The Draft National Education Policy, 2019 prepared by a committee chaired by Dr K. Kasturirangan has been shared by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development for public comments. The policy aims at making India a knowledge superpower by equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge. It also focuses on eliminating the shortage of manpower in Science and Technology, academics and industry. The Draft Policy is built on foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability.

Body:

Key Features of the Draft Policy:

• The policy covers school education, higher education and professional education which in turn include agricultural education, legal education, medical education and technical education.
• It also looks at the verticals of vocational education by including teacher education and the research and innovation.
• The early child care and education have been sought to be integrated within the Ministry of Education (a changed name has been suggested for the Ministry of Human Resource and Development – MHRD).
• The policy also tries to focus on certain foundational skills that children should have in the proposed new structure of 5+3+3+4.
  • The first stage of five years (for children of 3-8 years of age) i.e. foundational stage looks at discovery learning and learning by play. The foundational literacy and numeracy skills are a mission mode approach under it that includes National Tutors’ Program, remedial instructional aid programmes It considers nutrition as very critical for strengthening the levels of 3-8 years of children.
  • The next stage is Preparatory Stage for the children in the age group of 8 to 11 years (grades 3 to 5) followed by the Middle Stage (grades 6 to 8) for the students in the age group of 11-14 years.
  • The Secondary Stage (Grades 9-12) for students in the age group of 14-18 years.
• For school education, governance level changes have also been suggested. A State regulatory authority has been suggested for regulating education in the country. The body will decide the accreditation of different schools. The government will continue to fund and operate education in the country.
• Main takeaways for higher education:
  • Restructuring of the higher education system into Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.
  • Tier 1 includes research universities focusing equally on research and teaching.
  • Tier 2 includes teaching universities focusing primarily on teaching.
  • Tier 3 includes colleges focusing only on teaching at undergraduate levels.
  • All such institutions will gradually move towards full autonomy – academic, administrative, and financial. The idea is to spread ‘research culture’ at the undergraduate level.
  • The policy also talks about National Scholarship Fund to financially support students for higher education.
• The National Research Foundation, an apex body, is proposed for creating a strong research culture. It will help build research capacity across higher education.
• The four functions of Standard Setting, Funding, Accreditation and Regulation will be separated and conducted by independent bodies.
• National Higher Education Regulatory Authority will be the only regulator for all higher education including professional education.
• The policy proposes to create an accreditation eco-system led by a revamped NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council).
• Professional Standard Setting Bodies for each area of professional education was proposed.
• UGC is to be transformed to Higher Education Grants Commission (HEGC).
• Language:
  • Promotion of Indian and classical languages and setting up three new National Institutes for Pali, Persian and Prakrit were proposed.
  • Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) has been recommended.
• The policy also proposes to increase the class of compulsory education up to grade 12 (age-18).
• The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act – RTE, 2009 (represents Article 21-A of the Indian Constitution) made education, a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14.
• The policy aims to achieve a fully literate society where all adults are literates by 2030 or so.
• Besides the above, the committee also recommended several new policy initiatives for –
  • promoting internationalization of higher education
  • strengthening quality open and distance learning
  • technology integration at all levels of education
  • facilitating adult and lifelong learning
  • enhancing participation of under-represented groups
  • eliminating gender, social category and regional gaps in education outcomes

Challenges:

• There are fewer consensuses on the integration of foundational learning with schooling. In Europe, compulsory education begins at the age of 6. In certain countries like Denmark, Germany and Finland, compulsory education begins at the age of 7.
• There needs to be a discussion on whether literacy and numeracy skills should be developed during the time of foundational learning.
• In the draft policy, there is no mention of how the State regulatory body will regulate the government institutions.
• A constitutional amendment is required to change the limits for compulsory schooling in the country. Also, increasing the limit on higher side i.e. up to the age of 18 is not consistent with the limits across the world. Also, it is a very expensive proposition.
• There is not enough capacity in the country to provide for teachers’ education. Also, M.Ed has been given less importance under the policy. The focus has been more on B.Ed.

Way Forward:

• Education is a concurrent list subject. Apart from a consensus between the centre and the states, all the other stakeholders including institutions, public and academicians should also be consulted.
• Natal and prenatal studies should also be included in the country’s education system to ensure awareness about the issues related to mother and infants, considering the high MMR and IMR in the country.
• There should be a course of Masters of Teacher Education. Also, there is a need to build good teacher training institutions.
• The education policy should maintain a symbiotic relationship between the different regions of the country through the study of different languages.
• The quality of education provided in the country shall be such that it not only delivers basic literacy and numeracy but also creates an analytical environment in the country.