New Education Policy-2020: Prospects and Way Forward

Dr. Ch. Ibohal Meitei *

Introduction:

India's New Education Policy-2020 was approved by the Union Cabinet 29 July last as a new vista for India to become a global knowledge superpower in the years to come. This is a bold and indomitable policy initiative taken up by the present Government for overall national development, economic growth, equitable society and quality education. This policy national education policy in coming out after 34 years i.e. after NEP-1986.

Today, the world is emerging as a borderless society as the globalization process continues and employability and skill development in the education system have become important focal point for socio-economic transformation in many countries. In fact, the economic growth and development of a country is very much dependent on the quality and variety of education its people have.

In every sphere of life today, change becomes indispensable and the whole world is changing very fast specially in the domain of knowledge generation and skill development. India, to strengthen its position as a knowledge superpower and a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025 is striving to have a vibrant and globally acclaimed education system in the knowledge based economy and society.

Moreover, to generate better employment avenues for the educated youths of the country efforts should have been made for skill development and vocational studies incorporating in the general education system itself so that it can help our country globally competitive and relevant.

It becomes an inevitable task for India to rethink the education system giving importance to industry oriented, creativity, problem solving and skill based education for better productivity and application oriented learning of the students so that the system is at par with the global excellence.

The NEP-2020 document comprises of four parts - School education, Higher education, Other key areas of focus and Making it happen, laying emphasis on various policy initiatives for massive transformation in education system in line with the changes and demand in the industry and society the world over. In fact, India is a young nation and of the total population of the country, 15-26 years age group is more than 54 %; meaning thereby, a larger portion of the population is in the young age group.

The average age of an India is 29 years by 2022 and 65% of India's human resource pull is under the age of 35 years and about 12 million individuals are expected to join the work force every year. As per the skill gap study conducted by NSDC in 2014, there is a net requirement of 11.92 crore skilled manpower by 2022 in twenty four key sectors.

It seems that there is a huge gap between the requirement and availability of skilled human resources. Further, many of the developed countries like USA, Canada, Germany, Japan etc. are now aging very fast and they shall require new workforces for the replacement and India can be an important source for the supply of skill manpower to meet the global requirement.

It's really high time for India to have such an audacious education policy to take care the required talent landscape of the country in particular and the world in general in the light of technological advancements for industrial revolution 4.0 like artificial intelligence, big data analytics, robotics and block-chain etc. Some of the major recommendations and policy changes in the NEP-2020 can be viewed as below.

1. More focus on vocational studies and skill education even in school level.

As skilled workforce is considered the most important human capital required for the development of a country, both vocational education and skill development are known as drivers for increasing productivity of individuals, profitability of employers and finally national growth. According to Indian Labour Report, in India only 4 % of the young labour force receives formal vocational education and 6 % in the informal sector.

Whereas South Korea has provided as high as 96 %, Canada & Japan 80% each, Germany 75%, UK 68% and Mexico 24 % vocational and skill education to the young people before joining to any gainful employment. By 2025, India envisions that at least 50% of the learners, through the school and university system, should have exposure to vocational education.

Skill capabilities of the people will help the country to keep more competitive and developed. Propagating vocational education with special recognition will make our youths more employable and create them opportunities for self-employment too. Now, this NEP-2020 has provided an opportunity to the learners for skill development in a vocational subject as multidisciplinary study along with the general education from Std.8 onwards.

2. Allocation of 6% of the GDP in Education sector:

The challenge the Indian higher education is facing has many folds. The number of universities in India has grown considerably over the last 70 years and it has 945 universities and about 40000 colleges in 2020. As per UGC report, out of 86% of students completing graduation only 12 % go for post graduate education and barely 1% take up research.

In spite of the fact that India is having one of the largest higher education system in the world with English medium universities, it cannot earn global distinction may be due to faulty education system, shortage of good faculty and lack of other infrastructural facilities.

The universities in India are generally public funded except a few private universities as such funding is still a major constraint and because of which universities cannot have ultra-modern infrastructural facilities for teaching and research and it cannot attract talented global faculty. No Indian university/Institution is figured in the top 200 world university ranking released in 2020.

Indian higher education is far behind the global standard. At this crucial juncture, the NEP-2020 suggests to have expenditure on education sector at the tune of 6% of the GDP as against 3% earlier is truly a bold initiative and a welcome move and it is to be highly appreciated.

