TNI Bureau: After a long gap of 34 years, the New Education Policy has been announced in India. The Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has been renamed as the Ministry of Education.
The New Education Policy 2020 has promised drastic reforms in the field of Education making it flexible for the students as well as Teachers. The Education Policy has been streamlined to make it more interesting and ensure personality development of the students and encourage them to find their way.
Key Highlights:
? Board exams to be based on knowledge application – to be conducted in two parts, Objective and descriptive.
? MPhil courses to be discontinued.
? All higher education institutions, except legal and medical colleges, to be governed by single regulator.
? Common entrance exams to be held for admission to universities and higher education institutions.
? Home language, mother tongue or regional language to be medium of instruction up to class 5.
? School curriculum to be reduced to core concepts; integration of vocational education from class 6.
? Prior to the age of 5 every child will move to a “Preparatory Class” or “Balavatika” (that is, before Class 1).
? Students will get 360 degree holistic report card, which will include their skills and other important points apart from marks.
? Focus will be on development of nutrition and health (including mental health) of children.
? Education will become more interactive with participation of Students and sharing of ideas.
? Students will get choice of subjects to study in secondary schools, which may include physical education, arts, crafts and vocational skills.
? There will be no hard separation between various streams such as Arts & Sciences, Curricular and Extra Curricular activities, Vocation and Academic Streams.
? There will be multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification
? UG education can be of 3/4 years with multiple exit options. For ex.Certificate after 1 year, Advanced Diploma after 2 yrs, Bachelor’s Degree after 3 yrs & Bachelor’s with Research after 4 years.
? High performing Indian universities to be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries.
? Selected Top Ranked universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.
? Lok Vidya’, i.e., important vocational knowledge developed in India, will be made accessible to students.
? A National Research Foundation (NRF) will be established. It will enable a culture of research to permeate through universities.
? The extant 10+2 structure in school education will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18.
? There will e-content in regional language apart from English and Hindi. E courses will be offered in eight major languages.
? A National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 will be developed by NCERT.
? Students of class 6 and onwards will be taught coding in schools.
? National Testing Agency (NTA) to offer a high-quality common aptitude test, as well as specialized common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects twice a year.
? Apps, online courses/modules, satellite-based TV channels, online books, and ICT-equipped libraries and Adult Education Centres to be developed.