12 Progressive Changes in the National Education Policy.

The new National Education Policy approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday 29th 2020, and it is a change we all have been looking forward to for a very long time.

The policy was last changed in 1992 and before that in 1986 since the first National Policy on Education was framed in 1968.

And this is going to be progressive for the upcoming generations.

School Education:

1. Universalisation

Pre School Education will be universalised. It means pre school will not just be about eating your tiffin it will be more conventional.

A proper curriculum will be made by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) for Pre School.

NCERT is a government organization that is set up to assist the qualitative improvement in school education in India.

The Pre School Education will be Play Based and Activity Based.

A proper training will be given to the Pre School Teachers to carry out this effectively.

WHAT IS ACTIVITY BASED LEARNING:

Activity-based learning is a student-centric, experiential, teaching methodology. It functions on the core belief that learning should be acquired through hands-on activities. The learners are thus actively engaged with the content that is being taught both mentally and physically. It provides rich and varied experiences to the students, thereby building their knowledge, skills, and values. Additionally, the self-confidence of learners is boosted as they explore both familiar and unfamiliar concepts in creative ways.

Benefits of Activity Based Learning:

• Long-term memory retention
• Develops curiosity and analytical thinking
• Builds social skills
• Gives them a real-life connection
• Encourages students to express themselves

2. National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

There will be special attention paid to early language and mathematics in Grades 1-5. The Policy aims to ensure that every student in Grade 5 and beyond must achieve foundational literacy and numeracy by 2025.

For this, teacher capacity building, a robust curricular framework, engaging learning material – both online and offline, learning outcomes and their measurement indices, assessment techniques, tracking of learning progress, etc. will be designed to take it forward in a systematic fashion.

This mission will cover the learning needs of nearly 4 crore children in the age group of 3 to 11 years.

3. 5+3+3+4 and Pedagogical Structure

Earlier we had a 10+2 pattern where till 10th Grade we had common subjects.

In this reformed pattern:

• 3 years will be PreSchool
• Other 12 years are designed in such a way to maintain continuity and will be based on principles of brain development and learning.
• Till Grade 5 learning will be in the form of discovery method and experiential learning.
• Sometimes for students understanding becomes difficult and hence up to grade 5 regional language or mother tongue will be used as a medium of instruction.
• From Grade 6th to 8th the Subject Introduction and Exploration will be introduced.
• And after that The Secondary Stage will comprise four years of multidisciplinary study and will build subject depth, critical thinking, attention to life aspirations with flexibility for student choice.Like for example during this course of learning a student can take up Bakery while learning Mass Media.

This is Pedagogical Approach where there will be theory as well as practice.

A BREAKDOWN OF ALL THE STAGES:

• Foundational Stage (age 3-8 years): Rapid brain development; learning based on play and active discovery
• Preparatory Stage (8-11 years): Building on play and discovery; begin the transition to structured learning
• Middle Stage (11-14 years): Learning concepts in subjects; begin navigating adolescence
• Secondary Stage (14-18 years): Preparation for livelihood and higher education; transition into young adulthood.

4. 21st Century Skills

The Curriculum will be more inclined towards Scientific and Mathematical Temper to increase the problem solving abilities of the student.

This will help them to be more analytical.

Before the age of 18 the Mathematical and Permutational ability of students can be shaped for this Coding will be introduced right from the 6th Grade.

Technology will be extensively used in teaching.

5. No Rigid Separation

There will not be any separation between Arts, Science, Curricular and Co- curricular all these will be on the same level.

Even music and sports will be taught as Subjects.

6. Reduction in Curriculum

There will be reduction in Curriculum because of this it will be easier to focus on the Core Concepts.

We have a very heavy curriculum because of which it was very difficult to develop soft skills.

For this the syllabus will be limited to what is actually important.

Here the students will be introduced to project based learning so understand the practical aspect of the subject.

7. Bag Less Days

After class 6th, students to have 10 bag less days in a year during which they will be exposed to vocation of their choice.

They can go to a local shop or a restaurant and understand how it works.

It will be like a mini internship for them which will be considered in their assessment.

8. Holistic Assessment

Our traditional report card was just 2 dimensional where our marks, attendance and our behaviour was written.

But this 360° assessment will have a 3 step.

The result will include:

• Self Assessment

Here the student will evaluate himself/herself based on his learnings in the academic year and what are his expectations for the future.

This will do nothing but increase self awareness and make the students more accountable.

• Peer Assessment

This will include the evaluation from the classmates. Adopting such methods can imbibe a sense of brotherhood and how they will know how growth doesn’t happen in isolation. As the students spend more time with their classmates they might give in suggestions here which they think their fellow mate should improve on.

• Teacher Assessment

The final assessment will be given by the teachers how it was traditionally. The student to teacher ratio will be 30:1 this will make it easier for the teachers to pay individual attention.

The overall assessment will be done with help of artificial intelligence so that after 12th Grade yeh students will have a blueprint of all the skills they’ve learnt, what skills they’ve mastered and what they want to do now.

Higher Education

1.Multiple Entries

If one wishes to drop out and then continue again after a fixed time. You can do it.

The years won’t be wasted. You will have a credit bank and you can transfer your credits to the next year or next course.

For every course you will be given an academic credit.

If you complete a year and take a break, you can continue then continue from second year.

If you complete 2 years you will get a Diploma.

If you complete 3 years you will get a Degree.

One can apply for a job after 3 years of degree.

And if you want to go in a field of research the 4th year will be completely based on it.

2. Multidisciplinary

Like school even colleges will be multidisciplinary you can take up subjects of your choice along with your majors.

The students can opt for these subjects without losing academic credibility and it will ensure Personal as well as Professional Development.

3. National Mission on Mentoring

We all know how important it is to have mentors and this is exactly what the board is planning.

We sometimes zone out or feel unmotivated and in such times proper guidance is required.

There will be mentors who have excelled in their field to guide the students who want to do the same.

4. Fee Cap

There will be a certain fee limit mentioned by the government for all the universities and colleges. No institution will be allowed to take fees beyond that. There will be common norms set for Public as well as Private Higher Education Institutes.

• UG Program - 3-4 years
• PG Program - 1-2 years
• Integrated Bachelor’s + Master’s - 5 years
• M Phill discontinued.