A Deferred Vision

It has been five years since the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was approved by the Union Cabinet. Five years is a sufficient period to evaluate the gains made as well as the distance left to be travelled. There has been good progress in some areas, but a large number of reforms visualised in the policy are still only on paper, and it is not clear when they will see the light of day.

The NEP rightly stated that, in education, the major stakeholder is the student. It found that enrolment gradually declined as one moved up through the classes in the school system, and dropped even more sharply in higher education. There were also glaring disparities on grounds of region and community. The policy focused on the creation of school complexes. It also emphasised redesigning the curriculum and pedagogy to root it in the Indian and local context. Books were to be made accessible and affordable, and reading habits encouraged. The problem of shortage of teachers was to be addressed, along with upgrading their quality.

NEP has a lofty goal. It aims to bring about the full development of the human personality. Students are expected to develop foundational skills of literacy and numeracy. They are also supposed to imbibe higher-order cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. In addition, they have to learn social and emotional skills like empathy, teamwork, leadership, grit, and perseverance. India has to develop as a knowledge economy with Indian culture and ethos as its base. A slew of reforms to achieve these ideals was suggested.

One of the positives has been the success of the NIPUN mission for foundational literacy and numeracy. The school structure has been changed from a 10+2 to a 2+3+3+3 framework, covering pre-primary to secondary level. A significant achievement has been that the National Curriculum Framework for School Education has laid out learning outcomes and competencies for each stage.

The challenges before the nation when the 1986 Education Policy was formulated related to universal access and enrolment. However, it is the quality of education that remains a major problem today, and the goal is to achieve universal education. It is towards this end that NEP 2020 has rightly focused, but no dramatic change is visible at the moment.

Even at the foundational level, the problem of coordination between Anganwadi workers and primary school teachers remains an obstacle. Anganwadi workers are not trained in education, and their motivation suffers due to the low-paid, temporary nature of their jobs. Besides, they report to the Department of Women and Child Development, whereas primary education is under the purview of the Education Department. A smooth, syncretic approach between the two requires the creation of an institutional mechanism—which is yet to take shape.

The NEP visualised flexibility and a multidisciplinary approach and suggested a bank of credits. A national credit framework has been developed, which allows students to earn and store credits digitally, making it possible to move from one course to another. However, the implementation of this concept needs much more rigour.

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission into colleges at the undergraduate level has been introduced since 2022. One negative fallout has been the anticipated mushrooming of coaching institutions for the CUET exam. Also, students are facing problems in actually applying for courses online on the basis of CUET. This one single national test requires a lot of rethinking.

The CBSE has brought about changes in the board exam by allowing Class 10 students to take the exam twice a year. It is not clear how this will improve learning outcomes. Other boards are yet to follow CBSE. A strange reform proposed is having two levels of mathematics, keeping in mind the anxiety some students have about math. CBSE is planning to extend this to science subjects as well. To my mind, this is a meaningless reform and does not help students in any way.

Holistic report cards are an excellent idea, and NCERT has developed progress cards that assess the performance of a student in extracurricular and co-curricular activities and also provide scope for peer and self-assessment. Once again, this relevant reform is at the infant stage.

I have seen that many universities have rolled out the four-year undergraduate framework, but there is no clarity on how this system would be an improvement over the past. Moreover, issues of faculty and infrastructure are proving to be roadblocks in its implementation.

I strongly feel that the focal point for improving the quality of education has to be the teacher. Issues of recruitment of teachers have become disputed in most states. At the school level, there is a shortage of trained teachers across the board. Further issues like teacher absenteeism continue to plague the system. A framework for continuous and quality training of teachers is yet to be put in place. We have to make sure that the best enter the teaching profession. There has to be a clear plan for the career progression and management of teachers. In the states, the transfer of teachers must be done through a transparent mechanism.

School management committees involving all stakeholders have to be strengthened. The time has come to seriously consider involving urban and rural local bodies in the running of the school system, at least till Class 8.

UGC is yet to be replaced by another regulatory system for higher education. How we will achieve a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 50 per cent by 2035 is not spelt out. It would require a large amount of investment. Where is this going to come from? Making professional institutions multidisciplinary still remains just an idea.

It is unfortunate that the implementation of NEP has got stalled on the controversial issue of the three-language formula. Education has to be looked at beyond politics by all concerned.

NEP 2020 is a well-intentioned and comprehensively thought-out policy, but it requires a lot of planning, strategising, and execution skills to become a reality. Tinkering with the education system at the periphery will be a gross injustice to our students, on whom the future of India depends.

The writer is an ex-Chief Secretary, Govt of Uttar Pradesh. Views expressed are personal