformed and invigorated to achieve the highest levels of educational outcomes for the nation, as stated in the New Education Policy. Stating that, the main thrust of the Policy is on improving the quality of school education. Many curricular, pedagogical, assessment and learning outcome-based reforms have been proposed. There will be greater emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education, the 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular design. The curricula will aim for the holistic development of learners, equipping them with the critical 21st-century skills, reduction in curricular content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking and a greater focus on experiential learning.
ENDS
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