How does the National Education Policy propose to improve the education system? Here are edited
excerpts from the policy document that will throw light on the subject

Team TLT

A learning crisis at the school level which has been brought to light by various studies and reports such as , have emphasised the importance of changes that have to be made in school education as well as higher education. The new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 highlights learning outcomes for every student apart from proposing several structural, curricular and pedagogical changes.

Here are some of the key takeaways in the NEP 2020 pertaining to school education:

NEP 2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century.

It lays special emphasis on developing the creative potential of each individual. It is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities – literacy, numeracy and ‘higher-order’ thinking skills – but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.

The teacher must be at the centre of the fundamental reforms in the education system. NEP 2020 must help re-establish teachers as the most respected and essential members of our society, because they truly shape our next generation of citizens. It must do everything to empower teachers and help them to do their job effectively.

Vision
NEP 2020 “envisions an education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all, and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower. The Policy envisages that the curriculum and pedagogy of our institutions must develop among the students a deep sense of respect towards the Fundamental Duties and Constitutional values, bonding with one’s country, and a conscious awareness of one’s roles and responsibilities in a changing world. The vision of the Policy is to instill among the learners a deep-rooted pride in being Indian, not only in thought, but also in spirit, intellect, and deeds, as well as to develop knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions that support responsible commitment to human rights, sustainable development and living, and global well-being, thereby reflecting a truly global citizen.”

School education
Currently, children in the age group of 3-6 are not covered in the 10+2 structure as Class 1 begins at age 6. In the new 5+3+3+4 structure, a strong base of early childhood care and education (ECCE) from age 3 is also included, which is aimed at promoting better overall learning, development, and well-being.

Nurturing children early
Over 85 per cent of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of 6, indicating the critical importance of appropriate care and stimulation of the brain in the early years in order to ensure healthy brain development and growth.

At the moment, quality ECCE is not available to crores of young children, particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Strong investment in ECCE has the potential to give all young children such access, enabling them to participate and flourish in the educational system throughout their lives.

ECCE ideally consists of flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and inquiry-
based learning, comprising alphabets, languages, numbers, counting, colours, shapes, indoor and outdoor play, puzzles and logical thinking, problem-solving, drawing, painting and other visual art, craft, drama and puppetry, music and movement. It also includes a focus on developing social capacities, sensitivity, good behaviour, courtesy, ethics, personal and public cleanliness, teamwork and cooperation. ECCE’s overall aim will be to attain optimal outcomes in the domains of: physical and motor development, cognitive development, socio- emotional-ethical development, cultural/artistic development, and the development of communication and early language, literacy and numeracy.

A National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education for children up to the age of eight will be developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in two parts, namely, a sub-framework for 0-3 year-olds, and a sub-framework for 3-8 year-olds, aligned with the above guidelines, the latest research on ECCE, and national and global best practices.

ECCE shall be delivered through a significantly expanded and strengthened system of early-childhood education institutions comprising (a) stand-alone Anganwadis; (b) Anganwadis co-located with primary schools; (c) pre-primary schools/sections covering at least age 5-6 years co-located with existing primary schools; and (d) stand-alone pre-schools – all of which would recruit workers/teachers specially trained in the curriculum and pedagogy of ECCE.

It is envisaged that prior to the age of five, every child will move to a “preparatory class or Balavatika”
(that is, before Class 1), which has an ECCE- qualified teacher. The learning in the preparatory class will be based primarily on playbased learning with a focus on developing cognitive, affective and psychomotor abilities and early literacy and numeracy.

To prepare an initial cadre of high-quality ECCE teachers in Anganwadis, current Anganwadi workers/teachers will be trained through a systematic effort in accordance with the curricular/ pedagogical framework developed by NCERT. Anganwadi workers/teachers with qualifications of 10+2 and above shall be given a 6-month certificate programme in ECCE; and those with lower educational qualifications shall be given a one-year diploma programme covering early literacy, numeracy and other relevant aspects of ECCE.

The responsibility for ECCE curriculum and pedagogy will lie with the Ministry of Education to ensure its continuity from pre-primary school through primary school, and to ensure due attention to the foundational aspects of education. The planning and implementation of ECCE curriculum will be carried out jointly by the Ministries of Education, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW) and Tribal Affairs.

Foundational literacy, numeracy
Attaining foundational literacy and numeracy for all children will thus become an urgent national mission, with immediate measures to be taken on many fronts and with clear goals that will be attained in the short term.

To this end, a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be set up by the Ministry of Education on priority. Accordingly, all State/UT governments will immediately prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools.

First, teacher vacancies will be filled at the earliest, in a time-bound manner – especially in disadvantaged areas and areas with large pupil- to-teacher ratios or high rates of illiteracy. Special attention will be given to employing local teachers or those familiar with local languages. A pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of under 30:1 will be ensured at the level of each school; areas having large numbers of socio-economically disadvantaged students will aim for a PTR of under 25:1.

