New Education Policy

Good evening, everyone. I’m Suyash, your fellow batchmate. Today, I’m going to talk about
the most awaited reforms in the education policy of India. We are about to go on a journey of
understanding the New Education Policy. So, let’s get started.

I would like to begin this journey by quoting Nelson Mandela ‘Education is the most powerful
tool we can use to change the world’. I personally couldn’t agree more with Sir Nelson
Mandela. It is certainly true that education is a vital force for achieving full human potential.

Now the question arises, is our current education system up to the mark to facilitate the
growth of students. All of us have completed around 12 years of schooling and I’m sure that
all of us have felt at some point in time that our education system is not good. Most of us are
aware of the insufficiencies with our current education system.

Unfortunately, it took 34 years for our government to address this problem but the
long-awaited reforms in the education system are finally made.

New Education Policy was approved on 29th July 2020. NEP is a more inclusive, holistic,
and far-sighted policy to make India a knowledge hub by the end of this decade. Let’s go
over the highlights of this policy.

As of our current education policy, students from the 10th standard are denied to study
subjects other than their branch. Upon the implementation of NEP, students will be given the
opportunity to study a variety of subjects after the 10th standard. This will promote
interdisciplinary study.

Under this policy, the 10+2 academic structure is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 structure.
This academic structure is similar to the academic structure in the developed western
developed nations. This structure introduces four stages - Foundational, Preparatory, Middle,
and Secondary stage.

In the Foundational Stage, there’ll be 3 years of playschool and 2 years of schooling which
means class 1st and 2nd.

In the Preparatory Stage, the focus will be given towards play, discovery, and activity-based
learning.

In the Middle Stage, the focus will be on imparting experiential learning in the sciences,
mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities.

In the Secondary Stage which is the last stage, interdisciplinary studies will be promoted and
more choices on the subject will be provided.

As per these reforms, internships with local vocational experts will be mandatory from class
6th.
Students will also be taught coding from class 6th onwards to equip them with 21st-century
skills. The importance of board exams will also be reduced to promote more holistic growth
in students.

In our current education system, report cards were evaluated by teachers only. Now upon
the implementation of NEP, reports cards will also include self-assessment by students in
addition to the teacher’s evaluation. This would inculcate the ability to introspect and assess
their performance.

So far, around 3% of GDP was allocated for education which isn’t much to deliver quality
education throughout India. The government has finally decided to invest 6% of GDP in
education. This will contribute to the fast and better implementation of NEP throughout the
country.

NEP also promotes use of the home/local language as the instruction medium till the 8th
standard as it lets students grasp complex concepts easily.

These were some of the major changes brought by the New Eduction Policy. The future of
India would be very bright if NEP is effectively implemented across the nation. I am sure, the
NEP-era students would go on to do accomplish commendable feats and make India proud.

This was all from my side. Thank you, everyone.