By Sandeep Patil
Education is the bedrock of democracy and deserves significant public investment at the local, state, and national levels. The purpose of education is to build, strengthen and sustain society by empowering individuals, enhancing social mobility and promoting active citizenship. In an era of quickly changing knowledge and employment landscape, it is critical that children not only learn but more importantly, learn how to learn. Education should instil critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities, and foster learning that encourages creativity and innovation. Skills such as communication, collaboration, digital literacy, and adaptability are crucial in today’s rapidly changing world.
Education: The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP-2020) is the first education policy of the 21st century. It proposes the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure to create a system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century education while building upon India’s traditions and value systems. The salient guiding principles of the policy are:
holistic development in academic and non-academic spheres.
flexibility for learners to choose learning trajectories, programmes.
no hard separations between subject areas.
multidisciplinary education with emphasis on conceptual understanding, creativity, and critical thinking
promoting multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning.
synergy in curriculum across all levels of education.
outstanding research as a requisite for outstanding education and development.
India has made remarkable strides in recent years in attaining near-universal enrolment in elementary education but poor retention in later grades is a concern. NEP-2020 proposes measures to curtail dropout rates, ensure universal access to education at all levels and achieve a 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio in preschool to secondary level by 2030. The policy entails revamping curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and student support for enhanced student experiences through reduction of curriculum content in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking, more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, analysis-based, and enjoyable learning. The policy envisions increased access, equity, and inclusion through several measures.
NEP-2020 proposes large universities and colleges that offer programmes in local/Indian languages catering to multidisciplinary education with faculty and institutional autonomy at the core. These measures will significantly impact enrolment in education thereby facilitating the delivery of high-quality higher education, with equity and inclusion.
Undergraduate Research: Research and education are critical constituents of the scientific ecosystem, ensuring the growth and sustenance of a large, vibrant economy, uplifting society, and continuously inspiring a nation to achieve even greater heights. Research at the undergraduate level is of profound importance to promote curiosity, inquisitiveness, and enthusiasm among students.
Undergraduate research has the potential to profoundly influence the future interests and careers of many students. It can also lead to benefits such as advancements in technology, solutions to global challenges, and innovation-driven economic growth. A robust ecosystem facilitating the expansion of research capabilities and output across disciplines is the need of the hour considering factors such as expanding digital marketplace, the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence, coupled with challenges such as climate change and population dynamics,
The establishment of a National Research Foundation (NRF) to fund outstanding peer-reviewed research in all disciplines and to actively seed research in universities can catalyse the quality and quantity of academic research. The inclusion of research, internships in the undergraduate curriculum, faculty career management systems that give due weightage to research, and governance and regulatory changes that encourage an environment of research and innovation are the guiding principles of NRF.
NRF will strengthen endeavours to undertake high-quality interdisciplinary research across fields that can help tackle societal challenges faced by India, such as access for all its citizens to clean drinking water and sanitation, quality education and healthcare, improved transportation, air quality, energy, and infrastructure.
In a nutshell, the efficient implementation of NEP-2020 will usher in a new era of a multidisciplinary education framework that catalyses a strong culture of research, innovation, and knowledge creation.
The author is associate dean of School of Science, Navrachana University. Views are personal.