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Teachers will be trained, encouraged, and supported with continuous professional development to impart foundational literacy and numeracy.

Teacher education and the early grade curriculum will be redesigned to have a renewed emphasis on foundational literacy and numeracy.

Currently, with the lack of universal access to ECCE, a large proportion of children already fall behind within the first few weeks of Grade 1. Thus, to ensure that all students are schoolready, an interim three-month play-based ‘school preparation module’ for all Grade 1 students, consisting of activities and workbooks around the learning of alphabets, sounds, words, colours, shapes, and numbers, and involving collaborations with peers and parents, will be developed by NCERT and SCERTs.

A national repository of high-quality resources for foundational literacy and numeracy will be made available on the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA). Technological interventions to serve as aids to teachers and to help bridge any language barriers that may exist between teachers and students will be piloted and implemented.

Peer tutoring can be taken up as a voluntary and joyful activity for fellow students under the supervision of trained teachers and by taking due care of safety aspects. Additionally, it will also be made far easier for trained volunteers from both the local community and beyond – to participate in this large-scale mission. Every literate member of the community could commit to teaching one student/person how to read. It would change the country’s landscape very quickly.

Enjoyable and inspirational books for students at all levels will be developed, including through high-quality translation (technology-assisted as needed) in all local and Indian languages, and will be made available extensively in both school and local public libraries.

Digital libraries will also be established. School libraries will be set up – particularly in villages – to serve the community during non-school hours, and book clubs may meet in public/ school libraries to further facilitate and promote widespread reading.

Children are unable to learn optimally when they are under-nourished or unwell. Hence, the nutrition and health (including mental health) of children will be addressed through healthy meals and the introduction of welltrained social workers, counsellors and community involvement in the schooling system.

Curtailing dropout rates
One of the primary goals of the schooling system must be to ensure that children are enrolled in and are attending school. Through initiatives such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (now Samagra Shiksha) and the Right to Education Act, India has made remarkable strides in recent years in attaining near-universal enrolment in elementary education.

However, the data for later grades indicates some serious issues in retaining children in the schooling system. The gross enrolment ratio (GER) for Grades 6-8 was 90.9 per cent, while for Grades 9-10 and 11-12 it was only 79.3 per cent and 56.5 per cent, respectively – indicating that a significant proportion of enrolled students drop out after Grade 5 and especially after Grade 8. As per the 75th round household survey by NSSO in 2017-18, the number of children out of school in the age group of 6 to 17 years is 3.22 crore. It will be a top priority to bring these children back into the educational
fold as early as possible, and to prevent further students from dropping out, with a goal to achieve 100 per cent GER from pre-school to secondary level by 2030.

There are two overall initiatives that will be undertaken to bring children who have dropped out back to school and to prevent further children from dropping out. The first is to provide effective and sufficient infrastructure so that all students have access to safe and engaging school education at all levels from pre-primary school to Grade 12. Besides providing regular trained teachers at each stage, special care will be taken to ensure that no school remains deficient on infrastructure support. The credibility of Government schools will be re-established. This will be attained by upgrading and enlarging the schools that already exist, building additional quality schools in areas where they do not exist, and providing safe and practical conveyances and/or hostels, especially for the girl children.

The second is to achieve universal participation in school by carefully tracking students, as well as their learning levels, in order to ensure that they (a) are enrolled in and attending school, and (b) have suitable opportunities to catch up and re-enter school in case they have fallen behind or dropped out. For providing equitable and quality education from the Foundational Stage through Grade 12 to all children up to the age of 18, suitable facilitating systems shall be put in place. Counsellors or well-trained social workers connected to schools/school complexes and teachers will continuously work
with students and their parents and will travel through and engage with communities to ensure that all school-age children are attending and learning in school.

To facilitate learning for all students, with special emphasis on socio-economically disadvantaged groups, the scope of school education will be broadened to facilitate multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non-formal education modes. Open and Distance Learning programmes offered by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and State Open Schools will be expanded and strengthened to meet the learning needs of young people in India who are not able to attend a physical school. NIOS and State Open Schools will offer the following programmes in addition to the present programmes: A, B and C levels that are equivalent to Grades 3, 5 and 8 of the formal school system; secondary education programmes that are equivalent to Grades 10 and 12; vocational education courses/programmes; and adult literacy and life-enrichment programmes. States will be encouraged to develop these offerings in regional languages by establishing new/strengthening existing State Institutes of Open Schooling (SIOS).

Curriculum and pedagogy
Learning should be holistic, integrated, enjoyable and engaging.

