Impact of Draft National Education policy in the domain of Physics
The draft National Education Policy (NEP) is proposed for the overall upliftment of the education sector in India from preschool to research. Preschool, primary, secondary, higher secondary, higher education etc. are all mentioned in the draft NEP 2019. The policy is formulated to mould the knowledge seekers for the present and future challenges. Though NEP is drafted in a very general manner, it has serious influence in various aspects across disciplines. Here, the implications of the draft NEP is evaluated from the context of its impact in the domain of Physics.
The most important aspect of NEP is the introduction of an agency called Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog which will be constituted and will be given with constitutional rights. It will be responsible for developing, articulating, implementing, evaluating and revising the vision of education in the country. The agency will look after the educational sector of the whole country. For education to be effective, the nurture has to be done from the grass root level itself. Keeping that in mind, NEP proposes a scheme which aims at developing a two part curriculum for early childhood and education. This is much required as several quality related deficiencies exists in the early childhood learning programmes. There will also be a scheme which ensures every student in grade 5 and above will have foundational literacy and numeracy. In science, especially in Physics, basic mathematics and logical reasoning is very crucial. In the current education system, somehow many of the students are not able to grasp the concepts clearly. With the implementation of new NEP, this problem is thought to be rectified. NEP also recommends for extension of the Right to Education act in order to include early childhood education and secondary school education. So all those who are between the ages 3 and 18 will get free and compulsory education. With many students dropping out after their secondary school due to the lack of access to higher secondary education, this proposal is of key importance. With more number of students getting higher secondary education, the enrolment to higher education will also increase which is beneficial for all domains including Physics. In addition to that, a revision of the national curriculum framework is propose to be done. The new framework will have a 5-3-3-4 design that is based on the developmental needs of the students. The curriculum in all stages of formal education is somewhat exam oriented that focuses on rote learning of facts and procedures and not good enough in creating knowledge. With a revision of curriculum framework with this drawback addressed, a revolutionary change in all domains can be witnessed. There are also plans in which all schools will be provided with computers and internet connectivity for pedagogical purposes. In this present era of technology, fast access to information is much essential. It is important to keep the knowledge up to date since the whole world is dynamical in all contexts. In a discipline like Physics, along with basic concepts, day to day affairs are also to be noted down for which internet is crucial. For that, computers/tablets will be made available sufficiently so as to cover every student in every school. Since the classrooms are all becoming smart, access to knowledge becomes easier. Once internet available smartphones or tablets become accessible to all students, a broad and novel approach to learning can be implemented in which online quizzes, competitions, assessments, enrichment materials etc. can be used to train them.
NEP recommends that at least 50% of all learners should have the access to vocational learning. Since Physics has both theoretical aspects and well as practical aspects when it comes to academics or in its other employment sectors, the part of vocational learning along with regular education becomes significant. There will be summer school for students to find out the merit in them. Students are always gifted with talents which sometimes require a stage to get revealed. Such identification, if done at school time itself, then that will give them a solid, unambiguous foundation. Students who has passion for subjects such as Physics could be thus identified early and could be directed accordingly. NEP proposes plans to introduce activities to shape active learners in order to develop their abilities of independent, logical, and scientific thinking, creativity and problem solving, and decision making. All the above said qualities are essential for a Physics enthusiast. So one who gets trained as mentioned above, will able to grab the content of the subject much easier. The teaching is proposed to be more project based. It will foster the talents in students. Rather than ordinary class room learning giving importance to curriculum in an exam point of view, a project based teaching approach will enable students to think and act in a practical and efficient way. In addition to classroom teaching, there are plans for introducing a policy called community teaching with one-on-one peer tutoring. Class being a community, sometimes teachers may not be able to attend all the students individually which may results in failure to identify their talents. With seniors properly peer guiding their juniors under the guidance of teachers, the dormant talents could be awaken. These are some aspects of NEP over school education which eventually in domains such as Physics.
When it comes to the stream of higher education, many noticeable changes have been proposed. NEP insists that multidisciplinary studies should be promoted in higher education. Multidisciplinary and liberal undergraduate education is said to be promoted along with the idea of 4 year undergraduate courses many with integrated teacher training courses. Higher education as of now is, somehow unidisciplinary. But with the advent of multidisciplinary studies in higher education, new avenues can definitely be fostered. There is a proposal for transforming all higher education institutes (HEIs) to be multidisciplinary which will aid the growth of science along with other disciplines. Domains such as Physics will surely get benefited as those who practice in a particular domain but with deep interest in another domain, will get a chance to learn it formally. Also, there are suggestions to restructure the hierarchy of HEIs. Higher education institutions will be framed into either as research universities, teaching universities and colleges at the same time ensuring geographic diversity, access, equity and inclusion. This classification will help the students with different aptitudes to get absorbed into an institution of their choice. So the students who prefer a graduation alone in a domain may go to a college whereas a strong research aspirant of the same domain could go to a research university from graduation onwards. But there is also a fact that such a classification will decrease the number of HEIs that were once accessible to all, which eventually results in the clustering of students. This will create a healthy competitive spirit among the students to get absorbed into some good institute of their choice and to excel further. Also there is a clause saying that affiliated colleges should merge with universities or themselves becomes universities. This further reduces the number of HEIs. Though such recommendations seems to bring about negative impacts on the first glimpse, it all aims at ensuring quality higher education which is essential for a domain such as Physics where quality alone matters.
