Impact of the Draft National Education Policy on its adoption by the Government of India on my college
Impact of the Draft National Education Policy on its adoption by the Government of India on my college
The draft national educational policy under part II Higher Education starts with revamping of the higher education system and creating world class multidisciplinary higher education institutions across the country. The policy through multidisciplinary higher education focuses on - such as critical thinking, communication, problem solving, creativity, cultural literacy, global outlook, teamwork, ethical reasoning, and social responsibility .It assigns a key role to both public and private capital in education and recommends liberal arts education as the foundation of higher education.
The Policy would focus on:
Ø It would give students vibrant communities of scholars and peers in which to learn.
Ø It would help break down the system called disciplines in the study.
Ø It would enable students to become well-rounded and develop optimally both sides of their brains (artistic/creative and analytic), and would help bring flexibility and individuality into their learning programmes
Ø It would help develop active research communities across disciplines
particularly cross-disciplinary research, which will be key for the innovations of the 21st century.
Ø It would greatly improve (by an order of magnitude) the efficiency of use of resources and of resource sharing, both material and human, across higher education.
To overhaul new educational policy:
These new policy include the establishment, by an Act of Parliament, of a new National Education Commission [Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog] to be chaired by the Prime Minister and to be run by executive and advisory bodies that will consist of 50% of ministers and another 50% of educationists, academics and civil society members. Under this super organisation will be a range of new regulatory board such as:
1) National Research Fund.
2) National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (and State Education Regulatory Authorities in all states).
3) Central Education Statistics Division.
4) National Repository of Educational Data.
5) National Testing Agency.
6) Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation.
7) Multidisciplinary Education and Research Institutes or Indian Institutes of Liberal Arts.
8) General Education Council.
9) HEGC (Higher Education Grants Council).
10) NHEQF(National Higher Education Qualifications Framework).
11) NSQF (National Skills Qualifications Framework).
12) NPDF National Post-Doctoral Fellow.
The Policy states clearly the role of the above mentioned board. It gives the state option of having own policies for certain board. But the freedom is under supervision of the central bodies again. So when the state policies are to be made it is more dependent on the central board. The Central board may overpower state on state operational mode.
For example the National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct all form of entrance test for all educational institutions throughout the country. The school educational system in the state should bring the students ready for this type of entrance test. This is somewhat similar to NEET exam conducted for the medical entrance. At the outset these policies slightly affect the "Democracy "of the State educational policies. Each higher education institution will be governed by an Independent Board.
Liberal arts and Multidisciplinary undergraduate Education:
Through the Liberal Education and multi-disciplinary education the policy develops the intellectual, social, ethical, analytical, and aesthetic capacities of all students. This would have imaginative and flexible curricular structures, creative combinations of study, integration of vocational education and multiple entry/exit points.
The policy tells that students are required to choose an area of specialisation called 'major' and an area additional to their study called "minor" along with a vocational subject also can be opted. There is an option of double major also allowed. This system is presently followed by many universities. At present system the majors and minors for a particular study are decided by the board of education members and given to student for study.
A welcome approach is introducing and making mandatory vocational stream to all the courses. An option of multiple entry & exit points is new attempt to help students in higher education to continue their studies at any stage later.
In chapter 2 -P12.1.3 the policy explains the role NHEQF (National Higher Education Qualifications Frame-work) and GEC (the General Education Council) as the guiding board for curricula across all disciplines. In case for vocational subjects the regulating board is the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). All these may have separate governing board- the PSSB (Professional Standard Setting Body). As nothing new introduced the old procedure has been reframed with different types of apex board.
Impacts are:
1) Vocational Streams.
2) Multiple Discipline courses.
3) Appointment of Faculty from all Discipline.
4) Strength of students opted for each Discipline.
5) Ambiguity in opting major & minor.
6) Implementation multiple entry & exit system.
Higher Education Institution Consolidation & Autonomy:
All higher education institutions to be consolidated into three types of institutions:
Ø Type 1 which focus on world-class research and high quality teaching across all disciplines
Ø Type 2 which focus on high quality teaching across disciplines with significant contribution to research
Ø Type 3 which focus on high quality teaching across disciplines focused on undergraduate education.
