It would be wrong to believe that all colleges have complied with the call given by the Meghalaya College Teachers’ Association (MCTA) not to implement the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 from this academic year. Several colleges in other districts of Meghalaya have started implementing the NEP because their principals see merit in it, but, more importantly because they do not want to leave the students in the lurch. After all, they argue that there is a major shift in the NEP where the 5+3+3+4 will replace the existing 10+2 structure. Besides, the Government wants to make schooling available to everyone and this should be an incentive for Meghalaya where the dropout rate is very high. Government envisages that nearly two crore school students will be able to come back to educational institutes through this new approach.
The NEP focuses on student’s formative years of learning. The 5+3+3+4 structure corresponds to ages from 3 to 8, 8 to 11, 11 to 14 and 14 to 18 which means 12 years of schooling with 3 years of Anganwadi and pre-schooling being included in this structure. For children up to 8 years a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education will be designed and developed by NCERT.According to the NEP the Education Ministry is to set up a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. The responsibility for successful implementation for achieving the foundation numeracy and literacy for all students till class three would devolve to the states and is scheduled to be done by 2025. One of the merits of NEP 2020 is the formation of the National Book Promotion Policy in India. Also appropriate authorities will conduct the school examinations for grades 3, 5 and 8. The board exams for grades 10 and 12 will continue but the NEP 2020 aims to re-design the structure with holistic development.
This new plan focuses on setting up a Gender Inclusion Fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups. The NEP will also see the setting up of multi-disciplinary Education and Research Universities at par with the IITs and IIMs to introduce multidisciplinary academics. The same yardsticks will be used for accreditation and regulations to guide both the public and private academic bodies. Phase wise college affiliation and autonomy will be granted to colleges. By 2030, it will be mandatory to have at least a 4-year B. Ed degree for joining the occupation of teaching. Also the Policy looks at more online classes so that students are prepared for future emergencies.
Some drawbacks of the NEP is the use of the mother tongue as a teaching method which will deprive the classrooms of diversity. Ironically students of private schools would be introduced to English early on. This will create a chasm between those communicating in English and others who don’t and it might affect the chances of the latter when entering the job market. Also since there is a choice between a full graduation and a diploma many students might opt for the latter. These drawbacks may need to be remedied. However, since the new education policy comes after 30 years and its aim is to make the academic system at par with international standards it cannot be rejected lock, stock and barrel.
