Page 50 - Education World September 2021

Cover Story

NEP 2020 implementation priorities
early childhood education under the 5+3+3+4 structure pro-
he National Education Policy (NEP) presented to the na- posed by NEP 2020.
Ttion on July 29, 2020 which substantially incorporates 2. Ensure that early childhood care and education in 1.6 mil-
the recommendations of the five-member Dr. K. Kasturi- lion government anganwadis is provided under the education
rangan (KR) Committee spread over 484 pages, prescribes ministry’s NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading
radical restructuring of India’s school and higher education with Understanding and Numeracy) programme — endorsed
systems. On the positive side, it mandates greater autonomy by the Early Childhood Association of India — to ensure that
for schools, colleges and universities; elimination of official every child in the country attains foundational literacy and
discrimination between government and privately-promoted numeracy (FLN) by the end of grade III before 2026-27.
education institutions, and separation of government’s roles 3. Decree introduction of vocational education from class VI
of provider, examiner, regulator and accreditation authority in in all public and private schools.
school and higher education. 4. Mandate examinations/testing to monitor learning out-
On the downside, NEP says state governments will estab- comes of children in classes III, V, VIII.
lish several regulatory committees for policy-making, operat- 5. Direct NCTE to speed up formulation of a new National
ing (government) schools, accrediting and syllabus formula- Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE).
tion under an SSSA (State School Standards Authority) and Meanwhile, decree 45 minutes of daily teacher training in
similarly four independent verticals for regulation, accredita- new ICT (information communication technologies) for class-
tion, funding and standards setting under a Higher Education room usage.
Commission of India (HECI) for raising academic standards 6. To implement NEP 2020’s widely welcomed reforms in
in higher education. higher education, action the proposals of Dr. C. Raj Kumar,
However, the 62-page NEP 2020 document is essentially founding vice chancellor of the O.P. Jindal Global University
a policy guideline with minimal implementation details. For (see p. 51).
the newly inducted Union education minister Dharmendra 7. Immediately establish the autonomous National Educa-
Pradhan who has assumed office at a difficult time with all tional Technology Forum proposed by NEP 2020.
education institutions having been locked down for over 15 8. Begin the process of persuading the Union cabinet, PMO
months over fear of the novel Coronavirus infecting children and state governments to substantially increase allocations
and youth, your editors advise the following NEP implementa- for education in their 2022-23 budgets as the first step to-
tion priorities. wards increasing national expenditure (Centre plus states) to
1. Ensure all government schools are restructured to include 6 percent of GDP as recommended by NEP 2020.

process by implementing the com- most intelligent recommendations
prehensive PARAKH (performance, are for restructuring higher educa-
assessment, review and analysis of tion. In tertiary education, it recom-
knowledge for holistic development) mends transformation of the country’s
and SSSA (State School Standards Au- 40,000 colleges and 979 universities
thority)recommendations. “PARAKH into multi-disciplinary undergrad in-
offers the opportunity for syllabus and stitutions with flexible curricula com-
examination reforms and separation bination of subjects, integration of
of state governments’ roles as provid- vocational education, multiple entry
er, regulator and assessor of school and exit points and an academic bank
education in which conflict of interest of credits — all revolutionary ideas in
is inherent, to be supervised by a State Indian education.
Schools Authority. But since the SSSA The final NEP 2020 policy docu-
is appointed by government, it would ment proposes establishment of a
be advisable to also constitute an inde- Higher Education Commission of In-
pendent Schools Regulatory Authority dia (HECI), an “umbrella institution”
based on the TRAI (Telecom Regula- of “public-spirited experts” to oversee
tory Authority of India) model to en- Kingdon: teacher accountability roadblock four verticals which separate the regu-
sure equal treatment of government latory, standards setting, funding and
and private schools,” adds Kingdon. system to build strong foundations accreditation functions currently be-
Although reshaping and recon- for the world’s largest child and youth ing discharged by the Union education
structing the hitherto neglected pre- population is the top priority of the ministry through subsidiary organisa-
primary to class XII public education new education minister, NEP 2020’s tions (UGC, AICTE, NCTE etc). These

50 EDUCATIONWORLD SEPTEMBER 2021