INTRODUCTION: Education is a big deal for Indian society because a person is judged by his or her educational background here but now in 2020 the old education system has become outdated and here are few reasons for that:
MAINE ISSUES :
Competition From an early stage students are pushed into a competitive environment, where they are made to believe that If they are not pushing themselves hard enough to do better in studies, than there fellow peers then they won’t mount up to anything in life, so they began to study day and night to score 90% and more otherwise they won’t be able to sit for any competitive entrance exam, this type of unhealthy competition often burns out students of their creativity and passion which leads to the production of future generations, who lacks critical thinking & struggle to develop problem-solving skills. Then comes Rote learning it doesn’t matter if the child is interested in the subject or no it becomes compulsory for them to study it even though they don’t understand it, they start to mug up the subject and write there papers after the exam they don’t even remember what they have studied, leading to waste of time and money and effort, this type of learning helps no one and they go by there life without learning new skills. Filtering of students is a “one size fits all approach” which has been framed around the production of high-quality students who sit for future competitive exams, and the rest of the students are lost causes in the process. As we can see this type of approach is not benefiting the Indian society as a whole not everyone needs to become a doctor, engineer or lawyer to be successful in life, there are so many other fields waiting to be explored with vocational learning but the Indian society is lacking positive outlook towards vocational learning, for example learning carpenter is looked down upon in India wherein other parts of the world some people use this skills as a form of making custom wooden art piece which are sold to limited people for a handsome price. The possibilities are endless if you think about it only if we change our outlook a little bit because our old ways are not working anymore.
Because of such issues, the Indian government has framed our New Education Policy 2020 (NEP) which focuses on skill development and learning.
NEW EDUCATION POLICY 2020 :
School Education – This policy states that the current 10+2 structure in school education will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18 as shown in the representative figures below.
The curricular and pedagogical structure of school education will be reconfigured to make it responsive and relevant to the developmental needs and interests of students at different stages of their development, according to the age ranges of 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18
The curricular and pedagogical structure and the curricular framework for school education will therefore be guided by a 5+3+3+4 design, consisting of the. Foundational Stage : (in 2 parts, that is,
3 years of Anganwadi/pre-school + 2 years in primary school in Grades 1-2; both together covering ages 3-8), This Stage shall consist of five years of flexible, multilevel, play/activity-based
learning and the curriculum and pedagogy of ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education: The Foundation of Learning) which ideally consists of flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and inquiry-based learning, comprising of alphabets, languages, numbers, counting, colours, shapes, indoor and outdoor play, puzzles and logical thinking, problem-solving, drawing, painting and other visual art, craft, drama and puppetry, music and movement. It also includes a focus on developing social capacities, sensitivity, good behaviour, courtesy, ethics, personal and public cleanliness, teamwork, and cooperation. The overall aim of ECCE will be to attain optimal outcomes in the domains of physical and motor development, cognitive development, socio-emotional-ethical development, cultural/artistic development, and the development of communication and early
language, literacy, and numeracy.
Preparatory Stage : (Grades 3-5, covering ages 8-11), This Stage will consist of three years of education building on the play, discovery, and activity-based pedagogical and curricular style which is found in the Foundational Stage, and will also include some light textbooks as well as aspects of more formal but interactive classroom learning, in order to lay a solid groundwork across subjects, including reading, writing, speaking, physical education, art, languages, science, and mathematics.
Middle Stage : (Grades 6-8, covering ages 11-14), The Middle Stage will be of three years of education, building on the pedagogical and curricular style included in Preparatory Stage, but with the introduction of subject teachers for learning and discussion of the more abstract concepts in each subject that students will be ready for at this stage across the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities. Experiential learning within each subject, and explorations of relations among different subjects, will be encouraged and emphasized despite the introduction of more specialized subjects and subject teachers.
Secondary Stage : (Grades 9-12 in 2 phases, i.e., 9 and 10 in the first and 11 and 12 in the second, covering ages 14-18). The Secondary Stage will comprise four years of multidisciplinary study, building on the subject-oriented pedagogical and curricular style of the Middle Stage, but with greater depth, greater critical thinking, greater attention to life aspirations, and greater flexibility and student choice of subjects. In particular, students would continue to have the option of exiting after Grade 10 and re-entering in the next phase to pursue vocational or any other courses available in Grades 11- 12, including at a more specialized school, if so desired. Students will be given flexibility and choice of subjects to study, particularly in Secondary school – including subjects in physical education, arts and crafts, and Vocational skills – so that they can design their own paths of study and life plans. Holistic development and a wide choice of subjects and courses year to year will be the new distinguishing feature of secondary school education.
There will be no hard separation among ‘curricular’, ‘extracurricular ’, or ‘co-curricular, among ‘arts’, ‘humanities’, and ‘sciences’, or between ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ streams and subjects such as physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills, in addition to science, humanities, and mathematics, will be incorporated throughout the school curriculum, with a consideration for what is interesting and safe at each age.
The progress card will be a holistic, 360-degree, multidimensional report that reflects in great detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. It will include self-assessment and peer assessment, and progress of the child in project-based and inquiry-based learning, quizzes, role plays, group work, portfolios, etc., along with teacher assessment.
CONCLUSION: The purpose of The New Education policy 2020 is to identify the key talent in a child and groom their skills accordingly and prepare them for the real world where they can thrive, with the use of critical thinking and adaptation of problem-solving skills.
