News Analysis India

Tag: NEP

  • Board exams twice a year, removal of arts, science and humanities streams: NCF proposes key changes

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) draft released on Thursday proposes board exams for Class 10 and 12 twice a year and to scrap arts, science, and humanities streams for higher secondary students.   

    Based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the curriculum will change the basic structure of school education as it also proposes no exams for lower classes.

    “The overarching objective of the NCF is to help in positively transforming the school education system of India as envisioned in the NEP 2020 through corresponding positive changes in the curriculum, including pedagogy,” said the draft framework. 

    The draft said that the two board exams would give time to students to prepare, and the test papers would be based on suitable software.  

    The subjects will be divided into eight curricular areas: Mathematics, humanities, computing, vocation education, physical education, arts, social science and science.

    The recommendation drafted by a 12-member steering committee under former chairperson ISRO K Kasturirangan says that the structure for classes 9 and 10 will significantly change as students will be expected to clear eight papers.

    The class 11 and 12 students may opt for any three curricular areas, which will be divided into four courses per discipline. 

    “Summative assessments can be designed using case-based questions, simulations, and essay-type questions to enable assessment of competencies. At this stage, students should also be prepared to undertake the Board examinations and other selection tests to gain access to higher education and livelihood opportunities,” said the draft about class 9 and 11 students.

    It also suggested that students should have the option to quit school after Class 10 and pursue vocational education in Grades 11 and 12 if they wish to.

    “In particular, students would continue to have the option of exiting after Grade 10 and re-entering in the next phase to pursue vocational or any other courses available in Grades 11-12, including at a more specialised school if so desired,” the document said.

    There will be no written test from pre-school to class 2. “Formative assessments are continuous and ongoing,” said the draft. The new system proposes an all-around assessment of children. 

    The draft said that a child’s progress card will be a “holistic, 360-degree, multidimensional report that reflects in great detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains,” the NCF draft said.

    During Covid, CBSE held board exams twice in the academic year 2020-21 but later reverted to the old system, saying it was a temporary measure taken during the pandemic. 

    NEW DELHI: The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) draft released on Thursday proposes board exams for Class 10 and 12 twice a year and to scrap arts, science, and humanities streams for higher secondary students.   

    Based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the curriculum will change the basic structure of school education as it also proposes no exams for lower classes.

    “The overarching objective of the NCF is to help in positively transforming the school education system of India as envisioned in the NEP 2020 through corresponding positive changes in the curriculum, including pedagogy,” said the draft framework. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The draft said that the two board exams would give time to students to prepare, and the test papers would be based on suitable software.  

    The subjects will be divided into eight curricular areas: Mathematics, humanities, computing, vocation education, physical education, arts, social science and science.

    The recommendation drafted by a 12-member steering committee under former chairperson ISRO K Kasturirangan says that the structure for classes 9 and 10 will significantly change as students will be expected to clear eight papers.

    The class 11 and 12 students may opt for any three curricular areas, which will be divided into four courses per discipline. 

    “Summative assessments can be designed using case-based questions, simulations, and essay-type questions to enable assessment of competencies. At this stage, students should also be prepared to undertake the Board examinations and other selection tests to gain access to higher education and livelihood opportunities,” said the draft about class 9 and 11 students.

    It also suggested that students should have the option to quit school after Class 10 and pursue vocational education in Grades 11 and 12 if they wish to.

    “In particular, students would continue to have the option of exiting after Grade 10 and re-entering in the next phase to pursue vocational or any other courses available in Grades 11-12, including at a more specialised school if so desired,” the document said.

    There will be no written test from pre-school to class 2. “Formative assessments are continuous and ongoing,” said the draft. The new system proposes an all-around assessment of children. 

    The draft said that a child’s progress card will be a “holistic, 360-degree, multidimensional report that reflects in great detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains,” the NCF draft said.

    During Covid, CBSE held board exams twice in the academic year 2020-21 but later reverted to the old system, saying it was a temporary measure taken during the pandemic. 