3. Restructuring of School education.

In the present school education, Anganwadi/pre-school, the Early Childhood Care and Education) is not included within the ambit of formal schooling. Hence, the present 10+2 system (6-18 years of age) has been restructured into 5+3+3+4 system (3-18 years) encompassing 3 years of pre-school stage and Std.1-2 as part of Foundation level. Std.3-5 is for Preparatory, Std.6-8 as Middle and Std.9-12 as Secondary level.

Mid-day meals and the breakfast facilities shall be extended to ECCE segment too. Curriculum shall be giving importance on experiential learning and application of knowledge. A multi-disciplinary streams of study including vocational courses is to be introduced in the secondary level and it will definitely give ample scope for choices of subjects to the students for nurturing their creative talents.

Internships and experiential learning opportunity provided in the curriculum will give a flip in harnessing the critical thinking, creativity and innovativeness of the learners. Examination reforms shall be brought in laying weightages not much on the rote learning but on application of knowledge as a part of holistic development of the learners.

4. Introduction of 4 years integrated B.Ed degree:

The learning outcome of the study is also very closely linked with the quality of teachers. As such, B.Ed degree has been made compulsory for opting teaching as a profession in the school level in any of the stages.

Further, B.Ed degree course should be introduced in a multi-disciplinary institution giving emphasis to different pedagogic exposure like experiential learning, problem solving and applications of knowledge in the teaching learning system in various streams of study. The Policy extensively covers the various provisions for the B.Ed. course and teacher education facilities for producing better quality teachers.

5. Multiple Entry and Exit at undergraduate level:

The undergraduate degree course shall be of 3 or 4 years multi-disciplinary study and there shall be no water tight compartment in the choice of the streams of study, further, the students can have major and minor electives under the choice based credit system from across a wide range of subjects. Introduction of 4 years degree course, research based is a welcoming step as the course will be at par with the first degree level course in various foreign universities like that of the USA.

Researches in applied and pure both are needed for the benefits of the society and new knowledge creation. However, the gross enrolment ratio in higher education, the number of students joining the first degree course after 12 Std. (i.e. 18-23 years) is considered to be one of the important indicators for becoming a developed nation.

India with 26.3% higher education GER today, is now targeting to achieve 50% GER by 2035. Some countries have already higher GER such as USA-88%; Germany 70%, Canada-69%, South Korea -94%; China-51%, Iran-70% and Malaysia-45% etc. In this new policy, there shall be options for multiple entry and exit while undergoing the undergraduate course.

That means, certificate, diploma and Degree shall be awarded after completion of first, second and third year of the course respectively. This flexibility has made good motivation to the students to pursue the course and complete it conveniently without the issues of dropouts and at the same time the GER in tertiary education shall also be improved. Such multiple entry and exit options are quite suitable for vocational studies too as they have various job roles at different levels of the course enhancing the avenues for employability at multiple levels.

6. National Testing Agency for entrance examinations:

There shall be national level entrance test for admission into the undergraduate courses in the Indian Universities to be held twice in a year. Now, the candidates can have the opportunities for seeking admission to various universities/colleges without incurring much cost. Such initiative definitely shall enhance the diversity of the students admitted in a university and shall provide a sense of national integration among the young minds of the country.

7. Campuses of Indian Universities in Foreign Countries:

The high performing Indian universities will be encouraged to setup campuses in foreign countries. Further, selected foreign universities from among the top 100 World ranking shall also be facilitated to operate in India. That way, it encourages healthy competition among the universities in India and it paves the way to become globally comparable institutions.

Collaborations among the institutions shall bring quality and excellence in higher learning and hence, Indian universities are to be encouraged for collaborative venture among the universities within India and abroad. Ultimately, Indians now shall be getting global level quality education at affordable cost.

For that matter, India Government needs to formulate stringent rules and regulation for better quality and price and overall check and balances on the operation of foreign universities in Indian soil. Necessary regulations shall be formulated within the framework of NEP-2020.

8. Promotion of India as Global Educational Destination:

Internationalization of Indian education is an important agenda in NEP-2020. It aims at promoting India as global study destination for premium education at affordable cost. Every university/Institution hosting foreign students shall set up an International Students Office to facilitate the foreign students. Such initiatives shall widen the horizon of visions in the educational administration for global benchmarking.

