Evolution

The previous policies have focused largely on equality of education and accessibility. The first Education policy came in 1968 and the second in 1986 which was revised in 1992 and the third one is The Education Policy under the BJP Government. The cabinet approved the New Education Policy on July 29^th, after a 34-year gap. The other major development since the 1986/92 policy has been the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Act 2009 which laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education. The implementation of the policy will further depend on both State and Centre as education is a concurrent subject. The global education development agenda reflected in the Goal 4 (SDG4) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by India in 2015 – seeks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030. The major aim of the education policy is to make “India global knowledge of superpower”.^[i] The world is undergoing rapid changes in various technological, scientific and research advancement. The new policy extensively focuses on these major changes in the system of rote learning.

A BRIEF

The New Education Policy has been a mammoth task. Two committees undertook the policy various feedback was taken and widely consulted. The policy document was examined several times before being sent for approval. The new document is radically different from all its predecessors as it outlines a completely new framework for our education. Good education policy is where wide learning is offered with good infrastructure and appropriate resources are provided. The key points which the policy emphasis on are:

• Recognising and fostering every individual’s capabilities and sensitizing teachers and parents as well to promote students in holistic development.
• One of the essential fundamentals which have been left unaddressed until now is Early Childhood Care and Education. The policy says, over 85% of a child’s brain development occurs prior to the age 8. Thus, it focuses on achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all students by grade 3^rd.
• Flexibility for learners to choose their learning projectors and choose their life paths according to their talent. Furthermore, there will be no hard separation between the streams. This also promotes the dispel of various notions of society and hierarchies.
• Multidisciplinary approach in order to promote uniformity and integrity for all knowledge. Emphasis on conceptual understanding and critical thinking.
• The vocational programs from school education. The policy has reconceptualised practical learning and give it a heads up. Which focuses on giving students an opportunity to intern at school level and learn a programming language.

The fundamental keynotes ensure integrity, transparency and empowerment of all students. 

The Vision of the Policy

School Learning

The policy envisages that the 10+2 old schooling structure will be modified with a 5+3+3+4 which will cover the age group of 3-6 and brings early childhood education. It constitutes the foundational stage of education. The restructure has been proposed keeping in mind the holistic development of the children. As the policy focuses on ‘the overarching goal would be to ensure universal access to high-quality ECCE across the country. It facilities amalgamation project led ecosystem of education which focuses on process and not just an outcome. It shifts the focus from conventional learning practices of delivering assignments. The Boards are redesigned now students can appear for it twice one for main examination and other for improvement if they desired. NEP 2020 also proposes a shift from summative assessments to regular and formative assessments. Which will focus on analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity? The government also focuses on multilingualism and suggests that students until class 5 should be taught in their mother tongue or regional language. This received a mixed reaction some says it will promote multilingualism while others comment it as a downfall for rural-urban students who wish to learn English.

The introduction to vocational studies grades 6 onwards and creation of National Committee for the Integration of Vocational Education (NCIVE) is an extremely important decision to remove the societal stigma attached with taking vocation as a career. Lastly one of the major problematic situations for every student has been choosing the streams, one of the critical factors of the new policy is flexibility. The dismantling of the rigid distinction of academics gives students much more flexibility and freedom to choose subjects of their interest and desires. Thus, it focuses on universalising education from early childhood.

Higher Education

According to the makers of this policy, some of the salient problems in the higher education institutions in our country is lack of research, limited teachers, less multidisciplinary courses and poor institutional governance.

Recognising the problems the policymakers came up with various new key ingredients. The decision to break the wall of streams and bring in flexibility, provisions of freedom to exit and entre courses, credit-based system and introduction to a 4-year degree with research.

The document also states universities among the world top 100 will be able to set up in India. However, this will only process ones the HRD Ministry brings a new law that includes the details of how foreign universities will operate. We can also see a partnership between government and private educational programmes which will result in the fruitful outcome and a shift into the latest technologies. Among the several new features of NEP 2020, one of the best is granting more autonomy to educational institutions which are providing quality education. The other is a single regulator for higher education. The other significant reform is the provision of multiple entries and exits points. This will help students to pursue the course of their choice at their own pace and without getting affected by the impact of their personal circumstances.

