A Review of the National Education Policy and its Impact on the Field of Management
ABSTRACT
A vision of India's new education system was crafted in the form of the draft National Education Policy. The policy outlines the proposals by a committee, entrusted with shaping the future of the education system. The preamble of the document suggests that the policy was prepared with two main purposes in mind; to connect students with the rich culture of India but maintain one eye on international requirements and two, to ensure interconnectedness across levels. The aim of the committee has been stated as to create a system for holistic development of the child. This report attempts at reviewing the policy and analysing the impact of the policy on the field of management. This report is based on a reading of the policy and the inferences are based on the understanding of the researcher.
INTRODUCTION
The draft National Education Policy was released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on 1st June 2019. The policy outlines the areas of focus and the steps that the committee proposes for the future of education in India. The policy constantly refers to the rich culture and heritage of India and for the need to root the education system in the Indian culture but aims to produce students who are prepared to make their mark in an international setting.
The other prominent theme in the policy is the need for continuity. The policy proposes the need to provide a flow in the education, such that each level merges into the next. The initial school education is to be structured based the different cognitive levels that the child is passing through. This would then be supplemented by a foundation to higher education, to be set at the undergraduate level.
The third prominent theme is the need for multi-disciplinarity. The committee proposes the thinning or complete removal of the boundaries around disciplines and proposes giving the student the freedom of choice, when it comes to their education. Even institutes and Universities are expected to promote cross discipline education. This is also applicable to research and is clearly stated that the National Research Foundation would be partial to cross discipline research.
Research appears to be a key area of focus with the policy proposing renewed interest in research work. The setting up of the National Research Foundation that would enable research through direct funding and creation of Centres of Research further encourages educational institutions to focus on research in all areas.
The current report presents an overview of the draft National Education Policy. The report further analyses the impact of the proposals made in the policy, would have on the field of Management,
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL POLICY- A Summary
The draft of the National Educational Policy begins with explaining the guiding principles behind the formulation of the policy. The preamble outlines the points that were kept in mind while the policy was being drafted. While initially the effort was to draw inspiration from the previous policy documents, the committee soon realised that the needs for today were far different than those addressed by the previous documents. The need for a revamping of the policy was primarily felt due to the advances in technology, which includes the rising presence of the internet in our lives and the creation of a globalised economy that is knowledge driven. The focus of the draft NEP appears to move from the traditional goals, of equity and access, to two major areas of Interconnectedness and Multidisciplinary.
The policy attempts to model the education system of the country keeping in mind the rich cultural heritage but at the same time with an eye on the needs of the current and future economy. The committee draws inspiration from recorded texts on the traditional educational system of India. The primary focus in the traditional system was holistic development. This meant the focus was in developing a well-rounded individual and to take into account the individual needs and characteristics of the student. The policy proposes the same approach to modern education and thereby attempts to make education in the country, Multidisciplinary. This is also in line with the growing international consensus for holistic development and 'Social and Emotional Learning'.
Interconnectedness has been attempted by creating a flow and connection between the levels of education. Primary education begins with a 'do and learn' philosophy and then advocates the introduction of textbooks gradually. The proposal is to modify school education to incorporate liberal arts and vocational education to allow smoother transition to under graduate courses. Addition of a fourth year to under graduate courses attempts to make the transition to Masters and Doctoral courses easier.
The policy also proposes greater autonomy to be given to academic institutions and the reduction in the concentration of power by minimising regulation. The policy proposes that schools, colleges and universities take the lead in creating accountability and regulating courses. In addition, the policy also proposes a closer connect to society by the creation of school complexes and allowing a relationship to develop between the schools and the community that they serve, either through volunteer programs or through ownership.
Coming to the school or early education sector, the policy highlights the need for Early Childhood Care and Education. Based on research in the area of cognitive development in children, the committee stresses the need to invest in ECCE and proposes entry into grade school should only take place after the age of 6. The policy thus focusses on the creations of a suitable pedagogy for the level, by NCERT and implemented through a network of Anganwadis, pre-primary schools co-located with existing primary schools, and stand-alone pre-schools. The policy would also include ECCE as part of the RTE act (2009).
The committee suggests a 5+3+3+4 design for school curriculum. The design is meant to correspond to the stages of cognitive development in children. All stages are to include strong influences from Indian culture and heritage and focused on holistic development of the student. This would be coupled with efforts to reduce the breadth on the curriculum so as to retain focus on the key areas. Another key change is to remove boundaries between curricular, extra-curricular, or co-curricular areas and allow students greater freedom to choose their courses. However, while giving freedom, the committee has identified certain areas that are critical for all students. These include learning the language proficiency, scientific temper; sense of aesthetics and art; languages; communication; ethical reasoning; digital literacy; knowledge of India; and knowledge of critical issues facing the local communities, the states, the country, and the world. Efforts would be made to add local flavour to national text books.