  • NCERT books ‘rationalised’ due to Covid; removed overlapping: Govt to House

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Amidst the furore over tinkering with school textbooks, the government told the parliament that it was a rationalisation exercise to compensate for the academic loss during Covid-19 and remove overlapping of similar content.

    In a written reply, Minister of State of Education Annpurna Devi said the rationalisation exercises were also taken due to overlapping of similar content, making the content easily accessible to children, without much intervention from the teachers, can be learned through self-learning or peer learning. 

    There has been much controversy over the past two years about changes and reduction of a course syllabus, which included critical issues such as federalism, secularism, Gujarat riots, Cold War, Mughal court, industrial revolution and climate change from textbooks of classes 6-12.

    The ministry said that during the Covid-19 pandemic situation, students across the stages of school education had struggled a lot to continue their learning through online and other modes. 

    Also, concerns about curriculum load, including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks, have been raised from different corners.

    Further, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 states that ‘the reduction in content and increased flexibility of school curriculum and the renewed emphasis on constructive rather than rote learning must be accompanied by parallel changes in school textbooks.’ 

    “To facilitate speedy recovery in students’ learning continuum and compensate for time loss, NCERT took a step towards the rationalisation of textbooks across the stages and subject areas,” the minister said.

    She said the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) followed specific criteria for rationalising content load.

    ALSO READ | CBSE drops chapters on Islamic empires, Cold War from syllabus

    These are – overlapping with similar content included in another subject area in the same class; similar content contained in the lower or higher course in the same subject; difficulty level; and content that is easily accessible to children and does not require much intervention from the teachers and can be learned through self-learning or peer learning.

    In this process, they also rationalised content as irrelevant in the present context or outdated and took care of the learning outcomes already developed across the classes.

    NCERT also met with the teachers nominated by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to discuss the rationalisation exercise across the subject areas.

    The minister said various subject departments of the NCERT engaged external experts as part of the rationalisation exercises and the number of consultations.

    Aside from NCERT in-house experts, NCERT sought the expertise of subject experts from universities, organisations and practising teachers in all its activities related to research, development, training and extension for broader consultation. 

    NEW DELHI: Amidst the furore over tinkering with school textbooks, the government told the parliament that it was a rationalisation exercise to compensate for the academic loss during Covid-19 and remove overlapping of similar content.

    In a written reply, Minister of State of Education Annpurna Devi said the rationalisation exercises were also taken due to overlapping of similar content, making the content easily accessible to children, without much intervention from the teachers, can be learned through self-learning or peer learning. 

    There has been much controversy over the past two years about changes and reduction of a course syllabus, which included critical issues such as federalism, secularism, Gujarat riots, Cold War, Mughal court, industrial revolution and climate change from textbooks of classes 6-12.

    The ministry said that during the Covid-19 pandemic situation, students across the stages of school education had struggled a lot to continue their learning through online and other modes. 

    Also, concerns about curriculum load, including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks, have been raised from different corners.

    Further, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 states that ‘the reduction in content and increased flexibility of school curriculum and the renewed emphasis on constructive rather than rote learning must be accompanied by parallel changes in school textbooks.’ 

    “To facilitate speedy recovery in students’ learning continuum and compensate for time loss, NCERT took a step towards the rationalisation of textbooks across the stages and subject areas,” the minister said.

    She said the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) followed specific criteria for rationalising content load.

    ALSO READ | CBSE drops chapters on Islamic empires, Cold War from syllabus

    These are – overlapping with similar content included in another subject area in the same class; similar content contained in the lower or higher course in the same subject; difficulty level; and content that is easily accessible to children and does not require much intervention from the teachers and can be learned through self-learning or peer learning.

    In this process, they also rationalised content as irrelevant in the present context or outdated and took care of the learning outcomes already developed across the classes.

    NCERT also met with the teachers nominated by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to discuss the rationalisation exercise across the subject areas.

    The minister said various subject departments of the NCERT engaged external experts as part of the rationalisation exercises and the number of consultations.

    Aside from NCERT in-house experts, NCERT sought the expertise of subject experts from universities, organisations and practising teachers in all its activities related to research, development, training and extension for broader consultation. 

