New Education Policy & The Future of Education

If corona has taught us one thing, it is that change is the only thing that’s constant. We are witnessing a plethora of changes day by day. The education sector is changing drastically and with the current changes brought in by the Government of India, a lot of things are changing and it is certainly for the better.

According to the National Education Policy, there are going to be a lot of reforms in our education sector. To put it simply, the Education sector is all set to be redefined.

Let us take a look at the changes that have been proposed by the Govt.of India.

New Education Policy was launched on Wednesday, July 29. The Union cabinet approved the policy that aims to radically change the country’s education system. It is said that NEP 2020 aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”. It stated that the new academic session will begin in September-October. Let’s move ahead to see the major changes that NEP has brought:

The NEP sets out that, by 2040, all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will be ready to become multidisciplinary establishments, every one of which will expect to have at least 3,000 students. It is said that by 2030, there will be at least one enormous multidisciplinary college in or close to each area. This will increase the number of students who enroll in higher education and increase the literacy rate of the nation. In addition to this, the HEIs will be coupled with digital education.
The point is to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio in advanced education including professional education from 26.3% to half by 2035.
NEP proposes a notable shift from the 1986 policy, which pushed for a 10+2 structure of school education. The new policy has proposed a “5+3+3+4” structure. That is to say, the age groups 3-8 years will fall under the foundational stage, 8-11 is under preparatory, 11-14 is middle school, and 14-18 is secondary. This is in an attempt to bring early childhood education to kids from ages 3 to 5 . NEP also says that the mid-day meal program will be extended to pre-school children. Another major reform is the notion that kids until 5th standard should be taught in their regional language or mother tongue
Single-stream advanced education organizations will be eliminated after some time, and all will move towards turning out to be multidisciplinary. The arrangement of affiliated universities' will be eliminated in 15 years.
The current complex classification of HEIs in the nation, for example, deemed to be university, affiliated to be university, etc will come to an end.
A college will be a multidisciplinary foundation that offers undergrad and graduate projects, with a great education, exploration, and network commitment. This definition will permit a range of establishments to become holistic, research universities.

Even high-end institutions such as IITs will move towards all-encompassing and multidisciplinary education with more options in arts and humanities. Students of arts and humanities will be expected to learn more science.
Departments in Languages, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Indology, Art, Dance, Theater, Education, Mathematics, Statistics, Pure and Applied Sciences, Sociology, Economics, Sports, Translation, Interpretation, and so on will be set up and fortified at all HEIs.
The undergraduate degree will be of either 3 or 4-year duration, with multiple exit options. For instance, the student will get a certificate after completing 1 year in a discipline or field including vocational and professional areas, after 2 years of study, he/she is eligible for a diploma and after a 3-year program, they will be awarded the Bachelors. The 4-year multidisciplinary Bachelor’s program, however, shall be the preferred option. The 4-year program may also lead to a degree ‘with Research’ if the student completes a rigorous research project.
Out of all the reforms, this one deserves applause. The NEP proposes to set up an Academic Bank of Credit (ABC). This will be established and would digitally store the academic credits earned. That is to say, if a student were to drop out after the first year, the credits that they earned would be stored in the ABC. They can choose to continue the course from where they left off. This is a very useful addition that would help students who drop out due to unfavorable circumstances. This gives them a chance to pick up where they left off.
Higher education institutions will move away from high-stakes examinations and focus on more continuous and comprehensive evaluations. This is definitely a move in the right direction. The future of teaching is promising.
The NEP also proposes to have counseling systems for handling stress and emotional adjustments in every educational institution. This is a move in the right direction because a lot of people are caught in depression and are clueless as to what to do about it. A counseling system is promising.
It is also said that vocational education will be integrated into all schools and higher education institutions in a phased manner over the next decade. It says that by 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education. This is needed as textbook knowledge alone cannot take our children to heights.

These are the major changes proposed by NEP, if you would like to read more about NEP, please head to their official page.

The educational reforms brought in brings a new ray of hope. The education sector is evolving every day to become something better than what it was in previous years. With Higher Education Institutions getting digitized, Online teaching and E-learning should become an integral part of our education system. These changes are promising and are here to stay. With the advancement in technology and platforms like Teachmint aiming to democratize online education, we are definitely on the right path.

Hope this article outlined what the National Education Policy helped you understand NEP better.

Stay tuned to get the latest information about the education sector, to learn about the future of teaching and more.

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