Rethinking Education and Livelihoods in India

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed a need for rethinking approaches to education and livelihoods. Education in its present dispensation does not provide equitable access to children from marginalized segments of the population. It also suffers from deficits in the areas of social and emotional skills, over-emphasis on the three Rs, language used as a medium of instruction, and excessive competition for scoring marks, among others. There is very low uptake of vocational education. The National Education Policy 2020 tries to address some of these issues and plans on closer integration of vocational education with the school framework. High unemployment rates of educated youth, along with underemployment due to skill mismatch, show poor school-to-work transition and underscore the importance of TVET for youth in the future. Skill already exists in the economy in informal knowledge systems which are largely undocumented and thus not acknowledged in the formal system. These need to be combined with Western-centric knowledge systems so that the imbalance between formally educated/trained workers and informally trained workers is redressed. There is also a need to bring back the joy of learning, as Tagore’s experimentation with education has demonstrated.

The Myth and Reality of Teacher Shortage in India: An Investigation Using 2019-20 Data

This paper examines the widespread perception in India that the country has an acute teacher shortage of about one million teachers in public elementary schools, a view repeated in India’s National Education Policy 2020. Using official DISE data, we show that teacher vacancies cannot be equated with teacher shortages: while the number of teacher vacancies (in teacher-deficit schools) is 766,487, the number of teacher surpluses (in surplus-teacher schools) is 520,141, giving a net deficit of only 246,346 teachers in the country. Secondly, removing estimated fake student numbers from enrolment data greatly reduces the required number of teachers and raises the number of surplus teachers, converting the net deficit of 246,346 teachers into an estimated net surplus of 98,371 teachers. Thirdly, if we both remove estimated fake enrolment and also make a hypothetical change to the teacher allocation rule to adjust for the phenomenon of emptying public schools (which has slashed the national median size of public schools to a mere 63 students, and rendered many schools ‘tiny’), the estimated net teacher surplus rises to 239,800 teachers. Fourthly, we show that if government does fresh recruitment to fill the supposed approximately one-million vacancies as promised in National Education Policy 2020, the already modest national mean pupil-teacher-ratio of 25.1 would fall to 19.9, at a permanently increased fiscal cost of nearly Rupees 637 billion (USD 8.7 billion) per year in 2019-20 prices, which is higher than the individual GDPs of 50 countries that year. The paper highlights the major efficiencies that can result from evidence-based policy on minimum viable school-size, teacher allocation norms, permissible maximum pupil teacher ratios, and teacher deployment.

Perspective of Teachers on the Cross-Curricular Pedagogical Approach for Children with Developmental Disabilities

The National Education Policy 2020 has voiced its interest and need for an evolved pedagogy attuned to the importance of quality education for all. The policy stresses the importance of one such creative pedagogical approach called the cross-curricular pedagogical approach. This study aims to assess the level of awareness and perspective of primary teachers, on the cross-curricular approach for children with developmental disabilities. The sample includes 100 teachers (50 general teachers and 50 special educators) in inclusive schools of Delhi-NCR. The data was collected using the survey method. Results indicate that 56% of general teachers and 80% of special educators are aware of the term ‘cross-curricular pedagogical approach. However, only 22% of general teachers and 34% of special educators have attended workshops and training sessions on cross-curricular pedagogical approaches. Many of the general teachers and special educators expressed a positive perception towards forging linkages between subject disciplines for teaching children with developmental disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

Equitable Access to Higher Education: An Analysis of India’s National Education Policy (2020) in a Post-Pandemic World

Of the various less-than-comfortable narrative strands of the status quo that the COVID-19 pandemic has succeeded in showing up in stark relief—our rather troubling (if somewhat half-hearted) complacence about the systemic blind-spots that continue to colour the prevailing culture of a clearly inequitable higher education policy-framework—easily features among the most worrying, and thus, among those precise pulse-points that carry tremendous potential to help build the post-pandemic reset better, stronger and palpably fairer.1 In this piece, the authors endeavour to elaborate upon this and supplement the same with a brief analysis of India’s year-old National Education Policy, 20202—and how this nation (India) of more than 1.3 billion,3 supposedly poised on the cusp of a massive self-reinvention—is attempting to embark upon this journey.

