Principal's Desk: ‘NEP 2020 designed to transform education sector'

As we begin to welcome the students back to school, most schools have revamped their facilities, developed SOPs for student safety and are now looking at leveling the learning gaps. It is also time for the schools to get ready to implement the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The NEP 2020 is a comprehensive document which is designed to transform the education sector in the country, and its success will lie in its implementation by the schools. The schools need to redesign their processes on a fourfold path.

Shift the focus

For long, schools have focused on high scores in board exams and academics has remained at the core of the teaching-learning process. However, the policy states that the curriculum and pedagogy in schools would be experiential, interactive and integrated with artificial intelligence, sports, visual and performing arts.

The schools will have to shift their focus from syllabus completion to defining learning goals of each lesson and link assessments to these.

It is necessary for the schools to reduce their syllabus and identify core essentials. It will also require the schools to encourage their teachers to learn and adopt innovative pedagogies The NEP has given the highest priority to achieving foundational literacy and numeracy for all the students by Grade 3 .This will require the schools to employ highly skilled teachers at the foundational who are conversant with the local language.

Train and equip the teachers

The process of implementation will begin only after the policy becomes known to all stake holders. The NEP, an easy to read document, and its first 33 pages should be discussed extensively in Sahodayas, Hubs of Learning and within Schools among school leaders and teachers.

The NEP promotes conceptual understanding and multidisciplinary education across curriculum. For this, the teachers need to be trained. High-quality professional and digital courses on Diksha and Sywam need to be popularised and made available. Teachers must also be provided assistance with technology and devices so that data and documentation of the students’ holistic development is easy. Progress card needs to be designed to reflect the progress and uniqueness of each learner in the psychomotor, cognitive and affective domain.

Sensitise parents & students

As the school plans to adopt the policy, parents must be sensitised to the changes in assessment pattern, promotion of innovative pedagogy and the removal of hard boundaries between subjects so that they make appropriate choices.

Parents and students must also be made aware of greater choices of subjects, both vocational and academic being provided by schools. This will need planning for the distribution of resources and time allocation; connecting with institutes where students could pursue such learning.

Plan to succeed

The NEP will achieve its goal only with a synchronized vision and action from all stakeholders. Today, we have the opportunity to try and provide the best possible learning experience to our students. The time to begin is now.