NITI Aayog and Bharti Foundation announce the launch of ‘Convoke 2021-22’

• Convoke is a National research Symposium which aims at addressing challenges in imparting education and strengthening its quality with special focus on all teachers, educationists, heads of schools across India.
• Through this platform, School Teachers/ Heads/Principals of Government Schools and teachers from Bharti Foundation network will be encouraged to use research-based solutions through scientific approach, and showcase their efforts taken at the grass-root level in improving learning outcomes.

• The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also recognises and identifies teachers and faculty as the heart of the learning process.
• It recommends that teachers will be recognised for novel approaches to teaching that improve learning outcomes in their classrooms.
• NEP recommends to develop platforms so that teachers may share ideas and best practices for wider dissemination and replication.

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

• The Union Cabinet has approved the new National Education Policy 2020 with an aim to introduce several changes in the Indian education system – from the school to the college level.

• Its aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”.

• The Cabinet has also approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Education.

• The New Education Policy cleared by the Cabinet is only the third major revamp of the framework of education in India since independence.

• The two earlier education policies were brought in 1968 and 1986.

• The National Education Policy as submitted by the Kasturirangan Committee submitted an education policy that seeks to address the following challenges facing the existing education system:

1. Quality
2. Affordability
3. Equity
4. Access
5. Accountability

• The policy provides for reforms at all levels of education from school to higher education.
• NEP aims to increase the focus on strengthening teacher training, reforming the existing exam system, early childhood care and restructuring the regulatory framework of education.

Other intentions of the NEP include:

• Increasing public investment in education,
• Setting up NEC (National Education Commission),
• Increasing focus on vocational and adult education,
• Strengthening the use of technology, etc.

School Education:

• Universalization of education from preschool to secondary level with 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
• To bring 2 crore out of school children back into the mainstream through an open schooling system.
• The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
• It will bring the uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child.
• It will also have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
• Class 10 and 12 board examinations to be made easier, to test core competencies rather than memorised facts, with all students allowed to take the exam twice.
• School governance is set to change, with a new accreditation framework and an independent authority to regulate both public and private schools.
• Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in schools.
• Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with Internships.
• Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/regional language. No language will be imposed on any student.
• Assessment reforms with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes
• A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) 2021, will be formulated by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in consultation with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
• By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.

Higher Education:

• Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50% by 2035. Also, 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
• The current Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 26.3%.
• Holistic Undergraduate education with a flexible curriculum can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.
• M.Phil courses will be discontinued and all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level will now be interdisciplinary.
• Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits.
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
• The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.

Issues Related to NEP 2020

1. Knowledge-Jobs Mismatch: There is a persistent mismatch between the knowledge & skills imparted and the jobs available. This has been one of the main challenges that have affected the Indian education system since Independence.

• NEP 2020 failed to check this, as it is silent on education related to emerging technological fields like artificial intelligence, cyberspace, nanotech, etc.

2. The Requirement of Enormous Resources. An ambitious target of public spending at 6% of GDP has been set. Mobilising financial resources will be a big challenge, given the low tax-to-GDP ratio and competing claims on the national exchequer of healthcare, national security and other key sectors.