  • Centre to set up ‘PM Shri Schools’ to prepare students for future: Education minister

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Centre is planning to set up ‘PM Shri schools’, which will be aimed at preparing students for the future. It will also be the laboratory of the new National Education Policy (NEP), said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday. 

    Addressing the two-day National Education Ministers’ Conference in Gujarat, Pradhan said, “School education is the foundation on which India will become a knowledge-based economy.”

    “We are in the process of establishing ‘PM Shri schools’ which will be fully equipped to prepare students for the future,” said the minister at the event, which was attended by state education ministers. Tamil Naidu boycotted the meeting to protest the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).

    He said these state-of-the-art schools will be the “laboratory of NEP 2020.”

    Highlighting that the “new generation” cannot be deprived of 21st-century knowledge and skills,” he said, he would like to “encourage and solicit suggestions and feedback” from all the states and union territories and the entire education ecosystem for creating a futuristic benchmark model in the form of PM Shri schools.

    He said the 5+3+3+4 approach of the NEP covering preschool to secondary school lays emphasis on early childhood care and education programme (ECCE), teacher training and adult education.

    Also, the focus has been given to the integration of skill development with school education and prioritising learning in the mother tongue.

     “The next 25 years are crucial to establishing India as a knowledge economy that is committed to global welfare. We all have to collaboratively work together, and learn from each other’s experiences and successes to make learning more vibrant and take India to greater heights.

    “I encourage education ministers of all states and union territories and also seek active participation from all stakeholders for developing our National Curriculum Framework as well as developing quality e-content for expanding the reach of digital education and for universalising education,” the minister said.

    Best practices in education coming from different states and union territories will act as a cumulative force in transforming India’s youth as global citizens, he added.

    Praising the education models of some of the states, he said, “The education fraternity can immensely benefit from models of Karnataka, Odisha, Delhi, Meghalaya, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana.”

    “Experience and knowledge sharing from all state education ministers and a structured and outcome-based discussion at the conference today will lead us one step further towards transforming our learning landscape, in line with the NEP 2020,” Pradhan said.

  • Move to make Hindi compulsory in North East schools will create disharmony: Students’ bodies

    Amit Shah had said at a meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee in New Delhi on April 7 that all northeast states have agreed to make Hindi compulsory in schools till Class 10.

  • Delhi University approves implementation of NEP from 2022-23 session

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi University on Tuesday approved the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), and four-year undergraduate programme at its executive council meeting, according to a senior official.

    Registrar Vikas Gupta said that NEP will be implemented from the 2022-23 academic session.

    He said three members dissented against the implementation.

    The implementation of the NEP and four-year undergraduate programme were approved by the Standing Committee on Academic Matters and the Academic Council last week.

    The multiple entry/exit scheme (MEES), where students will be able to enter and exit the programme at various stages, and the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) were also approved at the meeting.

    The EC, which is the highest decision-making body of the university, approved the MEES and ABC.

    The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) held an online protest on Tuesday against the implementation of the NEP.

  • Academic council recommending changes ‘contrary’ to NEP: JNU Teachers’ Association

    The Vice-Chancellor, however, said that the council which the apex body of the university is quot;more representative quot; of the entire institute and that the administration has to follow its decision.

  • Highly qualified faculty in engineering colleges across 18 states stare at uncertain future

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Once projected as a panacea for uplifting the quality of engineering education in rural areas and small towns, nearly 1,500 technical education teachers — which were fresh degree holders from IITs and NITs when recruited — across 18 states are now looking at an uncertain future.

    While the Centre, which had appointed them as assistant professors on a temporary basis in technical institutions in backward or “aspirational” districts in early 2018 amid much fanfare, seems to be in no mood to continue their services, states too have failed to regularise them.

    Many of these recruits were Ph. Ds or M.Tech holders from IITs, NITs and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research and some were from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, as well.

    The World Bank-funded Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III) was aimed at aiding technical colleges in various states which included Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, and Meghalaya among others.

