New Education Policy 2020, if implemented in true spirit, could help transform education for skill-based society

The three-day-long Akhil Bartiya Sikhsha Samagam, organised very thoughtfully at Varanasi, the city of culture, traditional practices and knowledge, culminated in a commitment to work rigorously for implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 by understanding and executing all the fine points.

It was actually a highest level of workshop for educationists of different walks to not only move forward towards the goal of integration of education from primary to higher education, while maintaining diversity of culture, tradition, languages and curriculum, but also to expose them to different ideas about the changing educational climate and its universalization by following global parameters and ranking framework.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address after the inauguration, set the tone of this Samagam, as he explained the objectives and concept of access, equity, inclusivity, affordability, capacity building of the students for critical and creative thinking as per the requirement of the NEP 2020. He clearly emphasized the need of improvement and progress in every sector of education through steps like multiple entry and exit, multidisciplinary and multilingual education, academic bank of credit, digital education, collaborations and connecting with national and international institutions.

This way all educational institutions could come out of their silos and provide the much needed educational diversity to the students by bringing changes into the monolithic educational system. For achieving these targets, he clearly put the onus on the educators and their vision for making an atmosphere for implementing NEP in their individual institutions by becoming the agents of change.

The PM highlighted the need to work towards providing a holistic education which will lead the educational institutions towards 'Shiksha say Shodhtak, Vidya say Bodh Tak and Parinam say PramanTak'. For a positive entry and registering India's presence in the global educational arena he emphasized to go forward through the motto of 'Ateet say Adhunikta key Aoor'.

The message was loud and clear that if our educational institutions fail to come up to the expectations of the different stakeholders or change their obsolete mindset or make the young generation skillful to face the challenges of the present era, the goals of NEP 2020 will remain unfulfilled. For this education should necessarily aim to translate into research, innovation and innovative practices in teaching and learning which will not only bring good results but also provide certification for the usefulness of that research for human welfare. The national research foundation as per the mandate of NEP 2020 is aimed at promoting good quality research in all subjects and more so in humanities and social sciences as these are the backbone of any civilized society.

If the research is not human centric, the purpose of education will also be defeated as NEP also aims to bring quality changes in the whole ecosystem of education, wherein human resource development through good research is an essential requirement.

The Prime Minister's advice that in this age of knowledge and technology the universities should also try to fill up the gap of digital divide by providing the right platforms to the young minds to address the need for more knowledge through various digital platforms, internet, etc.

Here also the onus falls on the shoulders of the educationists to provide such knowledge which is new and imparted through innovative methods to the students so that they can learn it joyfully and not as a burden. Such an attitude has a capacity to change the whole ecosystem of education which the NEP strongly advocates.

The Prime Minister's focus on producing a big pool of employment generators not employment seekers also indicated the importance of skill-based knowledge and learning practices which is not based on mugging up the syllabus just before the start of examinations but on practical and hands-on training and education. Actually to produce the youth full of skills in different areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital communication, multilingual communications, agro-ecological products, organic farming, disaster management, climate change mitigation, Indian knowledge system and many other such areas are the demand of the day for which the curriculum of every institution needs to be revised accordingly.

Collaboration with national and international institutions will provide every educational institution an opportunity for exposure and to imbibe their strong points. The Prime Minister also cautioned that the demographic dividend will not always remain favourable. Therefore, the present time is most opportune to reap the benefits of this advantage, added the Prime Minister.

The teachers have to play an important role in reaping the benefits of this demographic dividend by nurturing, monitoring, mentoring and motivating the youth to step in this knowledge era by capacity building of the students through skill-oriented education. The competitive national and international environment also needs such mentoring, meaningful and purposeful exchanges through collaborations and developing connections between institutions.

The sharing of best practices by all institutions is also important in this direction. The call for producing and preparing many 'Eklavys' by the Union Minister of Education DharmendraPradhan is also very meaningful and important in this light as when the educational institutions would be led by such capable and knowledgeable Gurus/educators it is not difficult to produce disciples like Eklavya in a large number. Such force of modern day Eklavyas will prepare India to face the challenges of new education policy and intense competition in this field.

For the Indian education system, the NEP 2020 is a revolutionary document which not only seeks integration and inclusiveness despite the difference of caste, creed, religion, language and regions but also goal-oriented and focused.

Everything which was said and discussed about the fine points of NEP in Varanasi clearly exhibits the need for its implementation in its true spirit. The CUET (Common University Entrance Test) for under graduate and post graduate courses has been adopted by all central and some state universities for admissions which is a good beginning to achieve the aim of access, equity, affordability and inclusiveness.

But bringing the diverse eco-system of the educational institutions into the same platform could be a huge challenge for the real implementation of NEP 2020. Another important challenge could be the preparation of quality course books in Hindi or mother tongue in a fast paced manner so that the goal of teaching in the mother tongue of the NEP could be achieved. For this inspiration from European or Asian Universities will have to be taken where teaching mode is always their mother tongue.

Lack of visionary leaders and educationists can also be a hampering factor for the action and performance-oriented NEP. Not the words, but the deeds will speak more about its real effects, which will only unfold in the near future.

(The author is Vice Chancellor, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttarakhand)