Page 50 - EW August 2025

Cover Story

the education ministry released the er tongue as medium of instruction
National Curriculum Framework for from pre-primary to class V, the lat-
School Education (NCF-SE), a volumi- ter issue settled by the Supreme Court
nous 600-page manual which details a decade ago. In 2014, the apex court
step-by-step curriculum implemen- had ruled that parents have a funda-
tation, providing illustrative learning mental right to choose the medium
outcomes for students at every stage — of instruction for children in primary
foundational, preparatory, middle and education. The three-languages learn-
secondary. NCF-SE also dilutes rigid ing mandate has reignited language
boundaries between the arts, com- wars in the country, with the south-
merce, and science streams to prepare ern states led by Tamil Nadu rejecting
children for multidisciplinary higher NEP 2020 and writing their own SEP
education. (State Education Policy).
o enable school learners to ac- Also, the NEP 2020’s tacit ap-
Tquire experiential hands-on proval of government regulation of
learning, the Central government has fees levied by the country’s 450,000
introduced its Atal Tinkering Labs Mehrotra: systemic crisis private schools which mentor 110 mil-
scheme under which the govern- lion children (“the current regulatory
ment establishes machines-intensive tablished under NEP 2020 mandate regime also has not been able to curb
labs in which children can freely ex- — 2025 survey released last month, the commercialisation and economic
plore, dismantle and reconstitute reports that 45 percent of class III exploitation of parents by many for-
machines, automobiles, airplane students can’t arrange numbers up to profit schools…”) has emboldened
models. Moreover, under a PM Shri 99 in ascending or descending order; state governments to tighten regula-
Schools programme, the education 43 percent of class VI children can’t tory controls in particular on the is-
ministry upgrades existing Central/ grasp “main ideas in texts” and a stag- sue of school fees (see https://www.
state government schools with state- gering 63 percent of class IX students educationworld.in/private-school-
of-the-art labs, digital infrastructure fail to understand basic numerical sets fees-beware-government-regulation-
and curriculums to stimulate critical like fractions and integers. The PARA- trojan-horse/).
thinking, innovation and experiential KH 2025 survey assessed 2.1 million Undoubtedly, NEP 2020 contains
learning. However, it’s a measure of students in classes III, VI and IX in several valuable suggestions and man-
the BJP/NDA government’s tardy 74,229 schools — government and dates to break with past practices and
project implementation capabilities private — in 781 districts countrywide. traditions in primary-secondary edu-
that five years on, a mere 8,500 Atal According to Prof. Santosh Meh- cation. Yet, if five years after its proc-
Tinkering Labs have become opera- rotra, former professor of economics lamation there’s little implementation
tional, and 13,090 PM Shri Schools at India’s show-piece Jawaharlal Ne- progress and especially improvement
upgraded countrywide. hru University who currently teaches in learning outcomes, it’s because
Five years later, NEP 2020’s school the subject at Bath University (UK), the reform mandates of NEP 2020 —
curriculum and pedagogy reforms NEP 2020 reforms “don’t address and switch to new pedagogies, experiential
(and the blindingly detailed NCF-SE) reflect the ground realities” of India’s learning, installing digital facilities —
have not translated into improved school education system. “In NEP require big budgets. This is acknowl-
learning outcomes. According to the 2020 there is no serious recognition edged by NEP 2020 which states that
latest Annual Status of Education Re- of the systemic crisis that unfolded af- “Centre and states will work together
port (ASER) 2024 published by the in- ter massification of school education. to increase public investment in Edu-
dependent Pratham Education Foun- While enrolment surged, learning cation sector to reach 6 percent of
dation, which field tested 649,491 levels (outcomes) remained stagnant. GDP at the earliest.”
rural students in the 3-16 age group, The employability crisis in this coun- Five years on, government expen-
51 percent of class V children cannot try is directly related to the education diture (Centre plus states) for public
read class II texts and 69 percent of trajectory of the last three decades and education has been stuck in the 2.8-3
class V students can’t solve simple di- yet there is no recognition of this in percent of GDP rut. Although the NEP
vision sums. government. NEP 2020 glosses over 2020 document claims 4.43 percent,
Moreover Union education minis- foundational issues,” he says. the Union government’s own Eco-
try’s own Performance Assessment, Moreover, NEP 2020 has unwar- nomic Survey 2023-24 estimates na-
Review, and Analysis of Knowledge rantedly reduced its impact and ac- tional education outlay at a mere 2.7
for Holistic Development (PARAKH) ceptability by resurrecting the three percent. The education expenditure
— a national assessment centre es- languages learning formula and moth- outlay of the Centre which should

50 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2025