Academicians split over new National Education Policy

The new National Educational Policy (NEP) passed by the Union Cabinet on July 29 has thrown the academic community into turmoil with some supporting the long-awaited changes and others opposing it for its alleged exclusionary character.

The policy has introduced some sweeping changes in the overall educational system of the country right from primary to higher education. Some of the significant changes include the scrapping of MPhil programmes, shifting from 10+2 structure to 5+3+3+4 structure, offering multi-disciplinary courses in colleges and universities with multiple exit points and choosing regional languages as the medium of instruction till Class 5.

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Some of the suggested changes at school level are the introduction of grades over marks, coding from Class 6 and vocational education so as to have a holistic development rather than rote-learning.

While school teachers have praised the ambitious policy, implementation of the same has given everyone a pause.

Expressing her concerns at the new policy, Paramita Chakraborty, an English teacher at a prominent school in Kolkata said, “The no marks policy is a good point however with a grading system there might be a potential generalisation. There needs to be ancillary tools or attitudinal tests that supplement the grading system.”

The policy also reflects the American education system and lacks an indigenous touch, she noted.

Another concern for Chakraborty was the choice to instruct students in the regional language until Class 5. As students shifted from vernacular language to English, some students may not be able to cope with the change easily, she said, which might contribute to drop out rates.

Pointing out logistical difficulties that will crop up during the implementation of the policy, Paulami Mondal, a teacher at Harma Jaminibala Balika Vidyamandir Secondary School near Kolkata, said that training teachers to adjust to the new policy will be the imperative now.

For this, the recruitment procedure needs to be more streamlined. Moreover, to empower them, teachers need to be given the incentive to pursue higher education. “In the current scenario, teachers are not encouraged to study further. However, I feel that teachers need to pursue higher education. They need to be trained so that they can be sensitive towards matters of caste, class and gender, only then can the new policy be truly effective,” she added.

Implementation of the policy is a major concern for some universities. On August 7, the CBSE director Biswajit Saha announced that the National Curriculum Framework will be responsible for the formulation of a framework through which the new NEP can be realised.

At the moment, the policy sets a time period of two years within which Institutes of Eminence such as the Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, IITs, Jadavpur University, University of Hyderabad and Anna University are supposed to implement the policy.

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Talking about the effect NEP will have on college admissions in the coming years, DUTA’s president, Professor Rajib Ray, said, “No academic council or discussion has taken place on how to formulate the policy decision yet. If standardised tests are implemented, it may not be the best solution for a country as diverse as India. Standardised test or a series of tests for different subjects or universities will facilitate the mushrooming of tuition centres.”

The policy also aims to invest six percent of the GDP as recommended by the Kothari Commission in 1968. As calculated in 2018, around 4.43 percent of the GDP is invested in the education sector. The policy also aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio from 26.8 percent in higher education (including vocational training) to 50 percent by 2035.

Commenting on this, Professor MD Monirul Islam of Presidency University, Kolkata, said, “We don’t have enough colleges or universities to facilitate such a huge group of students yet. The first thing that is required is a huge investment on behalf of the government. If the government invests enough in infrastructure, employing faculty members and in developing other things that will give access to such a huge number of students only then will the policy will have any positive change.”

While some of the changes are welcome, a number of steps outlined by the policy are worrisome and ominous, Professor Islam noted. For instance, the commercialisation and corporatisation of education, which this policy facilitates, might stop the upward mobility of lower-class people. Scientific temperament finds little mention while the word “secular” is completely missing from the document, he stated.

Stressing on the practical aspect of education, Professor Anil Mishra of the Lucknow University, lauded the much-awaited changes to the NEP.

“The only question I have is, why did they take so long to go for this policy. We have been following a pattern that did not give a holistic understanding or knowledge,” he said.

Giving the example of History, he said the maximum of the learning is not used later. Right now, the focus should be on practical knowledge and how it can be used later in life. “It does not make sense to learn who Akbar was and what he did. Of course, students should have an idea about what happened in the past but the maximum of this is not used later in life. I would say that this should have been implemented at least 20-30 years back,” he added.

The government plans to implement the policy in its entirety in another 20 years.