Every institution should try to develop certain areas of competence for study to attract the foreign students and in turn the university shall have more diversity of the student enrolment creating a good ambience for higher learning.

9. Transformation of regulatory system of the higher education in India.

Establishment of a single regulatory body called Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) overhauling of UGC, AICTE, NCTE etc barring the medical and law is a great transformation in regulatory system of the higher education. There shall be four independent verticals to be functioning under this umbrella. Special focus is also given to curb the commercialization of education by formulating multiple mechanism with checks and balances. There shall no longer be multiple regulatory body for running courses in higher educational institutions.

10. The three language formula for school education:

Mother tongue or local language shall be the medium of instruction up to 5th Std. That way, the learning of the students will become faster and it will provide avenues to familiarize the various cultural diversities of the country and at the same time these Indian languages shall remain relevant and vibrant.

In fact, all the languages are closely linked with the arts and culture of the speaking community and as such, NEP-2020 spells various activities for preserving the local arts and culture associated with the languages. It is an opportunity for the proper preservation of the endangered languages too.

Other Areas of Focus:

Further, there are other recommendations such as establishment of National Research Foundation and National Committee for Integration of Vocational Education for the vocational and traditional knowledge developed in India. The Policy speaks about the other areas of focus such as adult education and lifelong learning, use of ICTs and promotion of Indian languages, arts and culture.

By 2040, all higher educational institutions in India shall be transformed into a muti-disciplinary institutions with large number of student enrolment including the professional and other technical universities. It also opines the requirement of collaboration between industry and higher academic institutions to steer innovation and research in the respective fields and also to enhance the employability of the learners.

According to McKinsey Global Institute survey results, "India produces about 360,000 engineering graduates and 600,000 graduates in arts/science/commerce in a year." And only 25 percent of engineering graduates and 10 percent of other graduates are readily employable. In our country, among the fresh graduates only a few is readily employable even among the engineering graduates and many of them are not employable due to lack of certain skill set.

NEP-2020 has given importance of vocational education, skill and capacity development to be integrated in the curriculum besides the separate stream of study to boost the employability of the learners at all level.

It is quite pertinent in the state of Manipur too, to have a serious thought for Manipur to have a robust education system within the framework of NEP-2020 and the state to become the true Academic-gateway of India to South East Asian countries in the years to come in the light of India's Act East Policy.

For that matter, the universities in the state are to reorient the mindset for global benchmark by strengthening the existing courses and also offering more innovative and emerging disciplines and also revamping the infrastructural facilities, curriculum and pedagogy in line with the new policy so that the universities may be able to attract the students from domestic and foreign both.

The success of any policy framework is very much dependent on the effective implementation of the guidelines. It is not denying the fact that quality of teaching is one of the most important factors for producing good quality students. Besides good infrastructure and curriculum, good academicians are utmost important for imparting quality education with the use of modern pedagogy.

Another aspect, the availability of competent and trained faculty members for the various courses is still a great challenge in many institutions of higher learning in India. We have so many inherent challenges in every activity, however, we have to strive for achieving the goal, a strong and vibrant India.

Concluding remarks:

Education and learning is a continuous process, thus, continuous improvement and training is very much needed. Educational innovation with more variety in knowledge and skills should be harnessed and at the same time, attitude and behavior of the students should be taken into account while imparting education for holistic development of the learners.

Today, facing competition is becoming an inevitable task as such Indian universities need to focus on quality in their management of affairs and also benchmark with the high ranking institutions of the world only then we may be able to come up to the global standards. At the same time more autonomy should be provided for fairer competition and flexibility in their working.

India is poised to have a vibrant economy driven by knowledge and the challenges in education are no longer confined to the country only but to be comparable with best in the global arena too. Academic reforms in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, evaluation, teaching-learning process, governance and management with innovative mindset is very much need of the hour.

If we are to transform our country into a true knowledge power, and realize a future of prosperity and growth, a radical change of the education system with quality the central is very much essential in the light of global trends happening.

It is believed that this NEP-2020, shall pave a new vista for transforming India into a true global knowledge superpower in the next few years to come provided a concerted effort is made by all the stakeholders with sincere commitment and conviction.