New Education Policy- NEP

New comprehensive education policy for India is on the anvil for the first time since 1986 (It was second one, first one was in 1968). The 484-page draft NEP report has been prepared by a committee led by eminent scientist K A Kasturirangan. On May 31, HRD ministry shared it with public for comments. Last date for submitting suggestions regarding new draft education policy is July 1, 2019.

Although the report deals with all aspects of school education, higher education and professional education, greater emphasis is given to school education. Further even in school system, early childhood education, which has been more or less totally neglected so far, is given the highest priority. This is influenced by the fact that over 85% of cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of six and early childhood education is relevant for the 85 % of student population.

It is well known that India’s education system is plagued by a number of problems and shortcomings such as huge dropout rates, shortage in the number of teachers, incompetent curriculum and so on. The “learning crisis” is very deep. The education system, in both public and private domain, has been deteriorating rapidly and has affected the quality of our human resources. If this trend is not reversed, the dysfunctional system will become more and more expensive (cause of poverty for family instead enabler of prosperity) and will  not deliver the goods. Reversal of trend requires a huge commitment and conviction to make it happen.

The draft NEP acknowledges it and calls it a “severe learning crisis” in India, where children in primary school fail to attain basic math and reading skills. Two goals have been made to remedy this. Firstly, high-quality early childhood care and education will be provided for all children between the ages of three and six by 2025 ( making it part of education department and RTE act). This will be done within schools and anganwadis, which will take care of the overall well-being of the child, be it nutritional, health, or education. Secondly, every student will get foundational literacy by 2025 to address the issue of students not being able to read, write and do elementary math.  

The policy recommends community and volunteer participation in collaboration with schools to overcome the current crisis. Schools generally work in isolation from the community they serve. Not making parents and the larger community partners in the child’s learning process aggravates the learning crisis, at least in the early years. To remedy, it makes a rather bizarre proposal that parents become de-facto regulators of private schools instead of the state. But Poor and neo-literate parents cannot be expected to hold the onus of ensuring that much morepowerful and resourced schools comply with quality, safety and equity norms.

In this regard I recollect that, approximately 3 years back, Allahabad High Court had given a ruling that was historic. Ruling was all wards (son and daughters) of Government Servants, Judges and Elected Members must study only in government schools. Those who do not obey this order will have to deposit money with the govt. equivalent to fees paid in private school. Order was to be implemented by next session. The ruling  came while disposing a petition, which drew attention to poor conditions of Govt. schools in terms of infrastructure and lack of teachers in UP and asked courts direction to improve the same. Court observed that previous directions have failed to improve the situation and felt that unless the wards of the authorities who are responsible for improvement go to these schools, situation will not improve. Such direction could not be implemented but they rightly point out the basic lacuna in our public education delivery system (extended to health and transport sector etc).

Unfortunately, India in terms of services, has virtually divided in 2 -3 parts. Affluent and people with influence have developed all these services (world class/ affordable) for themselves outside the government network. Slowly-slowly over the years, especially after liberalization of 1991, government services in any area be it in education, health, transport or any other area came to be identified as work and duty of welfare state directed towards poor. They were/are provided below cost also. So to reduce burden, people who could afford were kept out. This has generated vicious circle. Govt. services for poor and so of poor quality. This must be reversed but draft policy is silent about it. The fact that India has the world’s most differentiated school system with at least nine types of schools (from the low-end Ashramshala to the expensive and exclusive international schools) that align with varied socio-economic classes and which defies any attempt to make education a leveler for a deeply hierarchical society is not addressed. Basically, we need to change (feudal) mind set of division of Ruler and Ruled. And this is not a Problem of UP, nor restricted to primary education only. Once this is changed and only through this situation can improve and not by HC directive.

Unfortunately, the policy specifically promotes private schools, yet there is scarce evidence worldwide to suggest that private schools by definition deliver better quality, let alone, equitable education. Private schools often appear to do better because they enroll children from relatively advantaged backgrounds who can afford to pay and not because they deliver better quality of education. Recentresearch from India suggests that the gender gap in private enrolment is on the rise, even as it is reducing in government schools. The policy could have instead reiterated the need for extension of the public school network to address the hitherto unreached populations in remote areas and urban slums where low fees private schools flourish. It could have also more holistically addressed the aspirations of India’s middle class within a strengthened public education system. Data for countries relatively richer than India shows that systems with low levels of competition have higher social inclusion and that upward social mobility is higher in government systems.

While 1986 education policy standardized school education with its push for a uniform 10+2 structure, the 2018 draft pitches for reconfiguration to a “5+3+3+4”  ( globally accepted) design, which recognizes different stages of development of cognitive abilities in children. This corresponds to the age groups 3-8 years (foundational stage), 8-11 (preparatory stage), 11-14 (middle stage), and 14-18 (secondary stage). It adds that the choice among science, arts and commerce should be delayed so that it is based on a student’s experience and interests and not dictated by parents and society. It is at the High School stage where there is complete transformation recommended.  In future Board examinations will allow students to sit for the examination twice in any given school year and “Eventually, multiple attempts for Board examinations would be allowed”, with modular approach and semester system. With the elimination of public examinations, it will be the end of coaching schools. All schools will be accredited as per the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework.

