Draft of New education policy 2019

Summary

This policy is easily the biggest change to the education system since the
old policy came in. It is in many ways, entirely unrecognisable, while in
many other ways, simply formalising what was informally already done.
The first and biggest change, is that primary education, from ages 3-6, is
now a formal part of school education, and public school must offer this.
The second change, what goes hand in hand, is the abolishing of the 10+2
system. In many ways, the 10+2 system completely ignored the way a
student's mind developed, and thus made for a poor learning system. The
new system is 5+3+3+4. These stages are as follows:

These stages are as follows:

5 years of the Foundational Stage: 3 years of pre-primary school and

Grades 1, 2.

3 years of the Preparatory (or Latter Primary) Stage: Grades 3, 4, 5.

3 years of the Middle (or Upper Primary) Stage: Grades 6, 7, 8.

4 years of the High (or Secondary) Stage: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12.

The new Foundational stage, is supposedly meant to be "age fluid". Your

age does not matter, as long as you are within the age group 3-8. The
Policy recommends that during the foundation stage there should be no
textbook based education, and instead play based and activity based
education. It also emphasises on introducing a variety of new "stimuli" to

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force children's brains to develop in a holistic manner. These stimuli include
: music (classical or modern, both singing and listening), art (regional,
national, sketching, etc.), literature (folk tales, literature from the region,
and national quality authors, both modern and classical). This is a massive
departure from the present system, and the new emphasis on arts, is
excellent. To add to this, a new bilingual policy is introduced. Students who
learn languages are shown to have much better cognitive abilities than
those don't so the new system makes all students learn 2 languages right
from the start. One of these has to be the mother tongue, in order to
preserve it. The other language may vary by region and requirements. The
three language policy remains, and will be better enforced. The final
changes to the primary education, is the integration of "anganwadis" into
schools, and shifting them from primarily health workers, to full scale
trained teachers, satisfying the needs of the students. The NEP requires
the full development of people-skills, through a variety of things like weekly
assemblies and daily show-and-tells. This improves the speaking ability,
something that IMO Indian students have historically been terrible at. New
extras include group reading of stories, learning morality and ethics (along
with a proper framework), puzzle solving of various types, etc. to make sure
a child has a significantly better development. Students who fall behind are
not left out, instead the teachers are required to identify and help them, as
studies suggest that students who fall back early almost never recover.
he next "Preparatory stage" lays emphasis on shifting from a more informal
style in the Foundation stage, to a more formal textbook oriented
education, in the Middle stage. It is a bridge stage. Please not that the
policy emphasises that any and all technical education must take place in
the native language (mother tongue) first. This is because students who
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learn in their mother tongue have a noticeable advantage over those who
learn in say English. The policy also has a very good write-up on why the
emphasis on English has hurt India a lot. The preparatory stage also keeps
this focus on arts, and expects students to fully develop other skills beyond
the "textbook education". The policy also demands the abolishing of the so
called "co-curricular activities" instead integrating them into the core
curriculum. This makes things like PE, yoga, art, music, a core part of the
education. It also requires that every student specialise in at least one of
these subjects. Another new concept here is the selection of the best
students to help the worst students. The best students are selected by the
teacher, and then become part of a sort of "national training system".

The third stage is the "Middle Stage". By this time, the student's mind would
have developed enough. It is now time to start the fully formal education.
Subjects start splitting from generic versions into more detailed subjects
(like science -> physics + chemistry + biology). Students at this point will
slowly start to also learn technical subjects in English. The idea is that
students will be able to think in their mother tongue (which has a lot of
advantages), while being able to understand and present ideas in English.

The fourth, and final stage is the "High Stage". At this point, students have
developed a lot. Their mind now starts thinking in "the bigger picture"
mode, and they can start planning for the rest of their life. In order to
support this, students are now allowed to freely select courses and
specialise. They are still required to understand and complete art courses,

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as this is paramount to their abilities, regardless of the final courses they
choose.

Some important courses that come over the 12 years include : course on
ethics and morality, Indian languages and their history and regional
literature.

The next major changes come to the school management system. Schools
can now form "complexes". A complex is comprised of nearby schools,
such that each complex as a whole offers all of the above stages.
Complexes are then given funds and other resources, like teachers. These
resources may then be split up among the schools as necessary. This is
important, because some types of teachers are relatively rare, and thus it
provides optimal utilisation of resources. Sometimes other resources like
libraries may also be shared. The exact details of what is shared will vary
depending of the schools and their locality (population density, and
"backwardness" of the population).

Schools also get a new level of autonomy that was previously missing.
Teachers are allowed to be the final deciders on the courses, and how they
will be taught.

In order to improve attendance, the schools will do a number of things.

Depending on the area, buses may be provided. Roads will be redone, so
that transport is easier. Older students will be provided with free bicycles.
The mid-day meals will also be extended to offer basic breakfast to
students. Adequate and safe infrastructure, including working toilets, clean
drinking water, clean and attractive spaces conducive to learning,

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electricity, computing devices, and internet, will be important to provide to
all schools.

