By Fr Soroj Mullick, SDB –
The highly regulated and poorly funded National Education Policy (NEP 2020) points sweeping education reforms right from the Pre-school stage (age 3!) without any strategy and lines of action.
The followings are some of the major highlights: a comprehensive test to gauge the actual knowledge of students (analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity instead of “rote learning”; public exams at Classes 3, 5 and 8 with focus on basic literacy and basic numeracy; curriculum reduced to core concepts; 3-language learned by children; multiple entry and exit in 4 year bachelor’s courses; no MPhil course; common norms for private and public higher education; integration of vocational education from class 6; Cap fees charged by educational institutions; common entrance exams; financial support for meritable students (SC, ST, OBC, SEDGS); counselling systems for handling stress and emotional adjustments; holistic and multidisciplinary education without rigid separation between streams; vocational, academic and curricular and extra-curricular; graded academic, administrative and financial autonomy of institutions, etc.
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Additionally, a national educational technology forum (NETF) will be created, to promote develop e-courses and set up virtual labs. The worst is, in an Indian federal system, there will be a single regulator: Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) with independent bodies e.g. General Education Council; Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC); National Accreditation Council (NAC); and National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC). Other centralized bodies such as National assessment centre (PARAKH), National Research Foundation (NRF) to expand and fund research and innovation, Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUS) and Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) will only enhance the elite groups of people in the country.
The multidisciplinary institutions, each of which is aimed to have 3,000 or more students is another way to curtail the spread of minority educational institutions. The policy, therefore, may look progressive, but not free of political pressures of old traditions. Due to the Governments’ refusal to increase budgetary allocation for public-funded education, nearly two-thirds of all college and university students attend private institutions.
A corporatized, ideology-inflected and “merit” driven education offered to like-minded persons will always be partial and politically motivated. It is to be remembered that education is for “imparting life-breath to the complete man, who is intellectual as well as economic, bound by social bonds, but aspiring towards spiritual freedom and final perfection.”
To sum up: here are ten big ideas emphasised in the NEP 2020 for reimagining the Indian education: world-class education in the pursuit of excellence; multi-disciplinary and liberal education with emphasis on liberal arts, humanities, social sciences, STEM and medicine; regulatory reforms and breaking the public-private divide; expansion with quality assurance and access; research ecosystem with emphasis on research and a culture of innovation through NRF; faculty focus on mentoring, retention, incentives, development; governance and leadership; academic freedom and institutional autonomy; public funding and private philanthropy; internationalisation, accreditation and digitisation.
The Inflict of ‘Virus’ of National Education Policy
Knowing the repercussions of these policies, institutional challenges and behavioural aspects will be faced following the five key areas of change, reform, re-imagination and transformation namely: building trust with respect and collegiality between government agencies, regulatory bodies and higher education institutions; transparent and expeditious decision-making process e.g. accountability; institutional independence with more power and responsibility; active and participative consultation; and empowering autonomous institutions of eminence (IoEs).
The Catholic Church need not boast of its 35, 000 schools/colleges in India (46% students in India go to private schools!). The far right wing will have more educational institutes under the CBSE, mostly funded by the Government. We cannot be onlookers but be participants in the process of the above ushered in changes, hopefully for the development and progress of the common people. Now is the defining moment for Churches in India to keep up the Indian national legacy of Christian education rooted in Indian educational ethos.
After 34 years, with the increase in educational establishments with more students, infrastructures, universities and colleges, the new educational policy was expected to modernize Indian education with changes in: academic structure; regulated emphasis on child based foundational stage (Pre-Primary) restructuring with compulsory education along with equal opportunity for all, thus enhancing the lives of the common people. Instead, with new technological and interdisciplinary spill the NEP’20 separates quality from access and equity. The India educational system with the absence of mechanism for implementation and hidden agenda, is being globalized with its ethos and gurukula foundation through the NEP.
Tomorrow: Impact on Christian Educational Institutions
Fr. Soroj Mullick, SDB is a Salesian priest from the Kolkata Province. He has a Licentiate in Catechetics and a Doctorate (Christian Education) from UPS, Italy. He has number of years of teaching experience in college and in the formation of future priests. Besides, he has written number of research papers and articles, and has 25 years of Ministry in India and abroad as Educator, Formator, Retreat Preacher, Editor and engaged in School, Parish Catechetical & Youth Ministry. He is now an assistant priest in Bandel Basilica, rendering pastoral and catechetical ministry to the parishioners and to the pilgrims. He can be contacted at [email protected].