Calling to transit the higher education system into ‘world-class’ levels, the report makes the simplistic and deeply problematic (given the mass of educated unemployed and trends in new industrial and work systems) call to increase gross enrolment rates of higher education to 50% of the population by 2035. Why we do have passion for degree when we know we cannot employ them. Presently, against the requirement of 1-1.5 lacs engineering graduates we are producing app. 14 lacs engineering graduates. Further, when we talk about quality, and general public is apprehensive about it due to reservation by caste, nobody is talking dilution of quality due to management quota system etc. Draft National Education Policy moots all-India entrance tests for UG courses in public colleges. Recommended system seems to have some similarities to the SAT, standardized aptitudes test widely used for admissions to colleges and universities in the United States. The SAT, however, is used as a criterion alongside school grades.

Theoretically, higher education is where new knowledge is produced through research and the raw material for curricular renewal and teacher preparation is generated.Currently our universities take no interest in elementary or secondary education except bemoan their quality. Similarly, elementary level teachers do not feel responsible to equip children with secondary level. The same is true in relation to secondary and college level. Every part of education system is working in isolation or vacuum, does not feel that it is part of whole education system and education system does not feel it is part of society.

Our education system has catered to need of other. In short it is an export industry. (That is why sadly it is disappointing that agriculture education received short-shrift in NEP indicating the lack of imaginaries to see the key role that India’s diverse agricultural systems can play and the possibilities that lie in fostering new forms of rural-urban and agriculture-industry linkages.) In an inequitable and diverse country such as our social needs differ from region to region. By aggregating ourselves as nation, we lose both sight and grip of the problem our system of education faces: namely it is indifference to the milieu. At every level we notice how educating geared to export of talent is, from village to towns, from provincial towns to metro cities and from metro to overseas. Graduate person do not wish to settle in village and do farming. Our IITans go abroad; our medicos not ready to serve villages and so on. Seed of such problem was sown quite early after independence, when in every sector (in absence of private sector) and in neglect of need of poor, govt. gave priority to Higher education (IIT etc), Best Health services (AIMS) and so on overlooking primary education, primary health center and so on. Result is everyone to see, we are a nation having succeeded in sending Mangalyan in first attempt, but we are also a nation with highest number of hungry people in world and there rate of decrease is far less than in other nation. Learning has little meaning if it does not create sense of engagement with milieu. Unfortunately NEP does not address this problem. Further in the name of standardization, there are many provisions in NEP which will make this problem more acute and we cannot justify it by saying it promotes mobility and economic progress.

While the draft recommends continuance of the three-language formula, it has proposed flexibility in the choice of languages, as long as students can show proficiency in any three languages. However, when English is a pan-Indian language, why should it not be recognized as a national language of India and its teaching expanded by making it the medium of instruction for more subjects in government schools? Policy endorses the idea that English (just another subject while the medium of instruction will be the language of each state). Why this difference of medium for govt and private schools. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has already promised to make all government schools English-medium with one compulsory subject in Telugu. If he does that, Andhra Pradesh will be a model state. In such a situation, why not adopt a two language policy – English and one regional language? And teach it more rigorously to all children in the tribal areas? Why not make all private schools also teach two languages equally – English and the regional language of the state where the schools operate? Across India, people in the future could then speak in English to those from other regions while within their state; they could speak both their regional language and English. That is what Tamil Nadu is doing.

Teacher preparation for all school stages will be offered only in multidisciplinary universities through a four-year programme, with the curricula and processes being revamped to address current issues with teacher preparation. Institutions currently offering the two-year programme will either transition to this mode or be phased out; no new two-year programmes will be given recognition.

While the policy talks about the need to bring “unrepresented groups" into school and focus on educationally lagging “special education zones", it misses a critical opportunity of addressing inequalities within the education system. It misses to provide solutions to close the gap of access to quality education between India’s rich and poor children. It proposes to remove the expectations that all schools meet common minimum infrastructure and facility standards, and that primary schools be within a stipulated distance from children’s homes.

It does look forward-looking, but what the final draft needs to do is differentiate between deregulation and liberalization. The incentive for the private sector to invest, grow and stand on quality parameters needs to be clearly articulated," What is and Why is there but missing in the NEP, as with much policy thinking, is the critical ‘how’. Just as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and RTE Act were targeted measures to address the issue of access to elementary education, the government needs a similar approach to improve the quality of education.

The ideas proposed are progressive, but there could be roadblocks in their implementation relating to funding requirements and governance architecture. The new government must priorities implementation as much as, if not more than, developing new policies. Unless there is a vibrant movement to support the NEP, it will remain a pipe dream, and India would have a lost another golden opportunity to usher in a million mutinies in the education sector, as recommended by the NEP The NEP, if implemented fully, will completely transform India’s education. There will be no fear of one examination deciding the destiny of a student. Going to school will be enjoyable, and not boring like today. Students will have far more flexibility to select courses. Rote-learning will be replaced by creative thinking. Minimum bureaucracy,less regulation and less scope for corruption. Only honest elected leaders will opt to become education ministers.

In order to drive the vision of the NEP and to facilitate the efficient and holistic implementation of the NEP, a high-level body called the Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog (National Education Commission) headed by the Prime Minister has been proposed. This body will be responsible for developing, articulating, implementing, evaluating and revising the vision of education in the country on a continuous and sustained basis.