Here’s how government schools can leverage the most out of NEP 2020

The NEP envisages around 50 hours of training for teachers and head teachers in a year. How this training is designed and what outcomes this training drives is a critical aspect for rolling out the New Education Policy. Teachers in Government schools have anxious parents to contend with who are pretty much focused on the number of marks their children score. That conversation needs to change and teacher training is a critical factor that can start driving the change in that narrative.

In India, about 52 percent of children go to government schools, according to the UDISE Data for 2021-22. Considering we are one of the youngest countries in terms of demography today, there is a need to create social wealth by creating an educated population to reap this demographic dividend.

The origins of the National Education Policies that have been put in place since 1968 can be traced back to Article 45 of the Indian Constitution, which says there should be a provision for free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 years. India had its first National Education Policy in 1968 and a second National Education Policy in 1986, which was reviewed in 1992.

This long and varied history which saw the introduction of various salient features at different stages has now been reformulated taking cognisance of the current environment where demography, technology and skill development are key as is the focus on early childhood learning.

The focus is on children learning in a holistic way and without being categorised into boxes such as science, humanities and so on.

The NEP 2020 envisages allowing children to learn across categories and dwell on what interests them. There is an emphasis on the social and emotional well-being of children while they learn and integrate the mother tongue and local culture.

How can schools make the most of NEP?

While the spirit and tone of the NEP 2020 focuses on children as individuals with specific learning needs that need to be adequately addressed, somewhere we need to stand back and assess how this will play out practically.

It is not only schools that define performance based on how many marks children score; parents have an equal role in this narrative. The backward linkages to admissions into university for those children seeking to go in for higher education are still very marks-oriented.

As long as the definition of success hinges on how many marks a child scores in an examination, comprehensive learning will be a tricky ask. To bring down what is envisaged in the NEP 2020 and translate this into practical, doable blocks, thinking and behaviours must change significantly.

What can teachers do?

The NEP envisages around 50 hours of training for teachers and head teachers in a year. How this training is designed and what outcomes this training drives is a critical aspect for rolling out the New Education Policy.

Teachers in government schools have anxious parents to contend with who are pretty much focused on the number of marks their children score. That conversation needs to change and teacher training is a critical factor that can start driving the change in that narrative.

To this end, teacher agency in government schools needs to be defined boldly so that they are clear about their role in driving this policy and are active agents of change. Particularly in government schools, frugal innovation is a powerful tool to get children to learn. Using locally available resources imaginatively, teachers can bring about significant improvement in how children understand concepts.

Peer-to-peer dissemination of such frugal innovation and good practice through setting up Communities of Practice, either through virtual common rooms, where technology permits the building of such portals or physical visits by head teachers to each other’s schools can strengthen learning outcomes. Technology today is a key enabler.

One process the pandemic put on fast-forward was the use of technology to teach children remotely. This learning by doing has been a valuable lesson and today teachers in government schools are quite conversant in using technology.

However, there is a need to strengthen the demand side of this, particularly in government schools, where access to technology is skewed. Technology can be a powerful tool if used within an appropriate context to sharpen teaching and learning outcomes, bring efficiency into processes such as lesson planning, drive higher-order thinking and skills and be a critical instrument in actualising the NEP 2020 agenda.

A subject is only as good as the way in which it is taught. The largest responsibility for children’s learning is vested with teachers in government schools. The backbone of change in the learning environment are teachers and it is imperative that their capacity is strengthened and they become focal points of carrying forward the NEP 2020 vision. We need to celebrate these teachers as they walk the tightrope of trying to impart learning in a low-resource environment and meet the high expectations of parents.

The author, Ratna Viswanathan, is the CEO of Reach to Teach

The article was first published on – https://www.cnbctv18.com/views/heres-how-government-schools-can-leverage-the-most-out-of-nep-2020-17720701.htm