Creativity gets a boost

Kochi: The draft of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 states that education emphasising on creativity and innovation must include the arts. All students in Grades 7 and 8 will take a course (one period per week, for one session) on critical issues facing humans in their communities and around the world.  In this class, students would learn about current issues.

In Grades 9-12 the course would be continued in a more advanced manner. The content shall include a healthy amount of regional literature. It will be necessary to include a wide variety of material in this class ranging from science, technology and medicine to art, literature, and music. Articles addressing social issues such as patriarchy and racism will be included as well.

Revision of the National Curriculum Framework -2005 is also proposed in the draft along with national textbooks with local content and ?avour and making available them at low cost. The textbooks should be available in all regional languages.

Revision of NCERT textbooks is proposed to contain only the essential core material in each subject, keeping in mind a constructivist, discovery-based, analysis-based, engaging, and enjoyable style of learning. Preparation of textbooks at the state level having NCERT core material and material from SCERT will be done.

Innovative textbook development for increased choice of textbooks in schools will be another focus. Such textbooks will be approved by an autonomous body of experts nationally and in each state.

The changes in curriculum must be accompanied by parallel changes in assessment procedures and mechanisms to ensure the development of students. It shifts from primarily testing of rote memorisation skills to one that tests higher-order skills such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity. The approach must be to focus on formative and developmental assessment throughout the school years.

The draft identifies that the current structure prevents students from learning in the desired multidisciplinary manner in accordance with their interests, and is summative and not formative. It renders 12th Grade for many students as a year of mugging and obtaining coaching for various different entrance examinations, rather than actually learning in school and pursuing their individual talents. It says board examinations should be given in a range of subjects to encourage holistic development. The board exam should test core capacities.  New assessment system, to be in place by 2022, will align with NCF 2020.

Once internet and computers become standard tools in schools, assessment at all levels - especially during the middle and secondary stages - may also be conducted in an adaptive computer-assisted manner. To eliminate the "high stakes" aspect of board examinations, all students will be allowed to take board examinations on up to two occasions during a given school year.

Focus will also be on identifying and fostering singular interests and talents among students. There will be internet-based apps, assessments, and online communities for students with singular interests.

The NEP aims to ensure that all students at all levels of school education are taught by passionate, motivated, highly qualified, professionally-trained, and well-equipped teachers. The structure of teacher education, recruitment, deployment, service conditions, professional development, and career management must be completely overhauled in order to restore the high status of the teaching profession.

Schools and/or school complexes will be permitted and, indeed, supported with suitable resources to hire local eminent persons or experts as "specialised instructors" in various subjects, such as traditional local arts, vocational crafts, entrepreneurship, agriculture. They can undergo shorter local teacher education programmes.

Teachers must be given constant opportunities for self-improvement and to learn the latest innovations and advances in their profession. By 2030, the minimum degree quali?cation for teaching will be a four-year liberal integrated B.Ed. degree. Another proposal is for the two-year B.Ed. programme for lateral entry into teaching.

Merit-based scholarship to encourage outstanding students to enter the teaching profession is another proposal for achieving desired pupil-teacher ratios. Incentives to teach in rural areas and halting/slowing teacher transfers are suggested to ensure continuity of teacher student-community relationships.

It aims for a school environment and culture that is conducive to quality education which includes adequate physical infrastructure, facilities, and learning resources, remedial education. The practice of assigning teachers to individual schools based on overall student-teacher ratios will be replaced by a much more careful assignment system based on the educational needs of children. Online resources will be used for continuous professional development.

A tenure track system for hiring teachers across all levels of education will be established. Under the tenure track systems, teachers will be on a three-year probationary/ tenure track period followed by a performance-based confirmation. Parity in service conditions will be ensured across all stages of school education. All teachers will have possible career progression paths to become educational administrators or teacher educators. Specialised instructors for specialised subjects and closing down of substandard standalone teacher education institutions are also proposed.

Regulation and Accreditation of School Education will mean separation of functions of policymaking, regulation, operations, and academic standards to eliminate conflicts of interest. An independent State School Regulatory Authority will be established to handle all aspects of school regulation.  The State Council for Educational Research and Training will be the apex body on all academic matters for the whole of school education.

 Every State must have one or more Boards of Assessment (BOA) which conduct the assessment for the school leaving certi?cate and certify the same. The Boards of Assessment will completely reform and improve the examination system - they will have no role in setting curricula or creating textbooks. There is proposal for accreditation for autonomy with accountability. Private schools will not use the word 'public' in their names. Private schools can make reasonable increase in fees that can stand public scrutiny. Schools must be not-for-profit.