The new NEP released in July 2020 is a futuristic outlook on how to transform the educational landscape in India. The NEP aims to put India on the right track to attain the 4th goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by making sure that high standard, equitable education is accessible to each and every student irrespective of their socio-economic conditions. The new policy proposes to redesign every aspect of the education structure and ensure inclusivity in education. Along with impacting the nation as a whole, the policy has a huge impact on the stakeholders involved in the education system.
In this article, we will explore how the new policy impacts the various stakeholders – parents, teachers, educationists, and students.
The new policy has introduced 9 key principles with an aim to provide multi-faceted and conceptual education for the holistic development of the child. It has included reforms to improve the literacy and numeracy numbers, changed the existing academic structure from 10+2 to 5+3+3+4, thus bringing a change in how primary education is delivered, and introducing space for new skills to be imparted to students.
From a school standpoint, the policy puts a lot of emphasis on learning outcomes. The earlier policy in place for more than 30 years focuses on managing administration and regulatory issues rather than considering what students will take away from schools. The new NEP has clear-cut and well-defined learning outcomes, with comprehensive detailing on how to achieve those outcomes. It has also brought into the picture multiple agencies that will aid in achieving the outcomes.
According to the old NEP, there were assessments of learning, which did not contribute towards the betterment of the student’s intellect nor did it test the true caliber of students. But with the new policy, assessments are proposed to be for learning. There will be continuous assessments throughout the school year, thus, measuring the progress of students as they move ahead. Schools are happy with how the policy has shaped up in the documentation, but a key point of concern is the implementation of the policy. India is a vast country and not every student has access to the same resources. Schools are concerned about how long it will take to put the policy in action, given that the socio-economic conditions are not the same across the country. The new NEP has broken the monotony of rote learning by introducing activity-based and experiential learning, however, there are chances that it will result in confusion in how the learning is being carried out in different schools.
Parents are happy about the new NEP and the standard of education their children will receive, which is on par with global schools, they still have concerns. One of the reforms in the policy is to allow education in the regional language or mother tongue if desired till Class 5. This particular reform has met with mixed views from parents and teachers alike. From a learning perspective, studying concepts in a language they are familiar with will help them grasp the concept better and faster. However, after a point, students will struggle with the transition to the English language. Moreover, if parents were to shift cities due to their jobs, then the children will struggle more to learn a new language out of the blue. The purpose of this reform in the policy was to make education understandable and accessible to schools even in the remotest locations in India. But with English not made mandatory, students will struggle with confidence issues and have self-doubts.
Educationists have welcomed the policy and are glad that steps are being to bring changes to the system. They are of the opinion that the policy is comprehensive and has been well-documented, covering intricate details. However, they feel that the policy lacks the factor of accountability and the role of private schools and agencies in its implementation.
Teachers will be driven to improve their qualifications because the new NEP states that the minimum qualification for teachers is a 4-year duration integrated B.Ed. degree. The policy has also stressed transparency in the teacher recruitment process. The promotion of teachers will happen based on merit and this makes it easier for teachers with B.Ed. and CTET qualifications to rise up the ranks.
The new NEP could not have come at a better time. It is in line with the 2030 agenda of sustainable development goals and has proposed a series of reforms that will put India on par with the global education systems. However, the stakeholders involved are still concerned about the implementation of these reforms which are now present in black and white. Only time will tell how effective the reforms will be post-implementation.