It also eliminates the MPhil programme which does not affect higher education trajectory at all. But it also emphasis equally on research and offers a 4-year undergraduate degree. As research is the foundation of knowledge creation and it plays a crucial role in the upliftment of any human. The policy envisages the creation of the National Research Foundation (NRF). Its main objective will be to provide areas of themes for research and coordination and build a platform for budding researchers which the nation strives for the next coming decade. However, the biggest challenge for the government would be to reduce the digital disparity which exists among students as well as teachers. Additionally, we also need to focus upon the skill development and training of educators and teachers who will help the nation in the rebuilding project. 

These are some of the pathbreaking provisions which NEP 2020 focuses on. It opens the door for hopes and aspirations. It is visionary and transformational however, the success lies in its implementation.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has put a standstill to regular schools and colleges. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 24th March announced a nationwide lockdown to fight against coronavirus or COVID-19. Hence, schools and colleges all over India had to shut. Some state governments had already ordered schools and colleges to send the students back to their homes and close down the campus. 

Since the new academic session was to start in schools, they did not have a choice but to start online classes for students. Colleges too went ahead with the online teaching as they too had to complete the semester. Online classes may sound fun but it comes with its challenges. Some of these challenges and issues are raised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 

Concerns raised by UNICEF and UNESCO

E-learning has arguably helped educational institutes around India beat the Covid-19 lockdown to “push ahead with the academic calendar.” But experts including those at UNESCO and UNICEF have raised concerns w.r.t. these online classes.  

While a few experts are worried about the potential dangers of longer internet exposure for younger students, some of them are scared that this digital shift may alienate economically backward students who do not possess the technology required for online lessons. 

On 15 April, UNICEF said that “millions of children are at increased risk of harm as their lives move increasingly online during the lockdown in the Covid-19 pandemic”. 

As per UNICEF’s statement, “the internet exposure puts children at the risk of online sexual exploitation and grooming, as predators look to exploit the Covid-19 pandemic”. 

A greater internet exposure leads to online grooming which is a serious concern in this social media age. It involves mischievous and predatory adults who build fake online relationships with gullible children and trick or pressure them into different kinds of sexual behaviour.

UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore says that “under the shadow of Covid-19, the lives of millions of children have temporarily shrunk to just their homes and their screens. We must help them navigate this new reality.”

UNESCO published a report on 21st April, which highlighted another major concern regarding the online classes. The report said, “Half of the total number of learners — some 826 million (82.6 crores) students — kept out of the classroom by the Covid-19 pandemic, do not have access to a household computer and 43 per cent (706 million or 70.6 crores) have no internet at home at all, at a time when digital distance learning mediums are used to ensure educational continuity in the vast majority of countries.” 

A Stark Reality

Now even though the above-mentioned concerns are very serious, educational institutions have no choice but to conduct classes online. But as already stated above not everyone can afford online education. There are various reasons for this, the prominent one being, lack of internet in households. According to a National Sample Survey report, “less than 15 percent of rural Indian households (and 42 percent urban ones) have access to the Internet.” This gives us an idea that the majority of students are not able to get the education they rightfully deserve. The fact that not many poor households can even afford a smartphone is also a major concern. 

The other issue is the technological issue. According to a report published in The Indian Express, the University of Hyderabad did an in-house survey of around 2,500 students on issues pertaining to online teaching. The results showed that 90 percent of the respondents have a mobile phone but only about 63 percent of them could access online classes infrequently or they could not attend at all. 40 percent of the surveyed students reported unreliable connectivity as being a major deterrent while 30 percent of them cited the cost of data as an issue. 10 percent, again a significant number of students, reported uncertain electricity supply as a concern.

Other Problems with Online Classes

As is quite evident from the figures above that many students in India cannot access online education because of a lack of internet. There is an illusion among those in urban areas that the internet has reached every nook and corner of our country but a report by NITI Aayog, called “Strategy For New India@75” highlighted that at least 55,000 villages in India don’t even have mobile network coverage. 

One area which has been ignored to an extent is stereotypes associated with using mobile phones in rural areas. According to a report in Newsclick, Gaurav Sikka, assistant professor of geography at Lalit Narayan Mithila University in Darbhanga, Bihar, said that “the online mode of teaching is widening the social and gender divide.” He further said, “I teach a majority of students who hail from conservative families where the parents have no idea that the students can take classes online. Thus, they are denying the girl students access to mobile phones.”

