Centre launches several edu initiatives to mark 2 years of NEP 2020

A national innovation and entrepreneurship promotion policy for schools, introduction of 75 “Bharatiya games” in schools, launch of ‘Kalashala initiative’ in 750 schools to help students discover India’s rich cultural heritage and a public consultation survey to seek suggestions for the new national curriculum framework for schools were among several initiatives announced by Union home minister Amit Shah on the second anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in New Delhi on Friday.

The NEP was launched by the government on July 29, 2020 with an aim to transform India’s education system in alignment with the futuristic needs, while making it “rooted in Indianness”. In the last two years, the Union education ministry has already implemented several recommendations of the NEP 2020 in both school and higher education.

While launching the new initiatives, Shah said that the NEP 2020 is the foundation to make India a great nation. “The National Education Policy 2020 is in sync with the roots of the nation and has gained unprecedented acceptance from the entire country. The policy has clearly stated that a robust public education system is the foundation of a thriving democratic nation,” he said.

Emphasising the NEP’s recommendation to use regional language as medium of education in both schools and higher education, Shah said that it will help the country to utilise the 100% potential of the country. “Be it technical education, medical education or law education, when we do not teach all these in Indian languages, then we limit the capabilities and potential of our country. But when teaching all this in Indian languages, we will be able to utilise the 100% potential of the country,” he said.

Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that knowledge has always been India’s capital. “When the world was grappling with the crisis of Covid-19 pandemic, India turned the crisis into opportunity and came up with the futuristic National Education Policy 2020 under the leadership of Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.”

“The NEP 2020 is an antidote to the Macaulay’s system of education which was designed to colonise our minds. It is now India’s present and India’s future and is representative of Indian way of thought,” he added.

Among the initiatives launched, were the national innovation and entrepreneurship policy for schools in order to promote a learning environment where creativity, ideation, innovation, problem-solving and entrepreneurship skills of students are nurtured, irrespective of their age.

“The policy will foster the culture of Ideation, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (IIE) in schools. It will provide for the implementation mechanism to create a culture of innovation, ideation, design thinking, creative thinking, entrepreneurship and start-ups in schools… It will help create more start-ups from school education and ensure reasonable equity sharing between the stakeholders,” the document shared by the education ministry said.

A three-day mela under the government’s Indian Knowledge System (IKS) was also launched by the Union home minister during the event. As a part of which, two announcements were made i.e ‘Kalashala initiative’ and promotion of 75 “Bharatiya games” in schools. “The Kalashala initiative will be launched in 750 schools. It envisions educating children about the various art forms of India & help them discover the country’s rich cultural heritage. The school students will learn about various art forms through lecture demonstrations by a visiting artist,” the ministry said.

Besides, the government also has announced that it will introduce Indian games in schools. “Each month, one Bharatiya (Indian) game will be introduced in schools through PT (physical training) teachers. Students will participate in a quiz on the ‘mygovindia’ portal and can earn certificates,” the ministry added.

The ministry has also announced that it will launch more than 100 futuristic higher education programmes in six areas including automation in Industries, infrastructure connectivity, electronics manufacturing, digital emerging technologies and Research and Development. These programmes will be developed in sync with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

The ministry also announced a public consultation survey in 23 languages to seek inputs and suggestions for the development of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) on the basis of which the content of school books will be decided.

A partnership with Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) to provide upward mobility to students and help them attain higher education and more livelihood opportunities has also been announced. “Under the partnership, 32 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI) 3,000+ Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), 500+ Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) and nearly 300 Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) will be associated with IGNOU as registration centres,” the ministry said.

Meanwhile, no announcement has been made regarding the launch of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which is envisaged as the autonomous body under NEP 2020 that will dissolve all other autonomous bodies including the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).