Page 46 - Education World September 2021

Cover Story

vadekar) in Shastri Bhavan, Delhi, construct a solid foundation that will
Pradhan evidently believes he is ac- stand Indian education across the
countable only to the PMO, Delhi and/ spectrum in good stead for genera-
or Mangalwari Mahal, Nagpur, head tions to come”.
office of the RSS. A rain of emails, “Indicating welcome awareness
sms, WhatsApp and telephone calls that children’s brains are 80 percent
made to the minister’s office supple- developed by age eight, for the first
mented by mewing pleas to his en- time, NEP 2020 has not only acknowl-
tourage of ignorant assistants high- edged but highlighted the critical im-
lighting EducationWorld’s status as portance of ECCE (early childhood
India’s #1 education news magazine, care and education). By introducing
global reputation, vintage and com- the 5+3+3+4 restructured school
mitment to human capital develop- education system, it has integrated
ment etc, failed to elicit an interview ECCE with primary education. More-
or replies to an emailed questionnaire. over in July, the Union education
Nevertheless, in the national inter- ministry launched the very important
est and especially to ensure overdue and promising National Initiative for
justice to the world’s largest and most Parth Shah: MSME status plea Proficiency in Reading with Under-
neglected child and youth population, standing and Numeracy (NIPUN) to
your editors interviewed several high- of government as education provider, ensure that every child countrywide
ly knowledgeable and experienced regulator, assessor and accreditor of attains foundational literacy and nu-
education leaders and experts to offer schools and HEIs. In addition, top meracy (FLN) by the end of class III.
valuable advice to the newly inducted priority should be accorded to all chil- The comprehensive NIPUN docu-
Union education minister who needs dren learning a vocational skill from ment provides a detailed roadmap for
it desperately as he confronts these primary classes. Moreover, the focus all children attaining FLN within the
two formidable challenges. should be on learning outcomes rather next five years and also for in-service
“ THE FORCED CLOSURE OF for private schools,” advises Dr. new education minister should im-
than mandating infrastructure norms
training for all ECCE teachers. The
Parth Shah, former professor of eco-
all education institutions
mediately make an official statement
countrywide for almost 18
months is certain to inflict nomics at Michigan University (USA) stressing the vital importance of pro-
and founder-president of the Centre
fessionally administered ECCE in the
huge learning loss on the majority of for Civil Society, Delhi (estb.1997), a country’s government-run 1.6 mil-
India’s children. But simultaneously, top-ranked think-tank with sharp fo- lion anganwadis that provide early
the prolonged lockdown of schools and cus on primary education. childhood care and nutrition to over
colleges offers the new education min- According to Mumbai-based Dr. 80 million youngest children. When
ister a great opportunity to introduce Swati Popat Vats, president of schools reopen, these children -- and
overdue reforms that could transform the Podar Jumbo Kids chain of 498 their teachers -- should be given every
the pandemic into a 1991 (economic pre-primary schools and promoter- incentive to restart their education the
liberalisation and deregulation) mo- president of the Early Childhood As- NIPUN way. Mr. Pradhan should not
ment for Indian education. For a start, sociation of India, taking charge of miss this opportunity to build a strong
the BJP leadership should be persuad- the Union education ministry after foundation for India’s youngest chil-
ed to extinguish the anti-private edu- the prolonged 60-week lockdown of dren,” advises Dr. Popat Vats.
cation prejudice within the party and education institutions countrywide, However Prof. Geeta Kingdon,
government. There is enough room has presented Pradhan a “great op- chair of education economics and in-
for government and private schools to portunity to make a fresh start and ternational development at the high-
grow and flourish. Therefore, Pradhan ranked University College, London,
should persuade the finance minister Like his predecessors in and president of the City Montessori
to immediately accord MSME (micro School, Lucknow, the world’s largest
small and medium enterprise) status Shastri Bhavan, Delhi, single-city school (57,000 students in
to private schools to enable them to Pradhan believes that he is 14 campuses), believes the malaise of
avail bank credit and subsidised loans Indian education — the “elephant in
to tide over the Covid crisis. Secondly, accountable only to the PMO the room” — which the KR Committee
the education ministry should quick- and/or Mangalwari Mahal, Report and NEP 2020 have ignored, is
ly implement the proposal made in Nagpur pervasive lack of teacher and institu-
NEP 2020 to separate the functions tional accountability in the country’s

46 EDUCATIONWORLD SEPTEMBER 2021