National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

 

India is one of the youngest nations in the world and in the next decade it will have the highest number of young people in the world. This was the background in which National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was announced by the Government of India on July 29, 2020. It says “… our ability to provide high-quality educational opportunities to them (youth) will determine the future of India.”  The NEP 2020 document rightly emphasized that “Education is the fundamental for achieving full human potential, developing an equitable and just society, and promoting national development.”

 

There is no doubt that we needed a New Education Policy. The last National Education Policy was adopted in 1986, and revised in 1992. Since then, changes of momentous significance have taken place, especially in the field of information and communication technology.

 

The NEP 2020 is a progressive policy document but it has some gaps also which should be relooked at. They need to be changed.

 

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is one of the positive features of the policy.  Children in the age group of 0-6 years were not covered by RTE Act 2009.  It is rightly pointed out by the NEP that over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of 6 years.  Since this was not part of the RTE Act, quality ECCE is not available to crores of children. The NEP has set a goal for universalization of quality ECCE by 2030. It will ensure that all students entering Grade I are school ready.

 

The NEP 2020 envisages the replacement of the existing 10+2 structure of school education by a 5+3+3+4 structures. It covers children right from the age of 3 years to 18 years.  This is looks nice but it does not have any legal support. One of the important critic of the NEP 2020 is lack of will to bring every child under fundamental right. The policy does not talk about the extension of RTE Act 2009 to cover children in the age group of 3 to 18 years. In fact, it is diluting the existing Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. This Act need to be strengthened. The NEP is also silent on making necessary steps to strengthen the public education system, ensure that it is adequately financed, resourced and empowered.

 

The NEP is focusing on curtailing dropout rates of school going children and ensuring universal access to education at every level.    This is a welcome step but it is silent of out of school children. In fact in the NEP, they are mainly in the form of the declaration of intention by the Government. There is no compulsion or binding on them.

 

Input Vs Output: Another important critic of the policy is that the it gives less emphasis on input and greater emphasis on output. And the regulations of inputs will be limited to certain areas.  It is here the policy is diluting the RTE Act 2009, which clearly talks about inputs.

 

RTE Act clearly defined the norms and regulation and stopped any form of Non Formal Education. But the NEP has diluted that also. It talks about the use of volunteers and qualified persons from the community for achieving the objective of dropout rates and ensuring enrolment.  

 

It is a good document for advocacy to make equitable and inclusive education for children in the age group of 3 to 18 years. We need to engage with policy makers in the Parliament and at the different bodies like NITI Aayog, Education Ministry and other departments related to children.

 

Following should be the advocacy pointers:

·       The Government of India must amend the RTE Act 2009 to universalize the quality education form pre-school to Grade 12 and cover children in the age group of 3 to 18 years.

·       ECCE should be part of RTE Act hence cover children upto the age of 6 years under RTE Act.

·       The top priority should be implementation of the RTE Act, as most of the important provisions of the Act remains unimplemented.

o   According to RTE Forum Stocktaking Report 2018, only 12.5 % schools are complying with RTE norms and regulation.

·       To universalize the ECCE, RTE Act should be amended.

·       Universalization of quality secondary education is another important agenda to work on. It can only be done by amending the RTE Act.

 

Well, we have now two weapons (RTE Act 2009 and NEP 2020) to ensure every child in the age group of 3 to 18 years get access to quality education and healthy life within the walking distance from their home. Let us work on it to make it happened. It is doable.