For You The Teachers

Few words on New Education Policy(2020)

Introduction of NEP in School System

A Basic Idea 

From last few years Indian Government is trying hard to incorporate New Education Policy, 2020, it's not an easy task indeed! Lot many of trainings are given constantly and continuously so that the schools, the principals, the teachers, the parents and other stakeholders be aware of the New Education Policy and implement it successfully and effectively in our education system. Keeping this in mind my effort on behalf of CARE Foundation is to help and design your teaching as well as classrooms appropriate for the Indian schools. It is found that the main focus of the Policy is: Child Centric Education where the children will learn and internalize what they have learned, so that they can effectively use it in their real life.

As per the NEP, learning by doing will be the main medium of instruction for educating our school children. Learning by doing is actually a theory of education expounded by American philosopher John Dewey, the idea is we learn more when we actually do the activity. It is an active hands on approach to learning where students interact with their environment in order to adapt and learn. This way of teaching approach allows learners to construct mental models that allow higher order performance like applied problem solving and transferring of Information and skills. Another benefit of learning by doing is learner get instant feedback and the activity to reflect on what to keep doing, what to tweak and repeat or what to change altogether. Real experience encourages the students and they enjoy learning. Their sense organs are activated. It develops problem solving attitude and enhances creative thinking. Another very important aspect of this methodology is it promotes group learning and group work and thus their social skill improves. Though for last few decades we are talking much about this approach but is not used in an effective way and as a result very often it's found when a new graduate finds himself on his first day at work as an analyst facing spreadsheet with 45 tabs and 200 page annual report, he sits there, paralyzed by this tsunami of data, though he ached all his financial risk management exams but today he doesn't know how to start and use all the informations together. Same happens with the young man who has just taken over his father's vegetable farm. His father was using traditional method of farming but he is interested in modern organic farming but while a start, he was in a real fix, - should he start switching to new methods in a staggered manner or change everything in one go? Should he bring in experts? Competition is enhancing, how can he market his product best? Examples are innumerable but what I mean to say is real life has a knack for presenting problems, not in neat siloed bite of sized pieces but as complex problems with incomplete information, mixed up subject areas and no single solution. Untortunately our education system still focus on drill and kill, memorization and repeated application to antediluvian - situations approaches. These fail to prepare us for the tide ahead which include life and death situations. But that is also true, already many schools are prescribing projects, right? Well! I doubt, the schools that have partially embressed this approach, especially in our country, focus on in the form of "dessert", these are assigned at the end of the of the semester where students are assessed on a project they have worked on for a few days. These projects are typically 'illustrations' or models of something they have learned but actually according to the NEP, it should be the 'main course'. Projects should be main aid or tool for teaching curriculum, not only for assessment. It should be the central to the curriculum not peripheral.

Let's speak in details about how to implement or what is the process of implementing this project based learning technique in class. This particular system requires students to inquire, seek knowledge and then interpret. If a project is carried out with pre- existing knowledge then it is an exercise, the actual system will not be justified properly. The system will as usual overlook the investigative element, which is the most useful in real life today. I think all will agree with me, nowadays knowledge is becoming more and more democratic, anyone can know anything at the click of a button, so teaching will lose its value and essence if we try to pour knowledge. Let our students research and analyse data and be skilled and make a decision. It should not be restricted only in a particular stage, right from pre primary level it needs to be continued. A much higher depth of learning will be there when a full project based learning or combine project based learning approach is used in classroom, no matter where the classroom is, whether it is at home, at field, at school or at any place in the world.

Now let's talk about the reality of our present education system. Unfortunately the statistics which is found in our country as per the government/government aided schools is that 20 to 30% of students pursue higher education and rest of 75% loose out on the way to become a working adult. They often fail to see the use of school knowledge in their professional lives. The only solution to this is incorporating skill based education like decision making, problem solving can make education egalitarian and relevant, whether one enter the workforce as plumbers, engineers or entrepreneurs or homemakers. It has the potential to build a constant improvement in mind set that is much needed in our country's education system. This will help bridge the social gaps present in our education system. The present scenario we find in the schools are the teachers are altogether after covering the breadth of the syllabus and thus schools run shortage of residual time for live projects, and secondly lack of technical and technological support, especially for our rural and underprivileged schools. Along with the endeavor of the government, we have taken a leap to incorporate PBL amidst Indian school education system universally and uniformly. This is a big challenge of course! I am fighting for last 20 years, - alone it's impossible. I welcome all my worthy colleagues to come and join us to present a better future for our children spreading education to all as per their styles and requirements.

But running and implementing project based learning curriculum is not at all an easy task and honestly this is one of the main reasons why the system didn't work. Religiously it requires a lot of meta thinking and rigor to design meaningful projects, practically in the initial days it will demand a lot of time and training. Inspired by the Buck Institute for Education in the US who have pioneered the designs of project, we CARE Foundation started designing the projects for Indian schools. We need partners to design projects, content development, teachers training and development of assessment rubrics for every stage of school system, universally and most important is the customized design for each individual subscriber, so that any school can subscribe and access PBL education in its fullest.