>>> National Education Policy: The New Journey of the 21st Century

Question: Davish Sir, what is the goal of the new education policy from your perspective.
Dr. Jain : The goal of the new policy is to improve the school and higher education system in the country so that India regains its archaic identity with the ‘superpower’ of knowledge. Chanakya, who made an ordinary young man Chandragupta as Maurya Emperor, had said 2500 years ago that he should earn money by means of wisdom. Create wealth from knowledge. It is the goal of the new education policy that is why informal education is also brought under the purview of education. If our students grow in curiosity and imagination, they will be skillful. And the schools – Mahavidyalaya will create job providers, not job seekers.

Question: Was the new education policy really needed or has it been implemented only because it was BJP’s promise?
Dr. Jain: See, according to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2018 ‘Learning to Realize Education Promise’, India’s education system is in a bad state. The industries and business world has a complaint that the degree holders are not employable. Our educational institutions are preparing rights-seeking citizens who lack a sense of duty. In the current education system, marks and grades are being given more importance than knowledge. As a result, students are competing for more marks instead of knowledge. They don’t understand the subject but depends on rote memory. I believe that many youths have given a new identity to India in the country and abroad, but only a handful of students have got such an opportunity. Inequality in education is a threat to national unity. The country can be kept united by adopting the same curriculum at the national level. About a third of children in India leave school before completing primary education. There is a shortage of electricity, water, toilets, boundary walls, library, computers, etc. in schools and universities. This affects the education system. In rural areas, the government has invested in the infrastructure of the education sector, but it has not got the expected success. Most of the schools in the villages are dependent on a single teacher, which affects the quality of education. Very few Indian educational institutions have been included in the top-200 world rankings. An important challenge is the accountability and performance of professors in universities and colleges.

Question: Will the new education policy remove all these shortcomings?
Dr. Jain: Actually, this is the government’s policy document on education and vision. In the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, we are moving towards a period where a person will not remain in one profession throughout his life. For this, he will have to continuously Re-Skilling and Up-Skilling himself. Indian Universities should prepare professionals and technocrats who lay the foundation for a new India. It should not be expected that the new education policy will remove all the shortcomings of the old education policy overnight. It will give a direction. The education period is divided into 4 phases so that children are skilled from a young age and become responsible citizens. The duration of the foundation stage is 5 years. Three years of the Preparatory and Middle stages and four years of the last Secondary stage. The Foundation Stage has been given maximum time so that there is no haste in laying the foundation of education. The first three years children take pre-schooling education then classes one and two for two years. There should be activity-based learning. In the Foundation stage, language knowledge and in the Preparatory stage, Science, Maths is focused. Today there is pressure on children. Teachers give a lot of home-work, whereas parents want the children to get good ranking in the competitive examinations so that they get admission in the prestigious institutes. Yes, the day children start their schooling, parents start expecting them – to become an engineer, doctor, or chartered accountant. The aim of the new education policy is that children see the world, then understand and they themselves decide what they want to become. They will decide their future by assessing their ‘abilities’ without any pressure. With the foundation of target-oriented education, when students come to the universities of professional and technical education, only then they will become global citizens connected to their roots.

Question: Protest has started in the new education policy on the suggestion of imparting primary education in mother tongue?
Dr. Jain: The child comes to school directly from home, at that tender age, his mind is not totally ready to absorb. After three years of pre-school, if he comes to 1st standard, then he will be more prepared than earlier in terms of acquiring some formal learning. The education up to class 5 will be in the mother tongue which he speaks or hears at home, in which case language will not be a barrier but will help make and develop the child’s thinking. Secondly, studying in the mother tongue is not a Hindi medium. If someone’s mother tongue is Gujarati or someone’s Tamil, Kannada or Marathi, then they should study primary education in that language. other languages like English or Hindi may be studied as a subject rather than as a medium of instruction. Why there is controversy or opposition in such a situation is beyond comprehension. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji has clearly said that instead of “what to think”, “how to think” has been emphasized in the new education policy. If education is the development of intelligence, the goal of education is to prepare responsible citizens. Bookish knowledge is necessary to an extent, while practical knowledge has no limit. I agree – Education must not only develop skills; it must develop confidence and the ability to learn.