Objective of NEP to correct past anomalies: Union minister

PTI, Dec 20, 2021, 8:34 AM IST

Jammu: Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said the two-fold objective of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is to correct past anomalies and introduce contemporary provisions that are in keeping with the present global trends. He was addressing the Cluster University teachers here at an interactive academic programme on the NEP-2020, organized as part of the ”Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

Singh emphasized that the demography of education has changed region-wise, gender-wise and profile-wise, which can be judged from the fact that women now have a greater representation in civil services and people from other regions are topping different exams, which was earlier the prerogative of only a few regions.

He stressed that the responsibility of educationists today is not to award a degree but to teach to achieve ease of living, which can happen only when youngsters are able to find a sustainable start-up source of living for themselves, instead of harping on government jobs.

The Union minister of state for personnel said the greatest anomaly in the previous education policy was the nomenclature itself and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) was a misnomer, misrepresentative in itself, having other connotations.

He further said as India has now become a part of the global world and is being recognized as ”Jagat Guru”, the education parameters should be in keeping with the global standards if it has to compete and excel globally, according to a statement issued by the personnel ministry.

Singh said one of the new provisions of the NEP-2020 in the form of multiple entry-and-exit options is something to be cherished as this academic flexibility will have a positive impact on the students as regards availing of different career opportunities at different times, depending upon their intrinsic learning and inherent aptitude.

He also said the entry-and-exit option can be opted in the future for the teachers as well, giving them career flexibility and opportunities to upgrade as is done in some western countries like the United States.

Stating that one of the objectives of the NEP-2020 is de-linking degrees from education, Singh said linking degrees with education has taken a heavy toll on the country’s education system and society as well.

”One of the fall-outs has been an increasing number of educated unemployed,” he said.

The minister maintained that technological interventions in education are a boon for the students of this generation and emphasized that teachers should also be able to keep up the pace with the students, who are moving ahead too fast owing to accessibility of information, avenues, means, and talent.

He said when the society has become gender-neutral and language-neutral, it has to become teacher-pupil neutral now so as to make India’s education system a bilateral phenomenon.

Singh said besides the education of students, equally important is the education of the teachers, parents, and elders as the challenge is not only optimum education but to prevent ”dis-education”, which is never discussed.

During the interaction, Principal Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Higher Education department, Rohit Kansal said education and ideas lie at the heart of achievement, and a society full of ideas, full of vision is ultimately going to progress and lead the others.

Professor Bechan Lal, Vice-Chancellor, Cluster University, Jammu, in his welcome address, said the NEP-2020 is widely accepted and appreciated for its creative provisions.