The curricular and pedagogical structure of school education will be reconfigured to make it responsive and relevant to the developmental needs and interests of learners at different stages of their development, corresponding to the age ranges of 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years. The curricular and pedagogical structure and the curricular framework for school education will therefore be guided by a 5+3+3+4 design, consisting of the

Foundational Stage (in two parts, that is, three years of Anganwadi/pre-school + two years in primary school in Grades 1-2; both together covering ages 3-8

Preparatory Stage (Grades 3-5, covering ages 8-11)

Middle Stage (Grades 6-8, covering ages 11-14), and

Secondary Stage (Grades 9-12 in two phases, i.e., 9 and 10 in the first and 11 and 12 in the second, covering ages 14-18).

The Foundational Stage will consist of five years of flexible, multi-level, play/activity-based learning nd
the curriculum and pedagogy of ECCE.

The Preparatory Stage will comprise three years of education building on the play, discovery and activity- based pedagogical and curricular style of the Foundational Stage, and will also begin to incorporate some light text books as well as aspects of more formal but interactive classroom learning, in order to lay a solid groundwork across subjects, including reading, writing, speaking, physical education, art, languages, science and mathematics.

The Middle Stage will comprise three years of education, building on the pedagogical and curricular style of the Preparatory Stage, but with the introduction of subject teachers for learning and discussion of the more abstract concepts in each subject that students will be ready for at this stage across the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences and humanities. Experiential learning within each subject, and explorations of relations among different subjects, will be encouraged and emphasised despite the introduction of more specialised subjects and subject teachers.

The Secondary Stage will comprise four years of multidisciplinary study, building on the subject-oriented pedagogical and curricular style of the Middle Stage, but with greater depth, greater critical thinking, greater attention to life aspirations, greater flexibility, and student choice of subjects. In particular, students would continue to have the option of exiting after Grade 10 and re-entering the next phase to pursue vocational or any other courses available in Grades 11-12, including at a more specialised school, if so desired.

The key overall thrust of curriculum and pedagogy reform across all stages will be to move the education system towards real understanding and towards learning how to learn – and away from the culture of rote learning as is largely present today. The aim of education will not only be cognitive development, but also building character and creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with the key 21st century skills.

Curriculum frameworks and transaction mechanisms will be developed to ensure that these skills and values are imbibed through the engaging processes of teaching and learning. NCERT will identify these required skill sets and include mechanisms for their transaction in the National Curriculum Framework for early childhood and school education.

Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based and analysis-based learning. The mandated content will focus on key concepts, ideas, applications and problem-solving. Teaching and learning will be conducted in a more interactive manner; questions will be encouraged, and classroom sessions will regularly contain more fun, creative, collaborative, and exploratory activities for students for deeper and more experiential learning.

In all stages, experiential learning will be adopted, including hands-on learning, arts-integrated and
sports-integrated education, story-telling-based pedagogy among others, as standard pedagogy within each subject, and with explorations of relations among different subjects. To close the gap in achievement of learning outcomes, classroom transactions will shift towards competency-based learning and education.

Art integration is a cross-curricular pedagogical approach that utilises various aspects and forms of art and culture as the basis for learning of concepts across subjects.

Sports integration is another cross-curricular pedagogical approach that utilises physical activities including indigenous sports, in pedagogical practices to help in developing skills such as collaboration, self-initiative, self-direction, self-discipline, teamwork, responsibility, citizenship, etc.

Each of the four stages of school education, in accordance with what may be possible in different regions, may consider moving towards a semester or any other system that allows the inclusion of shorter modules, or courses that are taught on alternate days, in order to allow an exposure to more subjects and enable greater flexibility.

Focus on home/local languages
Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/ regional language. This will be followed by both public and private schools.

Teachers will be encouraged to use a bilingual approach, including bilingual teaching-learning materials, with those students whose home language may be different from the medium of instruction.

All languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, with plenty of interactive conversation, and with early reading and subsequently writing in the mother tongue in the early years, and with skills developed for reading and writing in other languages in Grade 3 and beyond. There will be a major effort from both the Central and State governments to invest in large numbers of language teachers in all regional languages around the country, and, in particular, for all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

States from different regions of India may enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers in large numbers from each other, to satisfy the three-language formula in their respective States, and also to encourage the study of Indian languages across the country. Extensive use of technology will be made for teaching and learning of different languages and to popularise language learning.

The three-language formula will continue to be implemented while keeping in mind Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions, and the Union, and the need to promote multilingualism
as well as promote national unity. However, there will be a greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and no language will be imposed on any State. The three languages learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and of course the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India.

As so many developed countries around the world have amply demonstrated, being well educated in one’s language, culture, and traditions is not a detriment but indeed a huge benefit to educational, social and technological advancement.

Curricular integration: Making learning fun
In addition to proficiency in languages, these skills include: scientific temper and evidence-based thinking; creativity and innovativeness; sense of aesthetics and art; oral and written communication; health and nutrition; physical education, fitness, wellness, and sports; collaboration and teamwork; problem-solving and logical reasoning; vocational exposure and skills; digital literacy, coding, and computational thinking; ethical and moral reasoning; knowledge and practice of human and Constitutional values; gender sensitivity; Fundamental Duties; citizenship skills and values; knowledge of India; environmental awareness including water and resource conservation, sanitation and hygiene; and current affairs and knowledge of critical issues facing local communities, States, the country, and the world.

