TMB Report
Imphal: Noting that no nation has gained global progress and prosperity without basing their system of education on their culture, values, tradition and language; Union Minister of State for Education Dr RK Ranjan Singh elaborated that one significant emphasis of National Education Policy (NEP) is multidisciplinary education, multiple entry and exit, and recognition of prior learning on achievement of specified competencies and learning outcomes.
He was addressing the online inauguration of the 2-Credit Swayam National Professional Development Programme on NEP 2020 for Administrators and General Practitioners of Higher Education on Wednesday.
Dr RK Ranjan stated that the new National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) was promulgated by the Government of India and was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister in July 2020.
He stated that the NEP came into force almost 35 years after the last national policy on education was implemented in 1986 and during these last 37 years, considerable changes have taken place in respect of globalisation, technologies, pedagogies, and educational organisation and delivery.
Various alternative modes of educational delivery, including distance, online, blended and flipped classroom learning have been implemented across the globe, he added.
He maintained that over the past educational policies, NEP-2020 suggests complete change in the system of education as it is grounded in our culture and values; it is structurally and organisationally robust, is globally competitive; is practical and futuristic; and is sustainable too.
It addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals SDG-4 concerning quality and lifelong learning for all. NEP addresses the educational and training needs of all communities and individuals; the requirements of 21st century skills and competencies; education for living and development; education for spiritual growth and peace; and sabka saath, sabka viswas, sabka prayas, sabka vikas. It talks of holistic education – development of physical, mental, emotional, ethical, and spiritual aspects of the entire human personality, he continued.
The Union Minister stressed that the most crucial aspect that we must consider is education in mother tongue and regional languages, and education and training that is based on our own culture and values, Bhartiya Gyan Parampara, the Indian Knowledge System.
The English rule and the English language connected us to the knowledge system of the entire world, though it deprived us of our tradition, ancient knowledge system of science and technology, and our great values and lifestyles, he stated.
He asserted that a very significant aspect of our education system is to equip students with required knowledge, skills and competencies to get into the job market. The NEP curriculum emphasises on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning; learning about environment, community and value education; and recognition and transfer of prior learning into credits and ABC, he stated.
Dr RK Ranjan stated that a crucial aspect of our institutional administration and teaching-learning that our institutional leaders and teachers must consider is how technology can be integrated into institutional management, teaching-learning, continuing professional development, and inclusive education including assistive technologies for the differently-abled students.
The NEP-2020 has underlined entering into the modern era of blended teaching-learning and flipped classroom by judiciously combining self-learning (swadhayay), face-to-face activity-based learning, and online collaborative project-based and portfolio-based learning by the students, he added.
He also observed that while the guidelines for twinning programmes, dual-degree programmes and joint-degree programmes are already in place, institutions need to gear towards internationalisation of their curriculum and cross-border educational delivery.
He stated that the institutional leaders, teachers, and officers of various education departments of the central and state governments and local education functionaries shall play the pivotal role in implementing the NEP-2020. All HE institutions need to make required preparations, and gear their governance and leadership roles to arrange for institutional transformation and preparedness for effective and sustainable implementation of the recommendations of NEP-2020, he added.
The Union Minister conveyed that IGNOU has already implemented a successful professional development programme on NEP-2020 for college and university teachers by effectively integrating the three national technology platforms of Samarth, Swayam and Swayam Prabha Channel-20.
