Transformation of the Indian Education System - The National Education Policy 2020

Indian Education system is often scrutinized by all the stakeholders. Students complain that the system tests their memory and not their intelligence; parents complain about the system promoting nothing but a rat race; teachers complaining about students not catching up with the syllabus. But if we all stop for a moment and look back into why we are learning the way we are and how we have adapted to the global trend, the white noise vanishes.

We were and are considered to be the beacon of light, the centre of learning since ancient times. As said before, to eliminate the white noise we should understand how we got here. Unlike the Occident, there was something very unique about the way education was taking place back here in India.

Just like how the executive, judiciary, and the legislature can’t interfere with each other in their daily affairs today, education was something that was far from the influence of the state and society. Children had to stay with the teacher in the Gurukul leaving their homes to acquire knowledge. The teacher took care of the children who came to learn under him by providing everything including clothing, food, and shelter. No fee was collected from them.

The whole idea of education was focused on the enrichment of culture, character, and personality, development, and cultivation of noble ideals. The objective was to gain mental, physical, and intellectual toughness, to make the students future-ready and survive in any situation.

Education was a platform of interactive academic co-existence amongst scholars of diverse specializations. This was to facilitate the convergence of disciplines and transactional mutuality of holistic wisdom. The Gurukulas were the epitome of experiential learning; they thrived in all aspects of our heritage, culture, arts, drama, music, and archaeology. Since there were no books back then, teaching was basically via orals and debates.

But during the time of British rule, there were primarily two motives - plundering the wealth of this land and the 'white man's burden ' of civilizing the natives (the term used by them to refer to all Indians). This made a huge dent in our Education systems drilling a black hole with distorted narratives and rote learning methods.

Reminds me of a quote from Swami Vivekanand Ji , “With a strong character, the strength of mind and only then the intellect is expanded, and only by which one can stand on one’s own feet. One gets real knowledge”.

Though real Knowledge is the supreme power, what’s the role of education? Education has always been a very contextual subject, between what students need to learn and what a student desires to learn. But it’s extremely crucial either way for education to help an individual find a meaningful place in society. Mere accumulation of basic wisdom is of limited practical use unless it is translated into innovations, providing economic or social value. It is the transfer of knowledge for economic growth that impacts society at large, which has revolutionized this world.

In our education system, we have more than 265 million children in school (1-12 Grades), 35 million young adults studying in 1000+ Universities, 56000 colleges with a GER of 26%, which is around 8 million youth graduating every year. This makes our country one of the largest university systems in the world, no system has grown at this proportion. This is also what we call India’s Youth dividend.

In 2020 happened the real change to the existing Education policies, Dr. Kasturirangan led Committee came out with a rather revolutionary National Education Policy, it’s come with a vision to touch the lives of every citizen of India and aims to make positive sustainable change for the next 10 years when India will be a ten trillion dollar economy.

Having said this, let’s take a step further to see how the National Education Policy aims to accommodate modern teaching methods with a high level of importance given to ancient and eternal Indian knowledge systems (IKS).

The National Education Policy (NEP) intends to transform the Indian Education System by emphasizing developing the creative potential of each individual. The much-debated topic about the system being a “memory testing system” will be one of the key components that the system will address. The policy is based on the principle that education must not only develop cognitive capacities such as problem-solving and critical thinking - but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.

The NEP is an attempt to elevate from present standard to transforming our nation sustainably into a vibrant and intellectual society. Indian Knowledge systems like Ayurveda and Yoga which is the soft power of our country should be made an integral part of courses at the primary level. Culture studies, curiosity, empathy, and flexibility are the soft skill sets that are imperative for a 21st century millennial.

Keeping true to the words – “Matha Pitha Guru Deivam”, teachers will be at the center of this revolutionary reform. The rich heritage of ancient and eternal Indian knowledge and thought has been a guiding light for this policy. The pursuit of knowledge (Jnan), wisdom (Pragyaa), and truth (Satya) was always considered in Indian thought and philosophy as the highest human goal.

There is no doubt that this new policy will restructure the way students learn and how they are promoted to the next level. But a striking feature of this initiative is how the policy intends to reduce the dropout rate at schools. It has a twofold approach to this problem. The first is to provide effective and sufficient infrastructure so that all students have access to safe and engaging school education at all levels from pre-primary school to Grade 12.

The second step is to monitor and track the students to achieve universal participation. This will make sure that no community doesn’t miss out on the benefits of the program. This step will further address the issue of girls dropping out of school as they grow up and bridge the huge gap. As mentioned before, the policy aims to make education more than just a pen-paper test. The policy will make sure that the division between subject streams is blurred and students have the freedom to study the subjects they want.

Albert Einstein said, “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.” India has always been a country that is known for its rich culture and traditional practices. But does that mean we stick to it without allowing for any growth on the global stage? No.

The National Education Policy is one such example where importance is given to both our history and the modern techniques of education which will lead us to set an example for the entire world.

Boasting about how India has the biggest youth population is of no use if we as a country, don’t know how to tap into this huge resource. As we are on the path towards the implementation of a New Education Policy in Universities and institutions, we must give the best opportunities for the youth to act as the pillars of support for our country’s growth.

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