State of School Education - Part II - NEP 2020 and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

1.0 Introduction

Education systems have been defined and driven over decades with an intention to sow the seeds of individual and collective progress. All nation states use it as an opportunity to define the nature of its polity leading to direct impact on outcomes. India post independence has been a classic case for the world to see. This is largely due to the diverse – geography, ethnicities, cultures, linguistics and religions – nature of the country. The approach towards Education policy has been influenced by all the aforementioned factors. Including the global and local complexities that we have experienced in all these years. It is important to understand the progress in our policy pivots in order to understand the consequential impact on outcomes for generations. We will try to understand the major shifts and influences over the years with a focus on the National Education Policy [NEP] 2020.

2.0 Timeline

We have made a mention of the top initiatives at the policy level that have had considerable impact.

Education Commission (aka Kothari Commission) – 1964–66

In the post-independence era as we moved from the colonial system of education for our populace the Kothari commission played a significant role. The focus on the role of education – in national integration, access to education for all, equalisation of educational opportunities, science and mathematics as integral parts of school – were key drivers to change. These led to the National Policy on Education in 1968.

National Policy on Education (NPE) (1968)

In conclusion to the recommendations to the Kothari commission the government brought the NPE 1968. The focus on school education was increased with the introduction of the – 3 language formula – that sowed the seeds of placing linguistic context and national integration in congruence. It is important to highlight that the attempt to expand the accessibility footprint in urban and rural areas in a measured and balanced manner was also looked into via the NPE 1968. The Common school system as a tool for social cohesion and national integration was proposed to be implemented. Stipulations on compulsory education to age 14, greater equality of opportunity, the (then new) three-language formula, and improved teacher education.

National Policy on Education 1986

A first comprehensive attempt at deep diving into the contemporary state of education in order to look into specific focus areas. The focus was laid on – greater integration of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, girl child. In addition was the expansion of adult education; incentivization for low-income families. The key element was centred around – a “child-centred approach” in the primary years of education for children. The policy once adopted was implemented by way of 23 task forces with each assigned a specific subject as mentioned in the NPE 1986.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (2000–02)

The turn of the 21st century brought forward renewed challenges with literacy as a focus area for all. The SSA enabled the goal of achieving – Universal primary education. This was to be done by way of fulfilling accessibility through new schools and strengthening existing school infrastructure and resources. The SSA also accounted for enabling investments in – Educator/Teacher capacity and support, good quality Teaching-learning materials. The implementation of policy aimed at quality and accessibility as core features of the system.

National Curriculum Framework (NCF) (2005)

This was developed by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in line with the earlier ones during 1975, 1988, 2000. The purpose was to transform the system towards a child centric approach. This was to be achieved with a focus on – joyful learning experience and shifting away from rote learning.

Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (2018)

The SSA aims to subsume and merge the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan along with teacher education and capacity building. The scheme aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process. [Govt. of India].

National Education Policy (NEP) (2020)

The NEP 2020 is founded on the five guiding pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. It will prepare our youth to meet the diverse national and global challenges of the present and the future. [Govt of India. 2020].

It suggests that education for children must develop in the following core values and principles –

Cognitive skills – Foundation skills of literacy and numeracy; Higher order skills of critical thinking and problem solving

Social emotional skills – Cultural awareness and empathy, perseverance and grit, teamwork, leadership, communication etc.

Salient features of NEP 2020 especially with a focus on school education –

Ensuring Universal Access at All Levels of schooling from pre-primary school to Grade 12;
Ensuring quality early childhood care and education for all children between 3-6 years;
New Curricular and Pedagogical Structure (5+3+3+4);
No hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extracurricular activities, between vocational and academic streams;
Establishing National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy;
Emphasis on promoting multilingualism and Indian languages; The medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language.
Assessment reforms – Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired;
Setting up of a new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development);
Equitable and inclusive education – Special emphasis given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs);
A separate Gender Inclusion fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups;
Robust and transparent processes for recruitment of teachers and merit based performance;
Ensuring availability of all resources through school complexes and clusters;
Setting up of State School Standards Authority (SSSA);
Exposure of vocational education in school and higher education system;

[PIB. 2022]

3.0 Policy flow analysis

The focus on enabling access to education to all across the rural, urban and remote geographies have been a running theme over early decades. The complexity of the challenge can be understood that it took decades for us to reach that milestone. The reasons are tantamount to the fact that the economic and social progress was subjective to a lot of factors. The role of building scientific temper as per our Constitutional provision with the policies promoting science and mathematics in school education highlight the social challenges.

The 1980s brought around the role of capacity building and teacher training as key factors of the ecosystem of school education. As an enabler the pedagogical methodologies were also looked at highlighting the support material such as TLMs for children. In addition the introduction of multiple languages (3 language formula) which had the local language as a key player furthered the focus on education design and delivery.

The late 90s and early 2000s focussed on building a joyful learning experience for the child. This entailed looking at the education delivery with a perspective of improving the engagement of the child and also retention. The shift from rote learning highlighted the importance of children engaging with education with a sense of building a critical construct. The role of education in building children into effective stakeholders in the social system with a visualisation of education as a tool for personal, economic growth and nation building.

In the last decade with a global focus on inclusion for all sections of society the education policy has also evolved. The sense of diversity and inclusion inside a classroom for all children – specially abled, ethnic, religious minorities etc – has been a focal point. A sustained focus on learning outcomes building assessment and monitoring frameworks to actions in policies have also been quite evident. The NEP 2020 has brought about a renewed vision to the Education as a policy space which highlights the impact it has on a nation. The children are being looked at as the future with a sense that everyone is special. The focus on cognitive and social emotional skills is significant. The policy aims to create a space for universal access of educational opportunities to use it as an enabling tool.

References:

Author

Prashant Anand

Prashant Anand started his work in the Technology domain with multinational organisations like IBM and Sunlife. As part of his technology domain experience, he initiated employee engagement to address social issues like education, environment and youth engagement. He went on to work with slum communities in Gurgaon and Delhi on education especially on girl child education. Then as an AIF fellow in 2017-18, he went on to work with the Mising tribe in North East (Upper Assam) to work on issues of youth engagement and education. Later, he started his organisation called Samanta Foundation to work with Tribal, Pastoral nomads, Rural and Forest dwelling communities. He started working with Forest schools building contextual pedagogical solutions for school education. He then went on to work with local youth leadership running a fellowship program for girls.

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