IMPACT OF NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY IN SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION
NEP is a policy formulated by the Government of India in order to promote education among people in India. It helps in promoting education in rural as well as urban areas. The first NEP was promoted by the government of Indira Gandhi in 1968. The historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted at the UN General Assembly in 1948, declared that everyone has the right to education. Article 26 in the Declaration stated that education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages and elementary education shall be compulsory, and that 'education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms'. So education as such should result in the complete development of human personality. The draft policy prepared by a team of nine experts led by space scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan is perhaps the best piece of education reforms initiative in recent years (Draft NEP2019).
CONTENT
After our country's independence in 1947 a lot of policy statements were undertaken. They include the Scientific Policy Resolution (1958), The Technology Policy Statement (1983), The National Policy on Education (1986), and a series of Industrial Policy Resolution Statements beginning in 1948. A draft for a new technology policy was circulated for discussion in 1995. It is generally accepted that science, technology, and education are critical ingredients for national economic and social development. While science and technology influence the utilization of natural resources and capital, education is concerned with human resource development. The draft suggests a multi-disciplinary higher education system and a simplified university system, which will emphasize on professional, humanities and pure science streams. The Policy document lacks clarity in terms of allocation of funds, plan of action and intent of execution with respect to strengthening the scientific research and innovation at educational institutions. It would be expected that the final document would give a clear narrative on these. We also need mentors who would open the wonderful world of science to their pupils, encourage experimentations to explore the unknown and expand their knowledge, which ideally should be the primary goal of being educated. Unfortunately, the best scientific brains seldom pursue a career in science education, almost never at the school level. So, the school children and college youth are taught by their teachers preparing them to succeed at various levels of examination, not mentored for a career in science. As a result, on one hand the country is losing on its scientific excellence ("Glimmers of Hope and Reform in the National Education Policy Draft", The Wire, 2019).
So what we can do to overcome this problem is by: • Differentiating the needs for science and technology for Science education, Professional education and Vocational education at 3 levels.
• By taking appropriate steps to upgrade pedagogical capacity of the science teachers at school, college and university levels and ensure that every school has a science laboratory equipped with fundamental facilities, using innovative but commonplace items for experimentation that create curiosity in young minds.
• Indicate the parameters of and mechanism for determining the budgetary allocations for science education and scientific research. For instance, by distributing already limited funds for scientific research to all universities may not yield a desirable result. Identify universities for research grants strictly on the bases of their performance, scientific strength and any special needs which are location specific. Hence, universities may be classified as 'Only Teaching' and 'Teaching and Research'. However, 'Only Teaching' universities must also be given grants for discipline-wise functional laboratories, with all essential infrastructure and equipment. • To Emphasize on learning about the history of science in India and the milestones achieved by Indian scientists in different fields. A course on History of Science must be made compulsory both at the school and college levels. • A number of scientists of Indian origin are doing excellent research in the countries abroad. Such persons shall be invited to work in India and mentor young researchers. Healthy collaboration with the private sector for faster development of technology and their innovative application. Best performing students may be given an opportunity to work as interns in the private labs with a possibility of placement. • Prioritize research areas for funding. Identify programme in the critical fields for every five years. Strengthen the ones where India has a comparative advantage, or is at par with the global competence. • Rationalize the mechanism of monitoring for capital expenditure and research auditing by including qualitative indicators ("Draft new education policy is robust, but has its limitations", https://www.livemint.com, 2019). In one of the documents released recently it says that the three topmost science academies in the country mainly, Indian National Science Academy (New Delhi), Indian Academy of Sciences (Bengaluru) and National Academy of Sciences, India (Allahabad) said the draft policy does not make a compelling case for why radical alterations need to be carried out to the fundamental structure of the education system in the country. The scientific community is also against the semester system what the government tried to introduce. They also felt that in the entire education system the use of entrance exams conducted during admissions in various institutions for higher and professional studies are only giving students a short term memory. They also suggested that the education system include a lot of outdated syllabi, and poorly trained teachers as well as political interferences are happening in case of syllabus setting and teacher appointment. The focus of policy should be to minimize such type of limitations of the examination system. Many of the science academies also opposed the idea of introducing a four year B.Ed course as it will limit the higher education potential of the students who are actually doing such courses. The science academies also generated a concern regarding the National Research fund (NRF), to give a clear idea on this area ("Draft National Education Policy needs re-look, say science academies", @business line, 2019).
So in conclusion many of the science streams are facing the mentioned problems in the same way. Mainly in-case of scientists who are of Indian origin working abroad, probably in this case we are losing a bunch of eminent scientists who have the potential to train a or guide a lot of students in the research field. And another Main issue is regarding the research funds which should be given an importance, which will actually help a lot of research scholars to continue with their work. And the use of multidisciplinary approach even in research will enable the scholars to do their work in a more effective and beneficial way.
NEP is a policy formulated by the Government of India in order to promote education among people in India. It helps in promoting education in rural as well as urban areas. The first NEP was promoted by the government of Indira Gandhi in 1968. The historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted at the UN General Assembly in 1948, declared that everyone has the right to education. Article 26 in the Declaration stated that education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages and elementary education shall be compulsory, and that 'education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms'. So education as such should result in the complete development of human personality. The draft policy prepared by a team of nine experts led by space scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan is perhaps the best piece of education reforms initiative in recent years (Draft NEP2019).
