2020 seems to have a thing for surprising us in its own unique ways. This time around, it is pertaining to the sudden approval of the long pending National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, by the Indian government. Surely, the announcement stirred up the country, but for all the right reasons. Despite being one of the fastest growing economy in the world, with a demographic dividend only next to China, the country, so far, has only seen two education policy revamps post-independence, in 1968 and 1986.
That means, the last time we ever had a policy change, was over three decades ago. Pretty naturally, in the last three decades, the world has gone through an array of paradigm shifts. Transitioning from mechanization to digitization, and everything in between, it has moved on a great deal. So much so that, the information technology in this new era, have managed to alter not just the way our industries and various economic sectors operate, but also our lifestyles, to an unimaginable extent.
This transformation to sustain, it requires an upgraded education system. The new policy is aimed at bringing effective and sustainable change right from the pre-schooling stage of a student, to become better prepared for a modern world, which is majorly driven by intellect and skills.
In short, the introduction of NEP 2020 can be considered as an ace move by the government, to transform India into a knowledge superpower in the 21st century. However, despite the policies’ futuristic approach, there is still a lingering curiosity among people regarding the kind of benefits it will bag, and in fact, that is quite justified for a democracy.
So, let us quickly go through some of the benefits this new education policy has to offer:
Increasing employability: To begin with, according to a recent report by Aspiring Minds, 47% of graduates in India are not employable for any industry role, particularly in today’s knowledge economy. This data helps in drawing attention to one of the major benefits of the NEP 2020. The new education policy will play a crucial role in facing one of India’s biggest challenge, which is making the youth self-reliant and employable, to create wealth either through jobs or self-employment.
Vocational training to nurture creativity: The policy prioritizes vocational skills in particular, which helps in building critical cognitive abilities. Such skills acquired in the early years of schooling, becomes helpful later in developing a creative personality. Introducing children to vocational training is also a great way to divert their minds from tiringly focusing on bookish knowledge.
Education, not burden: Practical learning have attained a new and improved status in the education policy. Education is all set to become scientific, keeping the fun elements for children intact at the same time. Against the current perception towards education being an unavoidable burden, unique ideas like ‘Bag-less days’ proposed in the NEP 2020, will help in inculcating a natural interest in children to learn new things. There will also be crafts like carpentry, arts, sports, along with more experiential learning and humanities as subjects as part of the primary curriculum, which will further help in creating better citizens for the nation.
Universality of education: One of the primary benefits of the NEP 2020 is, it emphasizes on democratizing quality education for the benefit of each and every citizen of the country. It basically means, no children of this country, no matter what socio-economic category they belong to, will be spared from getting education. Although the implementation will take time, considering the policy has just been introduced, the new education policy is projected as the sure shot weapon to uproot the challenge of unemployment in India in a more effective and meaningful way. The policy aims at meeting the government’s goal of 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2030.
Gains for the corporate sector: The benefits of the NEP 2020 are not just limited to improving the overall perspective of the Indian Education sector. It surpasses that primary goal, and aims at majorly impacting the Indian corporate sector. With more skilled and highly employable youth generated with the help of this new education policy, the corporate India is surely in for some solid competitions in the future ahead.
Lastly, NEP 2020 is not just a hope for the Indian Education Sector, in terms of pulling out the country’s future generation from the dark pit of uncertainty. It is also a fool-proof strategy to set global standards in education, knowledge and scientific discoveries, as well as to make this country emerge as a knowledge superpower in the 21st century.