Mathematics and computational thinking will be given increased emphasis throughout the school years, starting with the foundational stage, through a variety of innovative methods, including the regular use of puzzles and games that make mathematical thinking more enjoyable and engaging.

Every student will take a fun course during Grades 6-8 that gives a survey and hands-on experience of a sampling of important vocational crafts, such as carpentry, electric work, metal work, gardening, pottery making, etc., as decided by States and local communities and as mapped by local skilling needs. A practice- based curriculum for Grades 6-8 will be appropriately designed by NCERT while framing the National Curricular Framework for School Education, NCFSE 2020-21.

Every student in the country will participate in a fun project/activity on ‘The Languages of India’,
sometime in Grades 6-8, such as, under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ initiative. In this project/ activity, students will learn about the remarkable unity of most of the major Indian languages, starting with their common phonetic and scientifically-arranged alphabets and scripts, their common grammatical structures, their origins and sources of vocabularies from Sanskrit and other classical languages, as well as their rich inter-influences and differences.

All students will participate in a 10-day bagless period sometime during Grades 6-8 where they intern with local vocational experts such as carpenters, gardeners, potters, artists, etc.

‘Knowledge of India’ will include knowledge from ancient India, its contributions to modern India, its successes and challenges, and a clear sense of India’s future aspirations with regard to education, health, environment, etc. These elements will be incorporated in an accurate and scientific manner throughout the school curriculum wherever relevant; in particular, Indian Knowledge Systems, including tribal knowledge and indigenous and traditional ways of learning, will be covered and included in mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, yoga, architecture, medicine, agriculture, engineering, linguistics, literature, sports and games, as well as in governance, polity and conservation.

Students will be taught at a young age the importance of “doing what’s right”, and will be given
a logical framework for making ethical decisions. In later years, this would then be expanded along themes of cheating, violence, plagiarism, littering, tolerance, equality, empathy, etc., with a view to enabling children to embrace moral/ethical values in conducting one’s life, formulate a position/argument about an ethical issue from multiple perspectives, and use ethical practices in all work.

National Curriculum Framework
The formulation of a new and comprehensive NCFSE 2020-21, will be undertaken by the NCERT based on the principles of NEP 2020, frontline curriculum needs, and after discussions with all stakeholders including State Governments, Ministries, relevant Departments of the Central Government, and other expert bodies. It will be made available in all regional languages. The NCFSE document will be revisited and updated once every 5-10 years, taking into account frontline curriculum.

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National textbooks, local content
All textbooks will aim to contain the essential core material (together with discussion, analysis, examples and applications) deemed important on a national level, but at the same time contain any desired nuances and supplementary material as per local contexts and needs. Where possible, schools and teachers will also have choices in the textbooks they employ – from among a set of textbooks that contain the requisite national and local material – so that they may teach in a manner that is best suited to their own pedagogical styles as well as to their students and communities’ needs.

High-quality textbook materials will be developed by NCERT in conjunction with the SCERTs.

States will prepare their own curricula (based on the NCFSE to the extent possible) and prepare textbooks (based on the NCERT textbook materials to the extent possible), incorporating State flavour and content as needed. It must be borne in mind that the NCERT curriculum would be taken as the nationally acceptable criterion.

Transforming assessment
The aim of assessment in the culture of our schooling system will shift from one that is summative and primarily tests rote memorisation skills to one that is more regular and formative, is more competency-based, promotes learning and development and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity.

The progress card of all students for schoolbased assessment, which is communicated by schools to parents, will be completely redesigned by States/UTs under guidance from the proposed National Assessment Centre, NCERT and SCERTs. The progress card will be a holistic, 360-degree, multidimensional report that reflects in great detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.

AI-based software could be developed and used by students to help track their growth through their school years based on learning data and interactive questionnaires for parents, students, and teachers, in order to provide students with valuable information on their strengths, areas of interest, and needed areas of focus, and to thereby help them make optimal career choices.

While the Board exams for Grades 10 and 12 will be continued, the existing system of Board and entrance examinations shall be reformed to eliminate the need for undertaking coaching classes. To reverse these harmful effects of the current assessment system, Board exams will be redesigned to encourage holistic development; students will be able to choose many of the subjects in which they take Board exams, depending on their interests. Board exams will also be made ‘easier’, in the sense that they will test primarily core capacities/competencies rather than months of coaching and
memorisation; any student who has been going to and making a basic effort in a school class will be able to pass and do well in the corresponding subject Board Exam without much additional effort. To further eliminate the ‘high stakes’ aspect of Board Exams, all students will be allowed to take Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired.

