Many advanced counties announce new educational legislation routinely. For instance, Finland approves new school-related reforms every four years[i].
It might surprise you to learn that the Indian Education system has been working under the same National Education Policy (NEP 1986) for the past 34 years. Since then, the world has changed considerably. And no new significant development took place in the education system.
That changed when in 2020, the government of India introduced and approved the NEP-2020.
In this article, we will discuss the recent developments in the education systems and the legislation. Since the changes have been almost non-existent in the past few decades, all of the recent progress is due to the NEP-2020.
1. Qualification for Teaching
A National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) is formulated according to the new policy.
Based on this all educators have to complete a 4-year B.Ed. degree to be qualified for a teaching post by 2030[ii]. Earlier, a candidate with a 2 years B.Ed., 1-year diploma, or BCC degree could become a teacher after clearing the CTET certification. The new legislature is devised to improve the standard of teaching[iii].
2. One accreditation body
Changes are underway to establish a single regulator for higher educational institutes.
So instead of separate governing bodies for technical institutions, vocational colleges, and other universities, there will now be one Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). This independent body is created, in the documents’ own words, because in the past there “have been heavy concentrations of power within a few bodies, conflicts of interest among these bodies, and a resulting lack of accountability.”[iv]
The HECI consists of four divisions, each working independently yet in synergy with each other under the same body.
3. Flexibility in choice of subjects
At the secondary school level, students will now have the choice to select the subjects of their preference, including vocational subjects[v] [vi]. Before this students had to pick one stream such as humanities, commerce, sciences, etc., and study the pre-set subjects.
This scheme will allow students to study a variety of combinations such as sewing with chemistry or accounting with biology etc.
This policy has received controversial reviews[vii]. Because although it looks good on paper its practical implementation is tricky. We will know more about its pros and cons with time.
Conclusion
Most of the recent developments in the education system and the legislation have been zealously welcomed while a few have faced controversy.
Education today is integrated with technology and the subject matter is quite different from 30 years ago. Hence, the new legislature was enacted in light of global advances. The recent developments mentioned in this article are only three of many. This is an exciting time for education managers and leaders who are tasked with bringing about these improvements.
And if you are one of them, you can brace for change by learning more about the legislation!
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Citations:
[i] https://www.european-agency.org/country-information/finland/legislation-and-policy
[ii] https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/new-education-policy-2020-live-updates-important-takeaways/story-yYm1QaeNyFW4uTTU3g9bJO.htm
[iii] https://www.collegesearch.in/blog/ctet-become-a-government-teacher
[iv] https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf#page=47
[v] https://english.lokmat.com/national/new-education-policy-2020-students-can-select-subjects-of-their-liking-across-the-streams/
[vi] https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf#page=14
[vii] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/nep-offers-flexibility-students-choose-subjects-it-may-not-be-easy-129767