The changes in curriculum are to be supplemented with changes in the assessment processes. The NCERT and teachers are expected to come up with a new assessment plan by 2022, which will focus on assessment for learning rather than rote learning. This would be applicable even for admission examinations. These assessments would be conducted through the computer and IT facilities of the educational institutions, enabling continuous assessment. The committee also proposes moving to application-based learning, online quizzes, competitions, enrichment material etc. through smartphones and tablets.
Another area of focus for the committee would be the recruitment, planning and development of teachers. The plan is to allow teachers to focus on their teaching by minimising other duties. Provision for flexible, modular training programs would also be provided to enable teachers to continuously improve. Additionally, teachers would be trained to handle students at different levels. The creation of school complexes is also suggested to allow sharing of resources like infrastructure, teachers, support staff, social workers etc. A new regulatory authority, State School Regulatory Authority (SSRA), will set basic and uniform standards for both public and private schools and all information about the schools would be made publicly available for all parents, thereby making them the de facto regulators.
In the area of higher education, the committee proposes the consolidation of institutes of higher education into multi-disciplinary universities and colleges. This would allow the creation of a multi-disciplinary and liberal base for higher studies. This would also be achieved by handing over autonomy to the faculty and institutes. This would encourage innovation in the teaching, assessment and overall learning process. Another major change would be the availability of quality higher education in Indian languages. A complete restructuring is proposed that would place institutes and universities into three major categories of Research Universities, Teaching Universities and Colleges. The existing Central Universities, Centrally Funded Technical Institutions, Institutions of National Importance and other institutions substantially supported by the Central government and Research Institutions will all be supported to become Type 1 institutions. Institutes will also be allowed to grant degrees, under the new system. Universities would be distinguished by the fact that they have the authority to run Doctoral level programs and are of a larger size. The system of affiliation would be done away with and institutes would have to change so as to fit into the Type 2 or 3 categories.
To increase the availability of quality higher education, Mission Nalanda (MN) and Mission Takshashila (MT) will be launched. Mission Nalanda will ensure that there are at least 100 Type 1 and 500 Type 2 HEIs. Mission Takshashila will strive to establish at least one high quality HEI in or close to every district of India, with 2 or 3 such HEIs in districts with larger populations, each with residential facilities for students. The Mission Directorate will oversee and manage the development of the new institutional architecture. The committee also proposes the setting up of Indian Institutes of Liberal Arts. This would promote the learning and growth of liberal arts in India by providing world class education in the liberal arts. In order to develop the art of creative and innovative thinking, the liberal arts shall also form part of other disciplines, like Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. Efforts are also to be made to encourage multi- disciplinary research.
While the committee proposes complete autonomy for selection and creation of curriculum and pedagogy, a National Higher Education Qualifications Frame-work would provide guidelines for the same. The policy also suggest exposure to social issues and the provision of opportunities to engage in social work. As in the case of schools, in HEIs too, the focus of the assessment would be development rather than rote learning. All institutes are to start peer and faculty mentoring, in order to cater to mental health needs. In addition, the committee proposes using the open and distance learning programs to fulfil the demand for higher education. The focus appears to be to create a liberal educational structure with curriculum that draws from the Indian culture but would be competent in the globalised economy.
One proposal of the current policy is the creation of the National Research Foundation. The NRF will consist of four major divisions - Sciences; Technology; Social Sciences; and Arts and Humanities - with the provision to add additional divisions. The foundation will either directly fund research projects or support the creation of centres of research at select universities. The foundation would be run by a Governing Body and have a Divisional Council for each of the four divisions. Every year, each Divisional Council would call for research proposals of various types. Divisional Councils may choose to emphasise certain subject areas within their division according to national needs, but all proposals within the discipline of the division will be considered. Interdisciplinary proposals, across two or more divisions, would be encouraged. All proposals would then be peer reviewed and funding allotted.
All teacher training programs would also become the responsibility of the multi-disciplinary institutions. In addition, the currently existing teacher training institutes would be moulded into multi-disciplinary HEIs. Taking into consideration the needs of currently practising teachers, online and part time courses would also be offered. The faculty profile in Departments of Education will necessarily have to be diverse. Not everyone would be required to have a PhD, but teaching experience and field research experience will be highly valued. All fresh PhD entrants, irrespective of discipline, will be required to have taken 8-credit courses in teaching/ education/ pedagogy related to their chosen PhD subject, during their doctoral training period. Human Resource Development centres would be made a critical part of all universities and would handle faculty skill development.
The National Higher Education Regulatory Authority will be the only regulator for all higher education including professional education. The HEGC shall be responsible for disbursing developmental grants and fellowships across the entire higher education sector including professional education - the current UGC shall transform to the HEGC. This would also result in a revamp of the current regulations and directions. NAAC shall be reinvented and separated from the UGC into a completely independent, autonomous body and be given the responsibility of overseeing accreditation of all institutions of higher education, across all disciplines and field. All the other current regulatory authorities such as NCTE, AICTE, MCI, BCI, etc. shall transfer their regulatory function to NHERA which shall become the sole regulator for higher education. These bodies may transform themselves into Professional Standard Setting Bodies.