In addition to introducing greater flexibility, student choice, and best-of-two attempts, assessments that primarily test core capacities must be the immediate key reforms to all Board exams. Boards may over time also develop further viable models of Board Exams that reduce pressure and the coaching culture.

To track progress throughout the school years, and not just at the end of Grades 10 and 12 – for the benefit of students, parents, teachers, principals, and the entire schooling system in planning improvements to schools and teaching- learning processes – all students will take school examinations in Grades 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority.

These examinations would test achievement of basic learning outcomes, through assessment of core concepts and knowledge from the national and local curricula, along with relevant higher-order skills and application of knowledge in real-life situations, rather than rote memorisation.

The results of school examinations will be used only for developmental purposes of the school education system, including for public disclosure by schools of their overall (anonymised) student outcomes, and for continuous monitoring and improvement of the schooling system.

It is proposed to set up a National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), as a standard-setting body under the Ministry of Education that fulfils the basic objectives of setting norms, standards, and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards of India, guiding the State Achievement Survey (SAS) and undertaking the National Achievement Survey (NAS), monitoring achievement of learning outcomes in the country, and encouraging and helping school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century in consonance
with the stated objectives of this Policy.

The principles for university entrance exams will be similar. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will work to offer a high-quality common aptitude test, as well as specialised common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year. These exams shall test conceptual understanding and the ability to apply knowledge and shall aim to eliminate the need for taking coaching for these exams.

The NTA will serve as a premier, expert, autonomous testing organisation to conduct entrance
examinations for undergraduate and graduate admissions and fellowships in higher education institutions. The high quality, range, and flexibility of the NTA testing services will enable most universities to use these common entrance exams – rather than having hundreds of universities each devising their own entrance exams – thereby drastically reducing the burden on students, universities and colleges, and the entire education system.

Support for students with special talents
Teacher education will include methods for the recognition and fostering of such student talents and interests. The NCERT and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) will develop guidelines for the education of gifted children. B.Ed. programmes may also allow a specialisation in the education of gifted children.

Training, motivating teachers
To ensure that outstanding students enter the teaching profession – especially from rural areas – a large number of merit-based scholarships will be instituted across the country for studying quality four-year integrated B.Ed. programmes. In rural areas, special merit- based scholarships will be established that also include preferential employment in their local areas. Such scholarships will provide local job opportunities to local students, especially female students, so that they serve as local- area role models and as highly qualified teachers who speak the local language. Incentives
will be provided for teachers to take up teaching jobs in rural areas, especially in areas that are currently facing acute shortage of quality teachers. A key incentive for teaching in rural schools will be the provision of local housing near or on the school premises or increased housing allowances.

The harmful practice of excessive teacher transfers will be halted, so that students have continuity in their role models and educational environments. Transfers will occur in very special circumstances, as suitably laid down in a structured manner by State/UT governments. Furthermore, transfers will be conducted through an online computerised system that ensures transparency.

Teacher Eligibility Tests (TETs) will be strengthened to inculcate better test material, both in terms of content and pedagogy. The TETs will also be extended to cover teachers across all stages (Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary) of school education. For subject teachers, suitable TET or NTA test scores in the corresponding subjects will also be taken into account for recruitment. To gauge passion and motivation for teaching, a classroom demonstration or interview will become an integral part of teacher hiring. These interviews would also be used to assess comfort and proficiencyin teaching in the local language. Teachers in private schools also must have qualified similarly through TET, a demonstration/interview, and knowledge of local language(s).

To ensure an adequate number of teachers across subjects – particularly in subjects such as art, physical education, vocational education, and languages – teachers could be recruited to a school or school complex and the sharing of teachers across schools could be considered in accordance with the grouping-of-schools adopted by State/UT governments.

Schools/school complexes will be encouraged to hire local eminent persons or experts as ‘master instructors’ in various subjects, such as in traditional local arts, vocational crafts, entrepreneurship, agriculture, or any other subject where local expertise exists.

A technology-based comprehensive teacher- requirement forecasting exercise will be conducted by each State to assess vacancies over the next two decades. The above-described initiatives in recruitment and deployment will be scaled as needed over time, to fill all vacancies with qualified teachers, including local teachers, with suitable incentives for career management and progression as described below.

The primary goal of overhauling the service environment and culture of schools will be to maximise the ability of teachers to do their jobs effectively, and to ensure that they are part of vibrant, caring, and inclusive communities of teachers, students, parents, principals, and other support staff, all of whom share a common goal: to ensure that our children are learning.

The first requirement in this direction will be to ensure decent and pleasant service conditions at schools. Adequate and safe infrastructure, including working toilets, clean drinking water, clean and attractive spaces, electricity, computing devices, internet, libraries, and sports and recreational resources will be provided to all schools to ensure that teachers and students, including children of all genders and children with disabilities, receive a safe, inclusive, and effective learning environment and are comfortable and inspired to teach and learn in their schools. In-service training will have inputs on
safety, health and environment at workplace in schools to ensure that all teachers are sensitised to these requirements.

