NEP lacks emphasis on the PPP model, thus creating an opportunity for private capital to foray into building social infrastructure, says RUSTOM KERAWALLA
The National Education Policy (NEP) has been the most anticipated policy to take education to another pedestal for the next few decades. With the urgency displayed by the Ministry of Human Resources off-late, the announcement should be sooner than expected.
The last time such a huge exercise was initiated was in 1992 which too was a modification of the 1986 policy. Since then, India and the world have witnessed a sea-change in the education sector. Major decisions are expected and immense learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to be a part of the NEP.
Here are three important constituents which should be a part of the National Education Policy 2020 document keeping in cognizance of India’s growth and development.
Enhancement of the public-private partnership model in education
The draft policy suggests that pre-schools like anganwadi (early childcare education) ought to be integrated with mainstream education. With the abysmally poor infrastructure in both anganwadis and public schools, a different administrative mechanism for governance of anganwadis through the Women & Child Development Ministry is needed. Early Childcare Education and K12 Education inherits challenges that can be termed as Big like Big Data — volume, veracity, and velocity. The number of institutions both in anganwadi and mainstream education is very high and issues are so complex that funding for reformation through public expenditure mechanism and subsequent governance is difficult to imagine now.
The present policy lacks emphasis on the PPP model — thus creating an opportunity for private capital to enter the foray in building social infrastructure. The Government can restrict its role to compensate the investors through a performance-based deferred revenue model by using coupons or education bonds with specific maturity cycles and premiums. Assurance of returns over a pre-defined period-of-time will build trust for private capital to stay invested for a medium to long term.
The policy should have addressed the tax treatment of educational services. The private capital and expertise that flows into public institutions by the PPP model should have a differential tax treatment.
Three-language learning
The concept of three languages being made compulsory has not gone down well with many State Governments especially on the imposition of certain languages. In a globalised world where we are teaching our children to be global citizens and ambassadors of our state, it would be pertinent that focus should be more on achieving the desired skill or vocational learning to help students earn their livelihood and achieve career goals.
While students must learn languages as it would add to their overall development, the implementation of such a policy should be devoid of coercion. Instead, it would be a good idea for students to opt to learn their mother tongue.
Edtech and Information & Communications Technology
The use of ICT and digital technology for developing automated school management solutions will help in integrating the student’s learning through their life cycle and also developing a unified framework from village to national level. Developing such a robust platform will help in building a uniform learning experience for students across the nation.
Higher dropouts at public schools, limited access to schools in remote areas, and absence of a self-paced learning environment can be overcome by installing virtual boards, creating digital content on an accessible platform through mobile devices with a well-defined progression plan. The world has realised the potential of Edtech to provide education and if coupled with robust internet connectivity to the last mile, every student devoid of location can complete their education through online education. Hence, the Government should standardise guidelines to provide recognition and for the functioning of similar systems so the world can be equipped to brace for any eventuality.
