The Proposal of New Educational Policy: a new ray of hope?

Photo: Cèlia Zamora

15th August 1947 marked the independence of India. Over the past seventy years, India has made a lot of progress and has produced some of the finest scientists, doctors and mathematicians. As a country, it has made immense development ranging from agricultural technology to a successful Mars mission, thus earning a position of respect on the world stage.

Indians are known for their knowledge and adaptability, however, they tend to be lacking in the implementation of this knowledge. The current pattern of education has been very rigid. This system has worked in the past, however, it lacks holistic development of students and weakens the opportunity to grow and channelize the talent of the younger Indian generation of today. for the simple reason that people were not globally exposed, their knowledge was restricted to their work and their personal growth and the rate of technological development was slow

However now, with globalisation, it is time that the educational system be revamped to incorporate a more practical and experiment based learning approach while retaining the core values which have been the backbone of a successful generation. Such an approach would help better adopt and embrace the technological developments available and enable better application of this knowledge.

Now, after nearly three decades the current Indian government has declared the new National Education Policy (NEP) that introduced several changes in Indian education system-from school to college level.

It promises that two crore children, most of whom are school dropouts, would be brought back to the mainstream. It has proposed to develop necessary infrastructure, put in place innovative teaching centres, appoint only trained teachers and counsellors and create an environment conducive to support adult literacy programmes to achieve this goal. Students will get the opportunity to choose their preferred subjects. Also, the educational pattern will focus more on the conceptual teaching rather than chalk and talk approach.

This new educational system will bring more opportunities for the interested teachers who wish to contribute their efforts to impart good education. Also, the children who are underprivileged will get one more midday meal.

Though the implementation of the currently proposed NEP is difficult in a diverse country like India and though it has its own pros and cons, it has raised higher hopes and has shown a ray of hope towards a brighter future.