The creation of school complexes could go a long way towards building vibrant teacher communities. The hiring of teachers to school complexes could automatically create relationships among schools across the school complex; it would also help ensure excellent subject-wise distribution of teachers, creating a more vibrant teacher knowledge base. Teachers at very small schools will not remain isolated any longer and may become part of and work with larger school complex communities, sharing best practices with each other and working collaboratively to ensure that all children are
learning. School complexes could also share counsellors, trained social workers, technical and maintenance staff, etc. to further support teachers and help create an effective learning environment.

Teachers will be given more autonomy in choosing aspects of pedagogy, so that they may teach in the manner they find most effective for the students in their classrooms. Teachers will also focus on socio-emotional learning a critical aspect of any student ’s holistic development. Teachers will be recognised for novel approaches to teaching that improve learning outcomes in their classrooms.

Each teacher will be expected to participate in at least 50 hours of continuous professional development opportunities every year for their own professional development, driven by their own interests.

Teachers doing outstanding work must be recognised, promoted and given salary raises to encourage them to do their best work. Therefore, a robust merit-based structure of tenure, promotion and salary structure will be developed.

It will be ensured that career growth (in terms of tenure, promotions, salary increases, etc.) is available to teachers within a single school stage (i.e., Foundational, Preparatory, Middle, or Secondary). There will be no career progression- related incentive to move from being teachers in early stages to later stages or vice versa. All stages will require the highest-quality teachers, and no stage will be considered more important than any other.

A common guiding set of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by 2022, by the NCTE in its restructured new form as a professional standard setting body. It will also comprise standards for performance appraisal on a periodic basis.

There is an urgent need for additional special educators for certain areas of school education. Such teachers would require not only subject-teaching knowledge and understanding of subject-related aims of education, but also the relevant skills for understanding of special requirements of children.

By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a four-year integrated B.Ed. degree
that teaches a range of knowledge content and pedagogy and includes strong practical training in the form of student teaching at local schools. The two-year B.Ed. programmes will also be offered, by the same multidisciplinary institutions offering the four-year integrated B.Ed., and will be intended only for those who have already obtained Bachelor ’s Degrees in other specialised subjects.

By 2021, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT, based on the principles of NEP 2020.

Learning for all
Education is the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and equality. Inclusive and equitable education – while indeed an essential goal in its own right – is also critical to achieving an inclusive and equitable society in which every citizen has the opportunity to dream, thrive and contribute to the nation. The education system must aim to benefit India ’s children so that no child loses any opportunity to learn and excel because of circumstances of birth or background.

School complexes
Nearly 28 per cent of India’s public primary schools and 14.8 per cent of India’s upper primary schools have less than 30 students. The average number of students per grade in the elementary schooling system (primary and upper primary, i.e., Grades 1–8) is about 14, with a notable proportion having below six students.

These small school sizes have rendered it economically sub-optimal and operationally complex to run good schools, in terms of deployment of teachers as well as the provision of critical physical resources. Key areas such as music, arts, and sports are too often simply not taught; and physical resources, such as labs and sports equipment and library books, are simply not available across schools.

The isolation of small schools also has a negative effect on education and the teaching-learning
process. Teachers function best in communities and teams, and so do students. Small schools also present a systemic challenge for governance and management. The geographical dispersion, challenging access conditions, and the very large numbers of schools make it difficult to reach all schools equally. Administrative structures have not been aligned with the increases in the number of schools or with the unified structure of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme.

These challenges will, by 2025, be addressed by State/UT governments by adopting innovative
mechanisms to group or rationalise schools. The objective behind this intervention would be to ensure that every school has these provisions: (a) adequate number of counsellors/ trained social workers and teachers (shared or otherwise) to teach all subjects including art, music science, sports, languages, vocational subjects, etc; (b) adequate resources (shared or otherwise) such as a library, science labs, computer labs, skill labs, playgrounds, sports equipment and facilities, etc.; (c) a sense of community built to overcome the isolation of teachers, students, and schools, through joint professional development programmes, sharing of teaching-learning content, joint content development, holding joint activities such as art and science exhibitions, sports meets, quizzes and debates, and fairs; (d) cooperation and support across schools for the education of children with disabilities; and (e) improved governance of the schooling system by devolving all finer decisions, to Principals, teachers, and other stakeholders within each group of schools and treating such a group of schools, which range from the foundational stage to the secondary stage, as an integrated semi-autonomous unit.

One possible mechanism for accomplishing the above would be the establishment of a grouping structure called the school complex, consisting of one secondary school together with all other schools offering lower grades in its neighbourhood including Anganwadis, in a radius of five to ten kilometers. This suggestion was first made by the Education Commission (1964–66) but was left unimplemented. This Policy strongly endorses the idea of the school complex/cluster, wherever possible. The aim of
the school complex/cluster will be greater resource efficiency and more effective functioning, coordination, leadership, governance, and management of schools in the cluster.