NEP says that only accredited HEIs will be able to grant degrees or diplomas. With rigorous accreditation process, the policy makers can ensure the quality of HEIs that are accredited and in turn the quality of education provided to the students from these institutions. The plan is to invest 1.5 lakh crore rupees in higher education over the next five years. That is, a huge sum of money, a lion's share of the national budget is proposed to spend in higher education. If properly utilised, this will create a drastic change in the higher education sector of India across all disciplines. With all such changes, the expected increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is at least to 50%. This, if achieved, will change the entire higher education scenario in all disciplines including Physics. NEP also demands girl's access to educational institutions. Though highly talented, due to the socio-economic systems prevailing in India, many girls are not able to come to the frontiers of educational excellence. By ensuring quality education to them, they can be brought forward which will undoubtedly beneficial to academics as well as to industry. NEP also introduces ideas such as a student may discontinue his/her studies in different phases of their education. Even then, he/she will be eligible for re-entering and continuing their education into the higher levels. This is more of a student favoured approach. There are thousands who were forced to leave their formal education due to many reasons. For them, this will give a new opportunity to resume their studies and to full fill their once dreamed goals. NEP also aims for the integration of professional and vocational higher education. A clubbing of the otherwise two parallel streams will create a new set of opportunities that makes the learners as potential candidates to meet the current day challenges.
NEP also proposes guidelines for the restructuring of institutional management and governance. Institutional autonomy (both academic and administrative) will help to develop more socially demanding courses, formation of best curriculum and practice of local governance which follows from the circumstances prevailing. Along with the above autonomy, if financial autonomy is also provided, then things such as the allocation of funds could be managed locally (to public institutions). The managing statute bodies in these HEIs will be dispersed and replaced by the board of governors. But the criteria for those who will head HEIs (board of governors) lay less stress on academic excellence, and focus instead on leadership and management. This may create problems as many a times, the leaders of HEIs who are not from an academic background fails to understand the needs of the academic community which will hinder the development of various disciplines especially in science. So it is better to have an equal representation of science, arts, management and social sciences in the governance bodies.
NEP suggests for merit based faculty appointment and promotion. All appointments and promotions to faculty positions should be done in strict recruitment processes and all contract recruitments should be stopped. This is essential when it comes to the quality of teaching as backdoor recruitments can be controlled and may help academically qualified ones to get placed as teachers in HEIs. All teachers will have possible career progression paths to become educational administrators or teacher educators. This is also an equally well suggestion as it opens different prospects by which career can be framed.
As per NEP, a special national fund will be created for providing scholarships and developing resources and facilities for students from under-represented groups (URGs). For HEIs, there is a provision for a national scholarship fund for students who may need assistance from socially and economically backward class. In addition to that, Special Education Zones (SEZs) will be set up to meet the educational requirements of the under-represented groups. Such initiatives will help the under-represented groups to come to the main frame of higher education and research which is beneficial. NEP also suggest that there should be some faculty autonomy also that will help the teachers to practice their own teaching and pedagogical approaches, do research and also to share such practices. Such a freedom if properly utilised, will help to develop a new kind of learning atmosphere. Apart from regular, classroom learning, NEP also insists students to massively use open online courses. Online courses are quite useful and common now a days. By promoting them, students will get a taste of what is not learned from class rooms and sometimes may become more beneficial than anticipated. NEP also put forward the suggestion that national testing agency (NTA) will conduct all the entrance tests to many HEIs. Such changes are intended for the restructuring of exams from mere memorisation to the display of core concepts, skills and higher order capabilities. Such a re-construction is key while learning Physics and domains like that.
When it comes to research, NEP recommends for the establishment of a National Research Foundation (NRF) in order to promote the research at state universities and institutions like that. There are suggestions to encourage cross-disciplinary collaborative research and study among students and faculty. This will create a warm learning atmosphere which is quite essential while learning and understanding Physics. The scope of the relevance and application of research is also redefined. According to NEP, researchers are expected "to connect such research across disciplines with societal needs and with governmental bodies and with industry". This outlook on application has both positive and negative impacts in the research of Physics. If this is the motto followed, more experimental and practical aspects of Physics research will get promoted while some aspects will face a decline. The proposed NRF will have an annual budget of Rs 20,000 crores. But its utilisation will be regulated by the government. Though the funding expected is quite huge, the whole way by which it is distributed will solely lies in the hands of government authorities.
In short, the proposed and much awaited national education policy will definitely have its impact on all phases of education across all the disciplines. Some changes are worth welcoming while some others somehow needs a revision to fit itself into the slots.
References
[1] M. Resoruce Human Development, "National education policy, 2019," Minist. Educ. Gov. India, pp. 1–71, 2019.
[2] https://www.epw.in/engage/article/examining-draft-national-education-policy-2019
[3] http://www.prsindia.org/report-summaries/draft-national-education-policy-2019
[5] https://thewire.in/education/national-education-policy-draft-2019
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