The Union Cabinet on
29 July 2020 approved New Education Policy 2020- Transforming Education that
aims to the overall country’s education system.
The key points of NEP
2020 are
1. Early Childhood
Care and Education (ensure student entering Class 1 are school ready)
2. Equitable and
Inclusive Education (support for girls, Trans genders, Divyangs)
3. Promote
Multilingualism (high-quality books in mother tongue)
4. New Curricular
and Pedagogical Structure (a.10+2 structure to 5+3+3+4 model). (b. Flexibility
in choice of Subjects) (c. Integration of Vocational and academic streams.)
5. Assessment
Reforms (Summative assessment to Regular Formative Assessment).
6. Teacher Recruitment
(National Professional Standards for teacher)
7. Higher Education
(Under-Graduation to be 3-4 years with multiple entry/exit with appropriate
certification.)
8. Academic Bank of
Credits (Students' credits will be stored digitally to help students continue
education.)
9. National Research
Foundation (Expand research and innovation opportunities)
10. Technology in
Education (National Education Technology Forum for ideas on the use of tech.)
Under the new
curricular and pedagogical structure, coding will be mandatory from class
6th.
Coding stole the
spotlight. This step taken by the government has received applaud from all over
the country.
Why coding?
Our country aims to
become a place with a population of job creators than job seekers. Academic
syllabus and physical activities are not sufficient to enhance the student’s
logical thinking. It requires many technical subjects like calculations,
reasoning problem-solving exercises that activate children’s minds to think as
required and the result will be a rise in concentration too.
Coding is one such
topic that involves creativity and concentration. It could be even more
enjoyable if started from childhood age because at the time students enter the
professional world of coders, they get equipped with so many skills and they
become pro at it.
Competition is very
high and today apart from the degree, recruiters also look for hard and soft
skills in the applicants to choose the best employ for their company.
If students get an
idea of what artificial intelligence is at the school level, it will be easier
for them to make the right decision for their tech-career.
That’s how our
country will have a more skillful population that will definitely help in
making creators of the future.
However, providing exposure to coding to each student at the school level is not the piece of cake.
Teaching coding going to be the next hurdle our country will face after the complete implementation of the New Education Policy in upcoming years.
Why is it a challenge?
Coding is all about
the technical course that requires access to computers and the internet.
Whereas only 26.42% of the country’s
schools have computers. So, how the rest of the students are going to learn
to code? From their textbooks? Moreover, here, NEP is promoting practical over
the theoretical. If one can’t perform the task, his learning will fall into the
cramming category and we all know cramming is the next scandal of education.
Next, our government
aspires to Digital India; on the other
hand, there has not been much expenditure on improving the digital
infrastructure for remote learning. In
fact, in 2020-21, the ministry of the human resource development budget for
digital e-learning was reduced to Rs
469 crore from Rs 604 crore in 2019-20.
How will India accomplish its desire to become a
superpower without power?
According to a survey conducted by the National University of Education Planning and
Administration and the department of school education and literacy, 40% of Indian schools lack electricity.
Out of that
population, a minimal amount of children will get to learn and make their
career in coding and that’s how India is going to accomplish its ambition of
becoming a superpower without power and computer!
Further, the reports
also state that 76.1% of the rural children are attending a primary and middle
school run by the government while only 38% of the urban children are attending
government schools.
Non-governmental
organizations are working for the welfare of government schools. Every year
government issues crores of funds in the name of education but the picture of
government school still remains the same in our head.
The problem doesn’t
lie in the policy but the system. Unless each student does not get access to
resources, how will the student be going to make a benefit out of this policy?
Years of hard work will be in vain if one major portion of the society remains
abandoned. India has long miles to go.