    ALSO READ | Centre extends school education scheme for 5 years with a proposed fund of Rs 2.95 lakh crore

    As part of the MoU signed between states and the Union education ministry, state governments were supposed to have a “sustainability plan” for these employees and were to prioritise them in regular appointments in engineering colleges but most have now backed out, sources said.

    The project implementation plan of the programme clearly specified that “Well-performing faculty hired using project funds will be retained post-project, or else unchanged.”

    On its part, the Centre first extended the appointments in September last year for six months after the first contract came to an end and further extended it in March this year for another 6 months following protests by the TEQIP faculty members.

    But with the contracts coming to an end in September, the appointees are on tenterhooks as despite offering services in engineering colleges in some of the most far-flung areas, they are staring at joblessness.

    “Our work in the colleges and areas we are in, has been praised by institutions such as Niti Aayog but it’s a pity that we are so insecure about our future and don’t know what will happen to us after September 30,” said Anshul Awasthi, who after doing his M Tech from NIT, Surat had joined Ujjain engineering college.

    With no clear resolution to the issue in sight, these teachers, said Awasthi, are planning to protest in Delhi in the coming days to make their voices heard.

  • Committed to ensuring time-bound implementation of new education policy: Dharmendra Pradhan

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said his focus will be on achieving the objectives of the new National Education Policy (NEP) in a time-bound manner.

    Pradhan, along with three newly appointed Ministers of State (MoS) for Education Annapurna Devi, Subhas Sarkar and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, reviewed the progress in implementation of NEP.

    The ministers also interacted with senior officials of the ministry and the heads of autonomous institutions like the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan(KVS).

    “After 34 years, a new education policy has been introduced. NEP is the result of the promises our government made in 2014. Today our primary agenda is to take to the ground…,” Pradhan told reporters after the meeting.

    “Today, we discussed way forward for ensuring a bright future for the 30 crore-plus students across the country and in achieving the objectives of the NEP in a time-bound manner. I am committed to implement the policy on ground and take forward the measures already taken by my predecessors,” he added.

    The NEP approved by the Union Cabinet last year at a meeting presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education framed in 1986 and is aimed at paving the way for transformational reforms in school and higher education systems to make India a global knowledge superpower.

    Pradhan said that he is thankful for being entrusted with one of the most important ministries, “which was led by people like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.”

    “There is not a single household in the country for which education is not important and this office has the big responsibility to give direction to the sector.

    India will play a significant role in the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

    In the next two years, India will be 100 per cent internet connected and riding on the NEP 2020 the country will achieve ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas and sab ka viswas’,” he said.

    Pradhan also holds the skill development and entrepreneurship portfolio, while Rajkumar Ranjan Singh is also the MoS for External Affairs.

    “Education and external affairs have a strong link and Singh’s (MoS) involvement at the MEA will be beneficial for both the ministries and students,” said Pradhan, while explaining that the Indian youth can be categorised in three categories — in formal education, anganwadi system and those who could be part of the skill force.

  • INTERVIEW | ‘We could have rebirthed sanskrit’: Subramanian Swamy

    Express News Service
    The new National Education Policy (NEP) is nothing but a khichdi, said veteran BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy. He added that the Indian education system has not changed much since Thomas Babington Macaulay devised the Minute on Education in 1835. Swamy was discussing the Indian education system and what changes it needs to be more ‘Indian’ with Senior Journalist Kaveree Bamzai at The New Indian Express’ ThinkEdu Conclave 2021.

    When asked whether the NEP incites hope for a viable change in the Indian education system, Swamy said, “These are all like khichdi — a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The question is: when you go to a class, does your teacher make you think? Here, whatever the teacher says, you memorise and reproduce in the exam and you will get the marks. The room for original thinking and research is not there,” said Swamy.

    But this begs the question, what needs to change? There are two things, said Swamy.

    “It should not be necessary to get a bachelor’s or master’s degree to get a job which is reasonably decent. I think 75 per cent of our people go to college to get a bachelor’s degree while in the United States, it is 35 per cent, in China, it is 45 per cent. That does not mean China is less literate. They train people for technical things so they get a job. Here the minimum qualification for mechanics is BA. Those who go to higher education must be committed to research,” he said.