To reduce inequality is a primary goal of the new policy. In order to do this,

each school complex will have committee overseeing the demographics,
and why students aren't attending. Specific groups called out include
Muslims (for unwillingness to attend), and women in general. The policy
requires that people of all castes and religions be integrated into the
schools. The teachers are also required to emphasise on equality, by
preventing acts that discriminate (e.g. not allowing SC/STs to sit with
"upper caste students", etc.). The schools are required to join with the
community in eradicating inequality. They are required to talk with parents
and try and change their behaviour. This could be the groundwork to
eliminating the reservation system. The policy sets the target of 2030, by
which the majority of the students will be "equalised", not by pulling down
the richer and higher caste, but by pulling up the poorer and downtrodden.
Special Education Zones will be set up in disadvantaged regions across the
country. The Central government will support extra investment and per-
child expenditure in the ratio of 2:1 for each rupee spent by the State in
these Zones. A special National Fund will be created specifically for
providing scholarships and developing resources and facilities for students
from Under Represented Groups.
The next set of changes are aimed at teachers. The primary aims are to
improve teacher pay, and status in society. It recognises that teachers are
already heavily burdened with a lot of work, so no government work may be
offloaded onto teachers. They are also educated better, and stricter

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standards are set. Teachers are required to "re-educate" themselves by
joining workshops, and the vertical mobility of teacher is to be improved.
Teacher education will gradually be moved into multidisciplinary colleges
and universities. By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching
will be a four-year liberal integrated B.Ed. degree that teaches a range of
knowledge content and pedagogy. Developmental opportunities, in the
form of local, State, national, and international teaching and subject
workshops, as well as online teacher development modules, will be
available to all teachers. Substandard stand-alone Teacher Education
Institutions (TEIs) across the country will be shut down as soon as
possible. New teachers will have to register with an authority, and then will
be quickly shifted into a school complex, for integration with the schools as
necessary.

The next major changes comes to the testing system. The new system will
be run by the National Testing Agency (which was newly set up in 2017 for
entrance exams). They will be conducting the tests, and the new tests will
be more like aptitude tests. They will de-emphasise rote learning, instead
encouraging an understanding of the subject. The policy claims that by
2020, all schools will have internet connected computers. It thus pushes for
some degree of digitisation, by allowing for continuous evaluation through
computers. Board exams in 10th and 12th are no longer. Instead we have
exams in 3rd, 5th and 8th, called Census exams. The idea is to reduce the
importance of Board exams. Teachers will also be more involved in the
governance of schools and school complexes.

This policy also paves the way for better recognition of "top talent"
students. For e.g. if a student is really good in Math, then they will be

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attending special summer schools to improve their performance. As already
mentioned, top students are also required to tutor the students who are
have a hard time coping. There is also a new emphasis on Olympiads. This
should improve India's ranks in international competitions.

The RTE act sees some changes. It is now extended to the full duration of
school, from ages 3-18. The RTE act itself will have to be reviewed, as the
policy notes.

As for private institutions, there has been some misinformation. Private

institutions will have to undergo some changes to have a similar system, so
that they too can reach out to all students. The main changes are how fees
is regulated. Fees needs to be rationalised, and can't be arbitrarily high.
Once set, fee increments must go inline with inflation and reasonable
increases, as opposed to random increases. Schools are also now required
by law to be non-profit, and must be verified regularly by submitting all of
their financial details. Private schools are also prohibited from having the
word "public" in their name. So be prepared to see a lot of name changes.

Schools will now also be accredited and regulated in a slightly more free
manner. However, they are required to release all details to the public. A
framework and guidelines for ensuring school safety and security of
children will be developed, and will be made a part of the eligibility
conditions for a school education institution for recognition and registration.
Every principal and teacher will be made aware of the provisions of the
relevant Acts, Rules, Regulations, etc. relating to child rights, and what
constitutes their violation, by including a module in the teachers’/principals’
education/training programmes and refresher courses. Self-learning online

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programmes on child rights will be developed for the benefit of students,
teachers, and parents. Credible mechanisms for students to report
breaches of their rights, and for appropriate actions to be taken against
perpetrators, will be developed and implemented, in collaboration with local
police. The Adolescent Education Programme and National Population
Education Programme will be integrated into the curriculum of schools in a
phased manner. (please note that Adolescent Education Programme is not
sex education).

Also, in addition to all this, alternative forms of schools like gurukulas,

patashalas, and madrassas will be encouraged, as long as they follow a
modernised syllabus and are fully transparent.

The first changes will be implemented by 2020, with most major changes
being in place by 2022. The first benefits will be seen by 2025, and by
2030, we should have fully transitioned, with all benefits in place.

Comparison With the Current System:

The existing system failed primarily in 2 ways: Languages were poorly

integrated, and many schools did not even offer three languages, as the
policy notes. Hindi speaking states and TN were the primary offenders.
Now all students are required to learn languages as per the Three
Language Formula. The other way the old system failed was in testing.
NCF (2005) laid heavy focus on eliminating rote learning, and in introducing
a system where discovery based education was encouraged. The 10th
grade NCERT textbook for science is a testament to that. Yet the system
failed, because tests only cared about how well a student could mug up
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and vomit arbitrary facts. The new policy does try to fix this, but how much
will improve remains to be seen.

The other more minor ways in which it failed was the integration of "extra
curricular" subjects. Many schools actually refused to teach these subjects,
considering them a time waste. The new system makes them a core part of
the education system, so there should be an improvement.

Please discuss, and if you have any doubts, feel free to ask.