Draft National Education Policy 2019

COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2019

By W.Khyllep IAS (Retd) Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya and former Director of Higher and Technical Education

                The draft Education Policy 2019 has been prepared by the drafting committee after taking into consideration all aspects including the suggestions by eminent personalities and different groups and organisations. I appreciate the hard work of all the members to produce such a lengthy document which contains all details relating to school education, higher education etc. However I would like to make some suggestions to further improve the document.

            Regarding the name of the Ministry, there is no objection to the proposed change of name. However, if you want to build a strong work force in India and supply the same to other countries you have to cover and include all branches of education right from school education, college education, university education, general education, technical education, professional education, including medical education, vocational education and skill oriented education in the policy document. When we talk about human resource development, we include human resource supply and placement including training, as people grow in the service. But when we give the name of the ministry as Ministry of Education, there is no concept of placement and training and the products from our educational institutions have to find job on their own. Is this the very purpose of education? I leave it to the members of the drafting committee to think carefully and give the appropriate name of the Ministry.

            The Policy does not make any mention about the enhancement of creative and innovative thinking which is very important for the people of our country. 21^st century is the century for the creative and innovative minds, where a lot of creativity and innovations are required if we really have to move forward in the field of education and become a strong and vibrant nation. It is therefore suggested that this statement may be included in the policy document.

Part 1 – School Education

• The policy should clearly mention that without all infrastructures in place including library and laboratories, no opening permission shall be given. Without qualified teachers and good result in the Board examination i.e. Central Board or State Board, no recognition should be given.
• Hindi language should be introduced up to class VIII only in tribal areas.
• Creativity should be encouraged since childhood right from the start of schooling.
• Government is to govern, facilitate and monitor but not to manage. Private schools should be encouraged but there should not be any profit motive while running any school or educational institution. There should not be too much regulation on private institutions.    Encourage learning of science and mathematics at the early age of schooling.
•             The three language formula should continue to exist. There should not be any imposition of Hindi or any language to the students whether at the primary, secondary or higher level as it may affects the unity of India.
•             Encourage foreign language in secondary schools as this will encourage the students and help our system to supply our products from our education institution to work in overseas.
• Choice of foreign languages i.e. French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese etc by the students should be encouraged at the school level and higher level with proper incentives.
• Interactive style of teaching at the lower level may not be possible because small children at the pre-primary level will not be able to interact. This may not be a good approach toward learning and teaching at lower level or initial stage of studies. A style of teaching which can make the beginners interesting has to be adopted.
• 5+3+3+4 system will not work. It is too heavy for the kids i.e. beginners. Formal classroom teaching with textbook should be from class I onward. First three years i.e. pre nursery, nursery and KG are fundamental stages only. As such, 3+5+3+4 system is desirable.
• NCF is good but there should be no frequent change of textbooks.
• Fees to be linked with quality of education given by private institutions.

Part 2 – Higher Education

• It is good to bring back the Indian tradition of the University of Takshashila and Nalanda but if we follow now the then system of higher education, our products will not be able to compete with the rest of the world. This has to be look into with utmost care.
• Institutions who sell their degrees should be penalised and closed. Stringent action against fake universities and colleges should be taken and such fake institutions should be close down.
• Professional education should be encouraged and moved from mechanical learning habits to creative and innovative learning habits.
• There should not be too much regulation on private institutions. Quality teacher training institutions should be allowed to exist to supplement the Government institutions as there is insufficient number of trained teachers in our country and the gap is too large.
• Private B.Ed colleges should be allowed to exist and the fees structure should be commensurate with the quality of education they give.
• Choice of foreign languages i.e. French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese etc by the students should be encouraged at the higher level with good incentives and scholarship. Our productive human capital creation or formation will improve tremendously in our country.

Part 3 – Additional Key focus areas

• It is good that the education system up to class XII includes vocational education. It is also good that this holistic education allows the students to enter the world of work at this level. Such system has a special focus on rural and tribal areas. It is suggested that the focus should also be more on entrepreneurship at this level. As the students learn, they should be innovative, creative and enterprising as entrepreneurship spirit must grow in this century.

Part 4 – Transforming Education

• The National Education Commission and State Education Commissions should consist of more experts in the field of education and research. More of these experts have to be included as members in these Commissions.

Even though the framers of the new policy want to transform our education system in the country, from the draft policy, there is no real transformation which I could foresee in the true sense of the term. The policy as a whole proposes to produce dependents and job seekers. In the past and at present, we continue to produce mostly job seekers from the schools and higher educational institutions. The policy should address this issue of educated unemployment by striking a balance between the job seekers and job creators while producing the products from different schools and higher educational institutions. This will enable the country to solve the problem of unemployment which is increasing day by day. That way we will be able to transform our education system in the country for the better future of our youth and save the country from the burden of unemployment and future wastage of human resource or human capital which is idle or unproductive due to unemployment.

I expect that my suggestions mention above will be accepted in true spirit and incorporate the same in the draft National Education Policy 2019 for the benefit of our children and youth of our beloved country.