The committee has also provided proposals in other key areas. The use of technology has been encouraged. An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to improve learning, assessment, planning and administration. To ensure the recommendation and practices are in line with the needs of the educational field, the NETF would be housed with another body like the NCERT. It would also facilitate the creation of The National Repository of Educational Data, which will maintain all records related to institutions, teachers and students in digital form. However, care will also be taken to monitor possibly disruptive technologies.
An apex body of Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog or the National Educational Council would be constituted, headed by the Prime Minister of the country. The RSA will be responsible for developing, articulating, implementing, evaluating, and revising the vision of education in the country on a continuous and sustained basis. The MHRD would be renamed as the Ministry of Education, implying the focus on building the educational framework of the nation.
IMPACT ON THE DISCIPLINE OF MANAGEMENT
This section of the report focuses on analysing the impact of the National Education Policy (Draft) on the field of Management. The impact can be categorised as impact on Management Education and Industry of Management professionals.
Impact on Management Education
· Influence on Management education will be seen, similar to other fields. The Management Institutes that offered diplomas, because they were previously not authorised to award degrees, would now be autonomous institutes that can awards degrees. These institutes would also face a change in their functioning, as they would become autonomous and be allowed greater freedom to decide the content and pedagogy of their courses. Large number of institutes that were previously affiliated would now become independent institutes.
· Institutes would need to be multi-disciplinary. All institutes are expected to become multi-disciplinary and would not be allowed to function with focus on only one field. The institute would also have to include aspects of the liberal arts in its curriculum to promote and grow, innovative thinking.
· In case of Universities, they would have to identify Teaching oriented or Research oriented. The large focus on research work, explained in the draft policy, suggests that research in the field of management would receive a push and we may see a rise in the number of academic and corporate researchers being produced.
· The previously rigid boundaries of Finance, Human Resources, Operations and Marketing may dissolve and future graduates may be born with a multi-disciplinary outlook. They would not be taught to think in the constrained areas of the sub-disciplines but would be encouraged to take a system view of the organization. This would prove extremely beneficial to organizations (Senge,2006).
· The Multi-disciplinary approach would also reflect in the research work done. More and more borrowing and sharing of ideas across disciplines is likely with the policy encouraging researchers and universities to cross boundaries.
· The setting up of the National Research Foundation would provide further motivation to pursue research and to focus on issues of national importance.
· The policy also outlines the need for PhD scholars to undergo teacher training in their areas. This would also be applicable to scholars pursuing PhD in management. This would ensure that the individuals qualified to teach would have the required basic training.
· Increased international exposure would also ensure that the students graduating are better prepared to survive in a globalized economy. Also resulting in more employment opportunities for the graduates.
Influence on the industry
· The policy identifies the need to create family leave policies. This is done to ensure that parents have the time to contribute towards their child's growth and development. This would need a restructuring of organizational policies and a change in attitude in the corporate world. A culture that ensures work life balance and allows employees to focus on their personal responsibilities would be needed. This may also provide the opportunity for women, who have taken a break due to motherhood, to come back to work.
· The creation of school complexes would require a higher level of management of resources. This would require competent management professionals in every school complex. This would be an additional source of employment for management professionals.
· The increased autonomy and accountability to be given to schools and colleges would require intensive training to ensure a smooth transition. Management training sessions would need to provided and reinforced and regular intervals. At the HEI level, this would result in increased responsibility being given to the HRDCS. The HRDCS would also become and integral part of the organization, instead of being treated as an external agency.
· The Recruitment of teachers and faculty have also been prescribed in the draft policy and would need the Management and Personnel department to relook at their employment policies and practices. The creation of school complexes would provide a unique opportunity and challenge for HR professionals. The challenge would be to share teachers across schools while the opportunity is to create a unique employment model that would be effective and cost efficient.
· The recruitment policies would also need to include the employment of counsellors and social workers, as required by the draft National Education Policy.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this report was to analyse the impact of the draft National Education Policy on the field of Management. This has been done by, first, presenting a brief of the policy and followed by certain areas of impact. As described, the National Education Policy aims to dissolve the boundaries around the sub disciplines and produce graduates with a more systems view. Additionally, some of the proposals in the policy would require a large number of modifications to current employment policies, especially to incorporate the new manpower requirements and training requirements of the employees to handle the newly provided autonomy. The employment opportunities are also likely to increase with the creation of additional positions and the internationally focused curriculum would provide graduates who are suitable for both the domestic and international labour market.
REFERNCES
Government of India. (2019). Draft Nation Education Policy. New Delhi.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Broadway Business.
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