This gap between the haves and have nots has become a major hindrance in providing education to most of the students. Governments in the past came up with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 or RTE under which education was free for all the students under the age of 6 to 14. Some state governments did extremely well under the RTE but many of them did not focus much. 

Now under RTE, it’s the duty and responsibility of the states to provide the basic infrastructure to students so that no student suffers because of lack of facility. But still, government schools all over India are struggling to conduct classes, and the schools which have been able to conduct classes see a very low turnout. 

The elite schools in urban areas initially had trouble making the switch to online teaching but since then, they have been able to take regular online lessons. Although students are not facing connectivity issues as such, they certainly feel online teaching is no match for physical classes. The students feel that it’s difficult to interact with teachers and the teachers feel the same way too. Teachers say that they developed a methodology over the years to teach students in a physical classroom but they now have to adjust to online teaching. They say that they cannot figure out during a class if the students are attentive or not and also subjects like mathematics cannot be taught online because it requires a lot of practice and hence it is difficult to monitor each student during the online lesson. 

Conclusion and Suggestions

It’s pretty unclear what lies ahead and no one can predict anything at this stage, so the need of the hour is that the state governments take all the necessary steps to provide the basic facilities to students so that they can continue with their education. Internet penetration can’t happen overnight and students too can’t become tech-savvy in a day so it is suggested that classes be recorded and broadcasted through television channels to students in rural areas. Doordarshan the state broadcaster could be used for this purpose. At the same time, the state government must ensure that there are enough television sets in the area for the students. 

Along with this, the school administration must prepare themselves and better internet facilities so that in due course a better education could be delivered to students. These steps along with the students’ zeal to learn will definitely make India stand out from the rest of the world. 

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Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all like the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) perfectly encapsulates the motto- “Leave no one behind”. However, India’s progress in attaining this goal is a mixed success story. With innumerable schemes like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-day Meal, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Beti Bachao, Beti Padao and the Right to Education (RTE) Act, we all expected modification in the sector with everyone getting free access to quality education and thus able to improve their living standards. But that is not the story here. Although India has made progress in getting children enrolled in educational institutions, it is still not enough. In fact, according to the Progress Report 2020, the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) for primary education has decreased from 87.1% in 2015-16 to 82.5% in 2017-18. Similarly, for the upper primary, it has decreased from 74% to 72.6%. But still, India has come a long way since 1947 in terms of quantity of education and it’s doing better in that regard. What it really lacks in is the quality of education.

Despite implementing the Right to Education Act 2009, India’s performance is worse than the developing South-East Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam with the mean years of schooling at 6.5 years according to the Human Development Report 2019. The learning outcomes are even worse. According to ASER Report 2018, only 44.2% of Standard V students and 69% of Standard VIII students in rural government schools can read a Standard II level text and this proportion has only decreased in the last 10 years. Between 2008 and 2018, the proportion of ‘division solvers’ in Standard V in rural government schools went down from 34% to 22.7% and that for the students in Standard VIII went down from 65.2% to 40%. These figures are just outrageous. There is a huge variation in the literacy and numeracy levels among these students which is the most critical constraint in the structure of the Indian Education system. The learning outcomes for rural private schools are no better than rural public schools. PISA is an international assessment that provides cross-national learning benchmarks and helps nations improving their learning levels. The last time India participated in PISA in 2009-10, it stood at the second last place. Imagine the learning deficits that have accumulated from years of low-quality education. When the time comes to look for employment, what are these young people trained in this mangy manner going to find?

With the reduction in profitability from agricultural activities, parents in rural areas have let their children study well beyond the age when they have themselves joined the workforce in hope that it will be a way out of their insecure farm life. However, when these children graduate, they will find that there are hardly any good jobs. It’s a disaster that is waiting to happen. Even if we look at the whole population instead of just these poorly educated rural children, the story remains the same. The Annual Employability Survey 2019 report by Aspiring Minds revealed that only 20% of the Indian engineers were found employable in the knowledge economy and a meagre 2.5% of them possess new-age skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that the industry actually requires. These figures can be justified if we look at the proportion of those above 5 years of age who are able to use the internet which is just 20.1%. Estimates suggest that only 2.3% of India’s workforce has undergone formal skill training compared to Germany’s 75% and South Korea’s 96%. The enrolment rate for tertiary education is merely 28.3% which points towards failed policies. This all has led to a large fraction of the workforce having insufficient work skills. If the employability remains so low, we cannot ensure a sustainable pool of students enrolled in schools as their trust in the system erodes.