    “The second thing is that you need to give a very decent salary to teachers. Maybe in Delhi University you get a decent salary or in JNU you get an even decent salary. But in the primary schools, if you compare with US and China, you’d see the difference. Much of the thinking process is developed in schools and if they go to college, they go straight into writing papers,” he said.

    “This system has not changed much since Macaulay’s time. And had stated his objective quite clearly  he said I want to create people who are Indian in blood and colour and they should dress in British attire, should speak English and not Sanskrit and they should adopt British morals,” he said.

    “Mughals had burned down our libraries but the British were a little smarter about it. They wrote an alternate history while the Mughals just burned down things. The alternative history is that we are not one country or one people. The north is Aryan and the south is Dravidian. These are the words they had taken from us. Dravidian is a word that Adi Shankara introduced. It means a place where the three oceans meet. There is no word called Aryan. There is only the word Arya which means anybody who is a cultured person,” Swamy added.

    “You become an obscurantist if you talk about the past and this is the format in which we have been functioning. We are still struggling, the education system has the same books with the same untruth and nonsense in it. The English language which we are using out of compulsion makes it easier. We could have given a rebirth to Sanskrit as the Jews did with Hebrew,” said Swamy.

    The Chinese have innovated furiously in the past few years while India has been lagging behind as Indians don’t push themselves enough towards innovation, said Swamy.

    “The Chinese have also adopted some of the Sanskritic principles. They gave autonomy for basic research in Physical Sciences. And the Chinese have gone very far ahead. We were ahead of them till 2005. After that, the decline started and during Narendra Modi’s period, the gap has widened,” added Swamy.

  • 2020 will go down as the year India got NEP: Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

    The world may remember 2020 as the year that brought about COVID and a pandemic that rocked our lives but India will remember the year for another reason, said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.

    “While 2020 will be known as the year of COVID-19, it will also be known as the year when India launched the NEP amid a pandemic,” Pokhriyal said. He was delivering the inaugural address at the ninth edition of the ThinkEdu Conclave 2021.  

    ALSO READ | ThinkEdu Conclave 2021: The science that’s behind Indian epics

    Prior to Pokhriyal’s address,  The New Indian Express Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla spoke about how far ThinkEdu has come over the last nine years. He said, “We step into our ninth edition with mixed emotions – happiness for hosting eight epic editions and sorrow for being coerced into hosting this edition virtually only due to COVID. We have sparked debates and even generated controversies. This year, we have brought illuminating discussions and conversations about new ideas from India’s finest thinkers – scientists, businessmen and storytellers. And all of it to discuss lessons for a new world – a world where education will set us apart.”

    In his address, Pokhriyal reflected on India’s rich past and how the NEP aims to restore  some of the lost glory. “Among the various things that the NEP is set to transform, it will aim to make India more self-reliant, unite the citizens and also help make India a global knowledge superpower. We want to ensure students at the grassroots and also at the higher echelons of academia are exposed to quality education,” Pokhriyal said.

    Speaking about Indian universities making it to the Top 100 of the QS Rankings, Pokhriyal added, “Students usually prioritise higher salary packages as an estimate of their potential. But after the NEP is implemented, we will have more patents by tapping into our capacity for academic probe and research. This year, 12 Indian institutions have made it to the Top 100 in QS Rankings and in the future, more Indian research institutes will be represented internationally. For this purpose, academic research will receive funding of Rs 50,000 crore over five years.”

    ALSO READ | Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal inaugurates virtual ThinkEdu, says India didn’t let students lose a year

    Elaborating on his vision for the NEP, Pokhriyal explained, “Through the NEP, we will not only find and develop talent but help produce top-notch content. Without quality content, talent doesn’t have much worth. When content and talent will unite, it will lead to new patents. That is the day when India will become truly self-reliant. NEP is the foundation on which India’s future development, as envisioned by the Prime Minister, is based. NEP is national as well as international. It is impactful, interactive, innovative and inclusive.”