The Policy also states 'autonomy' refer to "freedom to innovate, to compete, to co-operate, to govern more locally, to optimise resources…and to excel…" and that "autonomy that will be widely granted as a result of this policy", the report seeks to infuse new blood and spirit into the education system. The Policy suggests that by these consolidation of higher education institutions, the fake and less quality colleges will vanish. Only quality teaching institutions remain stable in one of above mentioned category. The policy also fails to address the reservation system.
All the Institutions will be categorized in the above mentioned types in 2030.My institution will be Type 3, college focuses on high quality teaching across disciplines on Undergraduate education. It has to establish large multidisciplinary studies with career opportunities. Also policy supports to introduce vocational education as that increases the knowledge & employment skills in a student.
Impacts are:
1) Handling Academic, Administration, Financial altogether is difficult.
2) Setting up various Boards for academic.
3) Getting qualified members for the various Higher Positions and setting Boards.
4) Each board functions is controlled by the state and central regulatory Board.
5) Workload of the faculty may increase.
Continuous Professional Development (CPD):
Centralized - Continuous Professional Development (CPD) the policy states that all institutions will develop a plan pedagogical capacities, research to their field/discipline. Institutions could consider putting in place a mentorship programme for young faculty members and a self-assessment tracking system that would encourage faculty to assess their own progress and learning.
A national programme for the professional development of teachers (faculty) in higher education will be launched, the curricular framework for which will be designed by the HRDCs, in consultation with HEIs across the country. This framework may be used by HEIs to run their own CPD programmes; the HEIs will be responsible for the effective CPD of their faculty and other members.
Impacts are:
1) College should develop CPD in consideration with HRDC.
2) Mandatory CPD at all levels of faculty.
3) Organize & planning more CPDs.
4) Evaluation of faculties.
All institutions will develop a CPD plan for the faculty and determine the process for its implementation. The plan should include capacity development in the field/discipline, pedagogical capacities, research and contribution to practice.
Failure of Present System- Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE):
The CPD policy is similar to the present system except it is centralized through some board of framework .The present system Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) the majority of the teachers are in present system in which there are not involved to enable to improve their quality of teaching, as this whole turn out to be a failure. With elaborate plans of inculcating new teachers and placing them through Continuous Development Program (CDP), the older teachers are not given adequate attention.
Missing Of Sex education in Higher education:
The Policy also ignores the issues on sexual abuse. In higher education there should be a separate body that governs, councils and regulate the issues in sexual abuse. Neither mechanisms of redressal/complaint are given in the policy or a sex education in higher institutions. Although it has given space in school, there will be better understanding of those happens only in adolescent stage. To the surprise there is no regulatory body for the sexual abuse and it is left to the decision of the Institutions.
The policy might be aimed at centralising the education sector in the country. The autonomy and freedom that the States now having will be slowly taken away. The report cautiously avoids mention of the need for 'democracy' within educational institutions in the State. The educational rights and the rampant violations of rules and regulations of education institutional building and also academic freedom in several educational institutions seem to be forgotten.
What are the implications of having the Prime Minister chair the National Education Commission which is to become the apex body for all education management and fund allocation? What are the criteria, standards and processes by which members will be inducted into these new education governance institutions? The draft report of the new National Education Policy 2019 is of any strong saffron colouration and is a call for a restructuring of the educational system and its governance.
The draft introduces a large reforms, but is not clear on funding the various boards of aided and unaided institutions. The draft talks about better engagement of the private sector and provisioning for government funding for R&D work through a proposed national research fund. The draft lacks operational details and does not offer insights into how the policy will be funded.
The report provisions for several massive overhauls and the formation of several new councils and bodies but has little detail on how the cost and human talent needed to make these changes would be put in place.
The newly released draft education policy 2019 makes big promises calling for the overhaul of the entire education system but it is old wine in new bottle. It proposes the creation of several new bodies to overlook different facets of education. The centre must also ensure that the policy does not face litigation, state resistance, and operational challenges on the ground.
References:
1)https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-nep-and-liberal-arts-education/article28598678.ece
2) https://innovate.mygov.in/new-education-policy-2019/
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