Standard-setting, accreditation
The goal of the school education regulatory system must be to continually improve educational outcomes; it must not overly restrict schools, prevent innovation, or demoralise teachers, principals, and students.

At present, all main functions of governance and regulation of the school education system namely, the provision of public education, the regulation of education institutions, and policy- making – are handled by a single body, i.e., the Department of School Education or its arms. This leads to conflict of interests and excessive centralised concentration of power; it also leads to ineffective management of the school system.

The current regulatory regime also has not been able to curb the commercialisation and economic exploitation of parents by many for-profit private schools, yet at the same time it has all too often inadvertently discouraged public-spirited private/philanthropic schools. There has been far too much asymmetry between the regulatory approaches to public and private schools, even though the goals of both types of schools should be the same: to provide quality education.

The Department of School Education, which is the apex state-level body in school education, will be responsible for overall monitoring and policy-making for continual improvement of the public education system; it will not be involved with the provision and operation of schools or with the regulation of schools, in order to ensure due focus on the improvement of public schools and to eliminate conflict of interests.

An effective quality self-regulation or accreditation system will be instituted for all stages of education including pre-school education – private, public, and philanthropic – to ensure compliance with essential quality standards. To ensure that all schools follow certain minimal professional and quality standards, States/UTs will set up an independent, State-wide, body called the State School Standards Authority (SSSA). The SSSA will establish a minimal set of standards based on basic parameters (namely, safety, security, basic infrastructure, number of teachers across subjects and grades, financial probity, and sound processes of governance), which shall be followed by all schools. The
framework for these parameters will be created by the SCERT in consultation with various stakeholders, especially teachers and schools.

Academic matters, including academic standards and curricula in the State will be led by the SCERT (in close consultation and collaboration with the NCERT), which will be reinvigorated as an institution. The SCERT will develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework through wide consultations with all stakeholders.

‘CHANGE HINGES ON INTERPRETATION OF PROVISIONS’ -Rukmini Ramachandran, Director of Training, Navadisha Montessori, Foundation, Chennai

I feel this is a step absolutely in the right direction. I have always worked with young children as a Montessori teacher and am now a Montessori teacher trainer. The inclusion of 3-6-year-olds is a wonderful move. The National Curriculum Framework for early childhood care and education (ECCE) is fabulous.

The people who drafted the policy were well aware of the needs of the child and holistic development. We make a great effort to align home and school, and we see that in the policy and the curriculum also. However, change hinges on how it will be interpreted at various levels that will influence
education.

The Right to Education Act was a very visionary and philosophical document but its interpretation
on the ground was muddled. Many efforts could have been made to bring heads of schools, teachers and everyone involved together. The government should aim to do that with the NEP – provide a forum for all involved in the child’s education to have a say.

Teacher training is the fundamental essence of the problem. With schools, it’s a vicious cycle – we want good teachers and low fees, but it’s all about salaries, ultimately. The best minds do not come into teaching.

Transmission to children depends on how the teachers were taught as children themselves. The NEP provides for teachers to teach multiple subjects but teachers do not feel equipped. Current B. Ed. courses are neither about pedagogy nor child development; they are more of lesson planning. They should prepare teachers to teach children differently in different classes, according to their age.

‘NEP PROGRESSIVE, BUT LACKS OVERARCHING LONG-TERM VISION’– Dr. Kavita Bajpai, Director, The International School, of Thrissur, Thrissur

The NEP is a refreshing shift and a bold corrective action in our approach to education in India. Technology will now play a much bigger role not just in planning and administration, but pedagogy, content, tutelage and assessment, which is both futuristic and transformative, to say the least. The increased focus on technology and digital empowerment of schools will encourage institutions to upgrade their technology infrastructure and offerings to more virtual and seamlessly integrated platforms. The virtual platforms/labs will also bring learning alive for students with an emphasis on visual and experiential components than on rote learning. With reduced insularity and greater freedom in students selecting their subjects of choice, the focus will return to holistic learning of all subjects, rather than a bent towards Maths and Sciences.

The NEP is a progressive document, yet without overarching long-term vision. It’s an optimistic transformation attempted by the government in the education sector. It is focused more on continuity, rather than transforming the main theme, despite some new ideas, especially in expected outcomes. The transformation of assessment as suggested by the NEP is incredibly challenging. Outcomes are unrealistic to some extent in this milestone of NEP. Expected future jobs for the students need to match the NEP reforms.

Roadblocks will be natural in the stated reforms due to funding, governance and implementation.

Portfolio-based 360-degree assessment with inputs from teachers, students and also parents is a fantastic idea.