National Education Policy 2020: A Critically Analyzed Spectrum to Higher Education

In the midst of the new educational policies, the resonance of learning has been astute. The New Education Policies in eons to heretofore has demonstrated an indifferent paranoia in the education existentialism. With what is seen and is reformed, the categorical enunciation stands no different from the reforms that are witnessed indistinct. The reforms were initiated in various sectors. The pending reforms were carried out after a long gap of three decades. This paper tries to analyses the fall outs of NEP. The objectives are to understand the origin of policies relating to education sectors, to understand the vision of NEP, to know about the principles of NEP and primary data analysis. The paper elaborates the challenges faced by the reforms pertaining to Education Policies, otherwise would afflict the new dimension of learning. Keywords: National Education Policy, Vision, HEI, Knowledge, Education Policies, Karnataka, Radical Restructuring.

National Education Policy 2020 - Mentoring of Faculty Members towards Excellence in Higher Education Institutions

A mentoring approach towards excellence is proposed in this paper. This approach should be followed to develop educational leaders and faculty members to prepare HEIs to build capacity and capability to implement the provisions of the national education policy (NEP) 2020. The approach includes designing the mentoring programme at the institute level, selection and orientation of mentors, selection and orientation of mentees, mentoring process, mentees and mentors’ outcomes, and ultimate outcomes of the mentoring programme-academic, research, and excellence. The authors have noted recommendations to make the mentoring programme successful.

Technology-Enabled Learning and Post-Pandemic Academic Scene in India: Some Reflections

The onslaught of the Covid pandemic has changed the landscape of human interactions and life drastically; after the apparent changes in the health sector, the field of education has been radically changed. This study makes an effort to deliberate upon some aspects of the National Education Policy, 2020(NEP) and Right to Education (RTE) in relation to the post-pandemic changes that have been seen in the present Indian educational scene especially in the context of the technology-enabled learning.

Pandemic, policy, and pedagogy: analyzing the tripartite role of covid 19 pandemics, national education policy 2020, and pedagogical innovations vis-a-vis educational implications

The paper draws interlinkages between three factors, i.e., COVID 19 pandemic, the release of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 by the Government of India, and the need for pedagogical changes and innovations concerning their educational implications the Indian context. The paper argues that COVID 19 pandemic has been a major setback for the ailing academic infrastructure in India. The immediate outcome might cause the severity of the pandemic and the increasing cases of infections across the nation, and the closure of schools and other educational institutions. However, to overcome further educational losses and compromises, the schools and colleges alternatively moved to online modes haphazardly. Initially, this push from the government came as a shock to many teachers and learners, bearing in mind the circumstances and ground realities in India, wherein this sudden ‘top-down’ transition appeared more as an imposition. Ever since this transition happened, everyone has been trying to adapt to this new ‘normal. Despite the relentless working of stakeholders at various levels owing to these unprecedented times, the situation does not look inspiring. Though NEP 2020 was envisioned as a sigh of relief and a major game-changer in metamorphosing the educational system in India, it is inept in addressing the immediate challenges posed by the pandemic, and there is a long way to go in its effective implementation. Therefore, policymakers and researchers have to deal with the compounded challenges. The most critical one can assess and address the learning gaps induced due to the ongoing pandemic. This paper attempts to look into the dynamics of the major debates emerging as a result of the anxieties and upheavals posed by the COVID 19 pandemic; the response of various stakeholders such as administrators, policymakers, teachers, educators, learners etc. The pedagogical implications for the teachers and educators due to these uncertain circumstances derive insights and strategies that will help make the educational system more resilient, resource-rich, and prepared to tackle future crises.

New Education Policy 2020 of India: A Theoretical Analysis

Education has a key and decisive role in this scenario of contingencies. The National Education Policy 2020 has therefore been transformed into the framework of this reform, which could help to build a new education system in the country, in addition to strengthening those economic and social indicators. That still needs to be improved. NEP 2020 provides for quality higher education through multidisciplinary universities and autonomous colleges. We have critically examined the policy in this paper and proposed changes to ensure a seamless continuum with its predecessor in addition to its predecessor, boosting its importance. The current paper describes the analysis of the requirements for NEP 2020 provisions and management practices at the university level. Recommendations are made for the design and implementation of NEPs at national and HEIs (Higher Education levels).