According to a report tabled in the parliament by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), we have over 100,000 schools with solitary teachers. At the national level, over 75 per cent of schools have a multi-grade situation with one teacher being coerced into teaching students of several grades in the same classroom. The high rate of teacher absenteeism, limited time spent on teaching when the teacher is in the class and generally poor quality of education are among important reasons for an abysmally low number of enrolments as reported by the NITI Aayog. In February 2015, Maharashtra held an evaluation test for teachers of government-run schools. Only a little over 1% primary teachers and 4.9% upper primary teachers who took the test passed. This is a furious figure and perfectly explains where the problem lies in our education system.

Talking about inclusion for everybody, India’s position is abominable in that too. Literacy rate of male population above 15 years of age is 82% while that of the female population is just 65% which is a stark difference. The reasons for females for not attending school being the classic ones – engaged in domestic activities, financial constraints, marriage or not interested in getting education. The enrolment rate of children with disabilities is mortifying with merely 1.18% in primary education, 0.56% in secondary education and 0.25% in higher secondary education. There is an urgent need to develop infrastructure to accommodate these children as hardly 22% of the schools have disabled-friendly toilets and only 33% have disabled-friendly ramps. Not only this but only 55 in 100 schools have basic handwashing facilities.

The Draft National Education Policy 2019 (DNEP) bought really good suggestions regarding the separation of regulators from operators and policymakers thus avoiding the conflict of interest, significant autonomy to the university system and Early Child Care and Education (ECCE) but it fails to address the real crisis which is teacher quality or rather teacher’s unaccountability. The underlying notion for all the reforms suggested is that there is a lack of resources which can be in connection with infrastructure, quantity of teachers or even quantity of trained teachers and this is a fundamentally mistaken idea. The real culprit is not the lack of inputs but the absence of accountability of schools, teachers and the system as a whole.

The new education policy also asked to double the public expenditure on education from 10.6% (2018-19) to 20%. It is not a sensible thing to do in the current circumstances of wastage of government resources. Public Schools with fewer than 50 students and an average of 29 students per school stood at 3.7 lakh schools in 2014-15. They represented 36% of all public schools. This is a catastrophic situation. This is too small a size for it to be pedagogically or even economically viable as the per-pupil salary expenditure becomes really high. At the point where the learning outcomes of these government schools are pitiably low, almost 80% of the public expenditure on education in 2018-19 is spent on teacher’s salaries. In a state like Uttar Pradesh, there is an increase of 15% in salaries each year where inflation is just 3-3.5%. All the capacity of the state to increase expenditure on education is being tapped by salaries alone. There is such an inefficient use of the government resources that any effort towards increasing education spending is like putting your money in a blackhole. What we need to do is put in place some new governance mechanisms to increase efficiency instead of increasing the budget itself.

The policy talks about the issue of small schools being economically suboptimal and suggests for consolidation of these schools by creating large school complexes. But this again won’t be beneficial for students if it is not done keeping in mind that these small schools cater to the needs of those living in isolated and remote areas. An independent study by Accountability Initiate (AI) maintained that Rajasthan saw a 6% decline in enrolment of backward social groups including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Castes (OBCs) when small schools were merged. The study highlighted that the stakeholders in the process namely teachers, principals and parents were never consulted. If providing the required number of teachers for every school has become physically and economically unviable, we must seriously review the earlier approach of providing a school in every habitation within one or three kilometres or providing a school where 20 or more school-going children live. If they want to consolidate schools, they should provide the children with facilities to go to school.

CONCLUSION

India has a long way to go to provide quality education to all. It especially needs to focus on rural and backward regions’ education which is in poor health and needs an overhaul. India’s history is strewed with ambitious education policies that have not been fully implemented. The latest National Education Policy has a possibility of being similar to the previous policies in terms of poor implementation unless the government addresses the reasons behind the past policy implementation failures and makes conscious efforts to amend the mistakes. These points are important because in India what we tend to do is write policies and plans that say the right things but are unable to drive the intended changes.

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