The NEP acknowledges the need to embrace output-focused reform rather than input-focused reforms. The new NEP has touched upon some key levers which will have a high impact on student learning levels. One is, of course, bringing ECCE into the National Curriculum Framework. Another is the decision to reduce the curriculum to the core. This will provide a significant opportunity to focus on critical skills and capacities and would be a gateway reform on curriculum and assessments. What is heartening is to see many reforms focused on assessments, especially on the National Assessment
Centre and tracking student progress in learning outcomes. These will give the learning process the much needed attention and accountability.

To move the focus to regular formative assessment for learning rather than summative assessment that encourages today’s coaching culture will have an enormous impact on the quality of learning and understanding developed in schools. But following it up with a Common Entrance Exam for admission to higher education institutions will undermine that effort.

For ethics and human and constitutional values such as empathy, respect for others, cleanliness, courtesy, democratic spirit, the spirit of service, respect for public property, scientific temper, liberty, responsibility, pluralism, equality, and justice to be developed in schools, our students will have to be able to look around and see these being taken seriously in every area of civil life and society.

The biggest challenge is to equip teachers and availability of resources. A teachers’ training framework has to be implemented simultaneously. The concept of National Professional Standards for teachers gets my thumbs-up as well.

For many teachers, it has meant relearning an entire approach to their work. Planning is no longer about which page in the textbook would be done today, it is about collaborative, backward planning from the objectives that will guarantee every child the same opportunity to learn.

‘NEED MUCH INFRASTRUCTURE, GROUNDWORK, FOR NEP SUCCESS’– Mini K Thomas, Retired Vice-Principal

We have to be really prepared to implement all the suggestions in the NEP. Teachers have to be
trained for it. It’s a very difficult process, but one has to go through it. One year is too short a time,
especially amidst this pandemic.

We are trying to copy what is happening in the West. Given the size of our population, how easy will this be?

Indian parents put their children in school at the early age of three. This frame of mind should change. We need a lot of infrastructure and groundwork not only to implement the changes proposed in the NEP but also to change parents’ attitudes.

The NEP has proposed adjustments in the structure and length of degree programmes, with multiple exit options and appropriate certification. For instance, after the first year, the student will get a certificate, a diploma if they finish two years. How will the students benefit? Will they be able to switch courses? All this should be made clear.

The move to expose students to vocational training from Class 6 may be good. The child gets an opportunity to try different things and be clear about some of what they want to do by Class 11.

In my experience, even in cases where schools were barred from conducting exams up to certain
classes or failing students, standards started falling. It was meant to boost children’s morale but the students were ill-prepared for the higher classes, and parents complained that the children were not studying as examinations had been done away with. The authorities have to be really sure of what they mean, and follow-ups are vital.

‘CHANGE WILL OCCUR IF SCHOOLS CAN DECIDE WHAT TO TEACH, IF PORTION CONSTRAINTS DID NOT EXIST’– Meenakshi Umesh, Managing Trustee & Teacher, Puvidham Learning Centre, Nagarkoodal, Tamil Nadu

Schooling should be optional and compulsory at three years of age. Even six is too early an age to go to school. Three is when a child’s emotional development is at its peak. Emotionally, it wreaks havoc in the child’s world. They should not be taken away from home, learning happens even at home. It’s a different thing if the parents cannot keep them at home.

Integrated learning should not stop with subjects and textbooks being integrated. The children should be exposed to arts and crafts such as farming, weaving, spinning … they automatically become critical thinkers as they are hands on and not just reading about it.

Holistic education is a good ideal. Change will come about if schools can decide what to teach, if the
constraints of finishing portions did not exist. Teachers will be enthusiastic if the pressures put on them are taken away. It does not matter if the learning curves of each child are not the same, just allow each child to do what they do, do it better and keep track of their development.

The involvement of the local community is vital to integrate Indian traditions of learning and knowledge. The local farmers, craftsmen, and not just the B. Eds and D. Eds, should be able to teach in schools.

National content is not important till Standard 5. It should be local. Schools should be able to create
their own content from the surroundings.

I believe that teachers should not be from outside the community. In government schools now, the
teachers are from other places, and that can be distracting for them, the transfers and such. The
teachers should be local and should be answerable to the local community, which is invested in
the children. Salaries can be vested with the panchayats.

As for examinations, children should not be evaluated till they are 10, as they are very physically active till that age. How will you test higher order thinking skills, critical thinking, learning? They are very hard to test, there are no tests for them. Also, the use of the words “appropriate authority” conducting school exams for Classes 3, 5 and 8 smacks of distrust and control. If the schools are to be empowered to decide on content and involve the local community, where is the space for evaluation by an outside authority? Some children do not learn academically till the age of 9, and if it’s a developmental assessment, it’s a waste of resources. Even Class 10, it can be a project- based assessment. The child learns many skills and subjects doing a project from beginning to end. For example, writing a report (language and creative skills), conducting a survey (statistics and mathematics, analytical skills).

Educators’ interviews: Sravanthi Challapalli