By Haroon Rashid Bhat
NEP-2020
“Let us hope the government will take all those necessary steps in time that are required for the implementation of NEP-2020 so that we see its positive impacts on the ground”
Education is a dynamic process. It is interpreted by different persons from their backgrounds and ideals. Its psychological, philosophical, or pragmatic connotations also vary from one another. Taking the overall view, the goals and aspirations of any nation or group are directly or indirectly connected to this process. Therefore, we can’t put this process in a stagnated mode. It needs introspection, revision, and reformation. Like the other States, the government of India formulated various reports and set up several commissions from time to time to reform this education sector to attain the global standard in the entire education system. This new policy of education titled “New National Education Policy 2020” is a step towards the same. Let us talk about one of the recommendations of this new education policy which deliberates upon the multidisciplinary approach in terms of flexibility of subjects at the higher secondary level. According to this, a student is given a chance to opt for any subject of his/her choice. The policy further states that there will be no hard compartmentalization between arts, humanities, sciences, vocational, and academics. A student of science background can opt for one of the subjects from any other stream, like arts, commerce stream, and vis versa. A student can also opt for any skill-based course. This flexibility certainly gives relief to the student community because the world is moving towards skill-based requirements but the idea that haunts a student right now is the non-availability of certain subjects or vocational courses in most educational institutions. There are cases where a student covered miles to get admission to a particular institution for opting for the subjects of his/her own choice. Recently I had an interaction with a group of students regarding the choice of subjects. During the interaction, one of the students said, “My ambition is to sit in the IAS examination in the future, I have decided to opt for economics as one of the subjects at a higher secondary level besides science subjects. The familiarity with economics can help me to achieve this future goal”. Another student sitting in the back expressed a similar kind of wish and showed his interest in Sociology. Will they enjoy such flexibility in subjects in the nearby higher secondary institutions that is the million dollar question. Will they find solutions to other related issues like the dearth of subject teachers and vocational trainers, the issue of disproportionate Pupil-Teacher Ratio, and the lack of infrastructure? Let me submit a few of my suggestions here to address such issues.
Departmental Promotions: No doubt, there is a proper procedure in place in the school education department for departmental promotions but because of the lengthy procedures, teachers/ masters whose promotions are due wait for years for their genuine promotions. There is a need to decentralize its processes. Departmental Promotion Committee ( DPCs) must be set up at the district level for the scrutiny of the documents and completion of formalities pre-requisite for the promotion. This entire process must be time-bound.
Creation of Posts and Development of Infrastructure: As we know that school education department is one of the largest employment-generating sectors that can absorb unemployed youth as a teacher. There is a large chunk of candidates who completed the professional course like B.Ed. M.ed with specialization of subject waiting for their turn but the irony is that most of the higher secondary schools that had been established 40 or 50 years back still run with the same sanctioned staff strength and the same accommodation. The Department of school education also became the victim of politics. Political parties in power because of their vested interests upgraded some middle or high schools without seeking a feasibility report. Most of those high and higher secondary schools are still facing a shortage of manpower and have underdeveloped infrastructure so, there is a need to create posts and develop the Infrastructure as per need and demand. In the creation of posts, due consideration must be given to all subjects so that a student avail and select his/her subjects under one umbrella.
Transfer and Timely Fulfillment of Posts: Department of education developed the digitally supported mechanism for the transfer of teaching staff with the least human intervention. The purpose of this whole process (ATD) is to make the transfer policy smooth, corruption-free, and timely fulfillment of the posts. This entire process has been welcomed by all those who want the end to corruption. Because it is a new initiative, it may take some time for permanent adaptation to the system. Right now the concerned authorities should check out its loopholes if any, and work on it so that it will become a time-bound process. One more concern that needs immediate attention is timely fulfillment of the vacant posts in case of the superannuation of a teacher or lecturer in the mid-session. It has been observed that the post remains unfilled for a whole year putting a negative impact on the academics
Conducting awareness and workshops: In this process of a multi-disciplinary approach, students are the prime beneficiaries therefore, there is a need to disseminate awareness among students about this new approach to education and its benefits.
Let us hope the government will take all those necessary steps in time that are required for the implementation of NEP-2020 so that we see its positive impacts on the ground. It is the responsibility of the department to give due attention to their choices and facilitate them in building their career.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher columnist and can be reached at minamharoon123@gmail.com