How can digital media strengthen the pillars of the National Educational Policy?

Access, Equity, Affordability, Quality and Accountability constitute the framework of our education system.

Background ‘Quality education is a major driving force that boosts economic growth. According to the World Bank, “Educational Quality is directly proportional to individual earnings”. Over the decades, our citizens have bore witness to a multitude of changes that have been formulated to bolster the frailties plaguing our education system. Unfortunately, these ‘blueprints’ haven’t exactly delivered the desired results as envisaged. A significant majority of the unemployed youth have been found to be lacking in analytical, cognitive and creative skills. A close look at ‘GDP’ and ‘Per Capita Income’ would give us a clear picture of the glaring deficiencies, which, in general, are camouflaged in the guise of ‘Record Economic Growth’ and ‘The fastest Growing Economy’. Else, how can one explain the reason for India’s ‘abysmal’ per capita income, when at the same time, the nation brags of being one of the fastest growing economies in the World? What are the possible factors that govern India’s position at two opposite ends of the spectrum? By delving a little deeper, into the grassroots of our primary and secondary education, we’ll be able to unearth the ineffectual stratagem which would point an accusing finger at the lamentable implementation of policy. A plausible course of action to resolve the ‘paradox’ would lie in reviewing the “essential constituents” proposed by the National Educational Policy, 2019.

Opportunity

The first vertical proposed in the policy suggests compulsory “access” to education, especially at the primary levels, for all concerned. Lack of trained staff, compounded further by unfavorable working and living conditions, has acted as a major deterrent to primary and secondary education in rural areas. The Government’s ambitious ‘Mid-Day’ meal scheme may have been partially successful in feeding the ‘hungry’, but that has failed to attract students to the classroom, as ‘poor attendance’ and alarmingly ‘high drop-out’ rates suggest.

‘Equitable distribution’ of education brings with it a queer conundrum. An increase in the number of educational institutions at all levels has failed in their objective to provide equal access to education. Inflated statistics show a spike in the number of ‘quality’ institutes available to people who can afford it, but hardly any to those who are in dire need for it. For the significant majority, ‘Right to Education’ has become a ‘need’ to sustain them, but for the strange practices adopted to appease the privileged class. A widening gulf in intelligence can be ascertained by a cursory glance at the unemployment levels that recently spiked to a record high.

As far as affordability is concerned, the Government has done a decent job in introducing a host of privileges in the form of monetary benefits, scholarships, rewards and schemes that serve as a precursor to encourage and ensure education for all at every level. A major challenge for the Government here would be to upscale the allotment of ‘perks’ on a macro level to cover an ever-increasing population.

Every individual is born with a unique skill-set that has an innate potential to benefit the economy and society as a whole. For this very reason, our system is in dire need of a paradigm shift where subjects after a certain level be taught by teachers specializing in that particular field. A redundancy in the number of ‘generalists’, more so, at the school level, has led to stagnation in the quality of lectures and education that is being imparted out to students. Effective mechanisms to up skill the workforce would gradually put the house in order.

There have been numerous instances where students have been squarely blamed for his/her poor performance. Such gestures of ‘non-performance’ from a few ‘enlightened educationists’ only serve to retrogress the quality of education that an institute sets out to achieve. More generally, to deal with issues of non-conformance to stipulated guidelines and lack of supervision to identify serious lapses, in part or full by an individual or institute, we require stringent compliance mechanisms.

Solution

Digital media can prove to be the pivotal game-changer in a scenario of complex inter dependencies between the five facets of education policy as seen above. ‘Edutech’ companies can ensure the smooth coherence and synergy of these ‘crucial foundation pillars’.

Content created through various digital media platforms can reach the end user either through the web or the app. A rapidly growing smart phone market complimented by a large number of active subscribers will get a shot at viewing content in the form of animated and explanatory videos, audios, webcasts, podcasts and live classroom lectures that would provide them with a seamless learning experience 24/7.

With cheaper data rates available and a wide variety of options to choose from, users can avail countless benefits from features that enable them to consume and learn content from the confines of their spaces of comfort. With customized videos being made available through the digital platform to each ‘unique individual’ based on his/her profile, the problems of equity, accessibility and quality would be addressed.

As customized learning takes precedence over rote- classroom based learning, a student entering the system has to go through a ‘mapping test’ to determine his/her current skill-set. With ‘individual attention’ being the need of the hour as far as education is concerned, digital content and assessments leverage the algorithmic skills of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to design ‘courses’ specific to the need of each ‘separate’ individual. The digital education ecosystem would follow a ‘comprehensive teaching learning pedagogy along with a responsive assessment-evaluation-feedback system to ensure a student maximizes his/her potential. Such a tried and tested system would gradually eliminate the problem of ‘Accountability’. And what better than being able to access all of the above for a one time-investment of buying a smart phone with an active data pack!               

With specific skill-sets being in demand for diverse roles, maintaining and improving quality in education is of prime importance to ensure optimal performance. In the wake of changing skill-sets as demanded by the market, Edutech firms would provide specific courses in online mode that contain relevant content reproduced in digital form. Such courses would up-skill the triad of teachers, students and working professionals from ‘generalists’ to ‘specialists’.

The Way Forward

 The scope for Digital Education and the role of Edutech would go a long way in repairing the fractures and shaping the future of India’s education. The Government has to play the role of a mediator to bring in all relevant parties to its think-tank. It has to chart a course of action that improves the overall quality of education by not comprising on the ease of access to any individuals or group of individuals. Policy decisions taken on the pretext of electoral gains should be avoided and a nexus reached between all concerned parties. Budgetary allocation and dispensation should be done after thorough consultation with economists, educationists and the like. With the country improving steadily on the ‘Ease of Doing Business’, the establishment should relax exacting policies to boost investor sentiment and at the same time ease tax burdens to foster entrepreneurial spirit and promote healthy competition in the market. In order to reach the ‘Utopian’ dream of a five trillion dollar economy, it’s time to plan, act, devise and deliver.