It is one year since the launch of the National Education Policy 2020.
For the NEP to move forward, there is need for more robust institutional mechanisms.
How has it performed so far?
The NEP is essentially about learning through observation, listening, exploring, experimenting and asking questions.
National boards have tried during the Covid year to bring in some changes in classroom transaction.
The changes were in relation to well-being, inclusive education, joyful learning, a compilation of best teaching practices, assessment models etc.
As a result of schools having closed down, the big shifts did not take place in areas of thematic learning or multiple pedagogical approaches.
What do the new challenges demand?
Currently, there are huge learning gaps.
Schools cannot be compared to institutions of higher education asneeds of children are more personalised and cannot be addressed only online.
With the extension of school closures and fear of infections, children are losing touch with understanding, comprehension, reading and speaking skills.
There is a need for effective strategies to physically equip teachers and students.
These include better tools in the classroom, increased access to laptops and other gadgets, interactive white boards, and fast and reliable internet access.
Technology has not been able to touch the aspects of schools as a reflection of community, time, care and values.
Beyond the technological limitations, parents do not have the time or ability to support their children in this venture.
Only a fraction of students across the country have moved to online learning.
This exposes the deep inequity in the system, and opens up a digital abyss.
Students, teachers and other stakeholders are grappling with new technologies.
This has led to a fragile learning system with implications for the implementation of the NEP and, in fact, education in general.
What are the changes required?
A great deal of capacity building is required.
Every stakeholder at the state, district, sub-district, block level has to have ownership and understanding of the concepts.
Directorates of education have to be strengthened, for the policy to permeate to the district and zonal level educational clusters.
Every teacher at the foundational, primary and middle school level should develop a sense of ownership for transformation to take place.
What is the right policy approach?
The NEP is certainly extremely experiential; it cannot be brought in through online devices.
Schools have to determine their capacity for restructuring, mobilising teachers, strategizing the operational needs required to navigate their understanding and implementation of the NEP.
The state and national boards across the nation will have to start with pilot programmes.
Creation of master trainers should be done who will train principals and teachers in urban and rural areas, replicating the model across all schools.
For better implementation of the NEP, research, evaluation and documentation is essential.
There also has to be coordination and convergence of the policy and programmes connected with it.