CONTENT
After our country's independence in 1947 a lot of policy statements were undertaken. They include the Scientific Policy Resolution (1958), The Technology Policy Statement (1983), The National Policy on Education (1986), and a series of Industrial Policy Resolution Statements beginning in 1948. A draft for a new technology policy was circulated for discussion in 1995. It is generally accepted that science, technology, and education are critical ingredients for national economic and social development. While science and technology influence the utilization of natural resources and capital, education is concerned with human resource development. The draft suggests a multi-disciplinary higher education system and a simplified university system, which will emphasize on professional, humanities and pure science streams. The Policy document lacks clarity in terms of allocation of funds, plan of action and intent of execution with respect to strengthening the scientific research and innovation at educational institutions. It would be expected that the final document would give a clear narrative on these. We also need mentors who would open the wonderful world of science to their pupils, encourage experimentations to explore the unknown and expand their knowledge, which ideally should be the primary goal of being educated. Unfortunately, the best scientific brains seldom pursue a career in science education, almost never at the school level. So, the school children and college youth are taught by their teachers preparing them to succeed at various levels of examination, not mentored for a career in science. As a result, on one hand the country is losing on its scientific excellence ("Glimmers of Hope and Reform in the National Education Policy Draft", The Wire, 2019).
So what we can do to overcome this problem is by: • Differentiating the needs for science and technology for Science education, Professional education and Vocational education at 3 levels.
• By taking appropriate steps to upgrade pedagogical capacity of the science teachers at school, college and university levels and ensure that every school has a science laboratory equipped with fundamental facilities, using innovative but commonplace items for experimentation that create curiosity in young minds.
• Indicate the parameters of and mechanism for determining the budgetary allocations for science education and scientific research. For instance, by distributing already limited funds for scientific research to all universities may not yield a desirable result. Identify universities for research grants strictly on the bases of their performance, scientific strength and any special needs which are location specific. Hence, universities may be classified as 'Only Teaching' and 'Teaching and Research'. However, 'Only Teaching' universities must also be given grants for discipline-wise functional laboratories, with all essential infrastructure and equipment. • To Emphasize on learning about the history of science in India and the milestones achieved by Indian scientists in different fields. A course on History of Science must be made compulsory both at the school and college levels. • A number of scientists of Indian origin are doing excellent research in the countries abroad. Such persons shall be invited to work in India and mentor young researchers. Healthy collaboration with the private sector for faster development of technology and their innovative application. Best performing students may be given an opportunity to work as interns in the private labs with a possibility of placement. • Prioritize research areas for funding. Identify programme in the critical fields for every five years. Strengthen the ones where India has a comparative advantage, or is at par with the global competence. • Rationalize the mechanism of monitoring for capital expenditure and research auditing by including qualitative indicators ("Draft new education policy is robust, but has its limitations", https://www.livemint.com, 2019). In one of the documents released recently it says that the three topmost science academies in the country mainly, Indian National Science Academy (New Delhi), Indian Academy of Sciences (Bengaluru) and National Academy of Sciences, India (Allahabad) said the draft policy does not make a compelling case for why radical alterations need to be carried out to the fundamental structure of the education system in the country. The scientific community is also against the semester system what the government tried to introduce. They also felt that in the entire education system the use of entrance exams conducted during admissions in various institutions for higher and professional studies are only giving students a short term memory. They also suggested that the education system include a lot of outdated syllabi, and poorly trained teachers as well as political interferences are happening in case of syllabus setting and teacher appointment. The focus of policy should be to minimize such type of limitations of the examination system. Many of the science academies also opposed the idea of introducing a four year B.Ed course as it will limit the higher education potential of the students who are actually doing such courses. The science academies also generated a concern regarding the National Research fund (NRF), to give a clear idea on this area ("Draft National Education Policy needs re-look, say science academies", @business line, 2019).
So in conclusion many of the science streams are facing the mentioned problems in the same way. Mainly in-case of scientists who are of Indian origin working abroad, probably in this case we are losing a bunch of eminent scientists who have the potential to train a or guide a lot of students in the research field. And another Main issue is regarding the research funds which should be given an importance, which will actually help a lot of research scholars to continue with their work. And the use of multidisciplinary approach even in research will enable the scholars to do their work in a more effective and beneficial way.
REFERENCES
• "Examining the Draft National Education Policy, 2019", Economic and Political Weekly, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.epw.in/engage/article/examining-draft-national-education-policy-2019. [Accessed: 16- Aug- 2019].
• "Glimmers of Hope and Reform in the National Education Policy Draft", The Wire, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://thewire.in/education/national-education-policy-draft-2019. [Accessed: 16- Aug- 2019].
• "National Policy on Education", En.wikipedia.org, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Policy_on_Education. [Accessed: 16- Aug- 2019].
• "Draft new education policy is robust, but has its limitations", https://www.livemint.com, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.livemint.com/education/news/draft-new-education-policy-is-robust-but-has-its-limitations-1560282687888.html. [Accessed: 16- Aug- 2019].
• "My Gov Innovation | National Education Policy 2019", Innovate.mygov.in, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://innovate.mygov.in/new-education-policy-2019/. [Accessed: 16- Aug- 2019].
• "Draft National Education Policy needs relook, say science academies", @businessline, 2019.[Online].Available: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/education/draft-national-education-policy-needs-relook-say-science-academies/article28595738.ece. [Accessed: 18- Aug- 2019].
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