MHRD to bring New Education Policy to cabinet soon

The HRD ministry is giving finishing touches to the draft New Education Policy (NEP) document which it is planning to bring before the cabinet this month itself, according to a senior official.

The new academic year begins in July- August period and the attempt is to bring the policy before that time, said the official.

Significantly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reviewed the NEP earlier on May 1.

“There have been suggestions from MPs during discussion on the Sanskrit Universities bill in parliament and at other interactions. The ministry has looked at all suggestions, including at the ones given by parliamentarians from south India. The policy will be soon brought to the cabinet,” said the official.

A panel of experts led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan had prepared the draft education policy.

There had been concerns related to imposition of Hindi among some states which the HRD ministry has assured would be addressed.

Earlier, after Modi reviewed the education sector reforms, the government had said the focus was on bringing uniformity in education providing universal access to quality education, improving the quality of elementary education, through a new national curriculum framework that focuses on multi- linguistic, 21st century kills, integration of sport and art, environmental issues etc.

The use and promotion of technology in various modes for education at school and higher levels was discussed in detail.

Two officials HT spoke to did not elaborate when asked if the lessons learnt during the COVID- 19 phase may be added to the draft.

“There is emphasis on use of technology. However, the ministry is preparing a strategy separately to deal with it,” said the second official.

COVID-19: Creating a paradigm shift in India’s Education System

A key aspect of coping with Covid-19 is to ensure that services are being delivered to whatever extent possible. While for professionals across industries it has been an easier transition as many of them work on their laptops and smart devices even in office. They can simply plug in at homes now. Of course, what is missing is face to face, personal communication which will get restored as and when things are back to normal. But students have had to make far bigger adjustments as learning has always been in classrooms which they can’t go to now. Besides many of them may not be that well equipped with technology tools to avail of remote learning. Here the Digital India vision of the government is emerging as a vital instrument for solving the present crisis due to Covid-19.

The lockdown has accelerated adoption of digital technology. Business houses, educational institutes, analytics, computer, data management methods and online education solutions have been forced to work in tandem and improve in quality and delivery time to handle such situations. This is an ideal time to experiment and deploy new tools to make education delivery meaningful to students who can’t go to campuses. It’s a chance to be more efficient and productive while developing new and improved professional skills/knowledge through online learning and assessment.

It is also a fact that use of technology in education is resulting in different concepts in the system, for instance the move from teacher-centric education to student-centric education.

We have been talking about virtual classrooms and various online tools today allow us to make the engagement between the teacher and students as close to a real, in classroom type experience, as possible. Going forward, these tools can also make the teachers and parent meetings as well as staff/management meetings more time and cost saving while providing the necessary interactivity.

Pedagogy in digital education is an important link between course content, educationists, technology and course-takers. Democratization of technology is now an important issue, comprising internet connectivity, telecom infrastructure, affordability of online system, availability of laptop/desktop, software, educational tools, online assessment tools, etc. But it is a fact that technology-based education is more transparent and does not make difference in front vs back benchers or girls vs boys.

Looking at this challenge of colleges and schools being shut, government of India, as well as state governments and private players have regularly been publishing information on various initiatives undertaken by ministries like MHRD, Department of Technical Education, NCERT and others to support and benefit youth/students.

A few of the initiatives are SWAYAM online courses for teachers, UG/PG MOOCs for non-technology courses, e-PG Pathshala or e-content containing modules on social science, arts, fine arts, natural and mathematical science, CEC-UGC YouTube channel, Vidwan – a database of experts who provide information to peers and prospective collaborators, NEAT – an initiative by AICTE based on the PPP model to enhance the employability skill among students, in collaboration with Education Technology Companies and National Digital Library (NDL), a repository of learning resources with single window facility. Many noteworthy initiatives have been taken up like Spoken Tutorial, Free and Open Source Software for Education (FOSSEE), e-Yantra, Google Classroom and so on.

It is fact that the government of India as well state governments, through their various ministries/departments, have created infrastructure to deliver e-education. These include National Knowledge Network (NKN), National Project on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), National Mission on Education Through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), National Academic Depository (NAD), among others.  All these enhance our ability to connect easily with institutions and enhance our access to learning resources. For instance, NKN provides high speed network backbone to educational institutes in India.

The online assessment agencies/private business houses are also improving the product, considering the limited bandwidth and social distancing, by managing remotely proctored examinations/skilling assessments. Basic requirements like sturdy education delivery platforms, IT infrastructure, PC/Desktop/Mobile for end-delivery and assessment tools have been planned and more improvement is underway.

Going forward, the use of technology in teaching or recruitment will lead to a new era wherein the best of faculty will be available from across the globe to students.  Education quality will be gauged not just by the quality of faculty but will also have quality of IT infrastructure and familiarisation of the faculty will digital teaching technologies as important parameters.

The physical infrastructure of academic institutions will have less impact on the quality of education and thus directly on the cost of education. Review meetings, parent-teacher meetings, subject conferences will be location agnostic. The real vision of the new education policy for liberal education will get executed. It is possible that in times to come, a student may be allowed to carry out courses from any College/ University based on quality of teacher and fees for the course irrespective of his location and finally will get degree from the home university where he / she got registered or from the university where he has taken maximum courses, resulting in a balance of economics of good education.

For all this to be a reality, a drastic change in thought process is required in the mind- set of policy makers, authorities, students and specially educationists. Faculty selection should gradually be linked to technology friendliness and keenness for technology adoption. Similarly, accreditation parameters, criteria need reconsideration. All these steps will help strengthen the country’s digital learning infrastructure in the long run. Covid-19 has only accelerated adoption of technologies to deliver education.

(The writer Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Pro Chancellor, Vijaybhoomi University and Former DG, NIELIT, Govt of India)

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Jaro Education – Bringing hands-on learning experience in executive education sphere

In B-schools and management institutes, providing hands-on learning experience to the students is imperative considering the nature of the sector they will be foraying in. Though relatively new, experiential learning has been integrated in the curriculum by most of the top management institutes because in a business environment that is being constantly being disrupted with advancement in technology, the traditional brick and mortal system of education doesn’t seem to be working anymore.

Through hands-on practice in a simulated corporate-like environment with real time business projects and case, the idea of learning in most top PGDM and MBA colleges goes beyond the traditional instructional approach. Considering the comprehensive curriculum and an interactive pedagogy, it is of no wonder that students prefer full time MBA and PGDM courses. However, as much career scope these courses hold, their online counterparts have proven to be equally effective owing to the initiatives by Ed-tech companies like Jaro Education. From Strategic Management Programme, AGMP Program, EMBA Course, DBA to Hybrid PGDM course, the choice of online courses Jaro Education offers is numerous.

With so many online courses out there, what sets these executive management courses apart? For one, immersive learning experience is something that is generally not inculcated in the curriculum of online courses. This is why, working professionals who wish to pursue further studies without having to compromise their job and family life can now have the best of both worlds. "Our courses are accelerated yet interactive incorporates with case study based learning and simulation projects, enabling learning to gain an in-depth industry knowledge,” said Jaro Education, CEO Dr Sanjay Salunkhe. For instance, the IIM certificate courses include intensive campus learning in addition to two way interactions through virtual classrooms. In addition, the EMBA Programs also provide simulated live market exposure to the students under the mentorship of faculty experts.

Recently, Jaro Education also joined hands with IMT Ghaziabad to offer Executive Programme in Business Management along with a curriculum that is focused on leadership and a pedagogy that is based on experiential learning.  Since gaining experience and staying updated with the current business trends is crucial for corporate executives, the executive courses by Jaro Education are can give them a shot in the arm.