The New Education Policy is a comprehensive policy issued by the Government
of India in July 2020. It is India’s first major change to its education system in
more than 30 years. It replaces the National Education Policy of 1986.
The New Educational Policy 2022 focuses on 5 pillars: Access, Equity, Quality,
Affordability and Accountability. The New Education Policy aims to make
education more inclusive, equitable, and accessible to all.
It emphasises the development of skills for the 21st century, such as creativity,
critical thinking, and problem-solving. The policy also proposed the establishment
of new institutions, such as digital universities, as well as the use of technology to
support students in learning.
One of the most significant changes introduced by the New Education Policy is
the transition from the traditional 10+2 education structure to a new 5+3+3+4
education system. The goal of the new system is to make education more flexible
and all-encompassing, with a focus on basic skills, critical thinking, and life skills.
What is 5+3+3+4 education system ?
The 5+3+3+4 education system is a new framework for education in India, which
was introduced in 2020 by the Ministry of Education. The system replaces the
previous 10+2 system and aims to provide a more holistic and flexible approach to
education.
Under the new system, the first five years of education (age 3-8) will be known as
the Foundational Stage, which will focus on developing foundational skills such as
numeracy and literacy. The next three years (age 8-11) will be known as the
Preparatory Stage, which will focus on the development of subject-specific
knowledge and skills. The next three years (age 11-14) will be known as the Middle
Stage, which will focus on building on the knowledge and skills developed in the
previous stage. Finally, the last four years (age 14-18) will be known as the
Secondary Stage, which will focus on preparing students for higher education or
vocational training.
The new system is designed to provide students with a more flexible and
comprehensive education that takes into account their individual needs and
interests. It is also designed to align with global education standards and provide
students with the skills and knowledge needed to compete in the global
marketplace.
New Education Policy (NEP 2020) Highlights:
● The policy emphasises providing quality and affordable education to all
children in the age group of 3–18 years.
● It emphasizes holistic and multidisciplinary education instead of rote
learning.
● Students will no longer be graded on how well they remember information
from books, but on how well they can use what they know to solve
problems in the real world.
● It emphasises that the three-language formula will be followed in schools,
focusing on the regional language, Hindi and English.
● To make it easier for students to learn regional languages, instruction in the
first five grades will be taught in those languages instead of English.
● The school curriculum has been changed to teach more fundamental ideas
and skills.
● The policy is mostly about how to use technology to make education more
accessible and useful.
● It envisages a system where there is no distinction between rural and
urban areas and all children have access to quality education.
● The policy proposes several measures to improve the quality of teaching,
such as mandatory teacher eligibility tests, teacher professional
development programmes, and teacher education programmes at the
elementary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
● The policy also focuses on giving students vocational and technical
education so that they are better prepared to work when they leave school.
● School board examinations will continue in 10th and 12th classes and be
redesigned to be more holistic and developmental.
Advantages of new education policy:
● Increased expenditure on education: The increased spending on
education, from earlier 3% to 6% now, will bring the much-needed
funds, focus and prioritisation in the education sector.
● Reduced exam stress: The changed school structure will reduce the
stress of board exams and will channelize students’ focus towards
practical skills and vocational learning.
● Flexibility to choose subjects: Students have broader options to
learn now. They have the option of choosing any subject combination
from Arts, Commerce and Science and exploring a multidisciplinary
arena of education.
● Universalisation of education: NEP 2020 is making education a
basic right. It will bring back many children back to the educational
institutes and truly universalize education for children aged 3-18.
● Introduces kids to coding: Introduction of computers and coding in
class 6 upgrading the learning process.
Disadvantages of new education policy:
● Teaching in the mother tongue will be challenging: Teaching the
fundamental subjects in the mother tongue will be a hassle as India
has 22 scheduled languages and innumerable dialects. The course
material will need to be converted to these languages first, and then
the requirement of skilled teachers to implement this.
● Widening the gap between learners: As the mother tongue is going
to be the preferred medium of instruction till class 5, the introduction
of English after 5th standard in government schools will widen the
gap with the private schools that have been providing education in
English since the beginning.
● Challenge of digital divide: The digital divide present in India is
even more extreme in rural areas where not everyone can afford
smartphones. The problem is further compounded by the poor IT
infrastructure of government-run schools, which will create
implementation issues in the digitization of education.
Overall new education policy is better than last time
education policy,there can still be some improvement in this
policy
source:ishiksha.net and leadschool.in