The changes in India's education sector, some forced — some welcome, in this year will continue to impact the sector for many years to come. First and foremost, the pandemic forced the schools and colleges to shift to online learning almost overnight. Online learning introduced many new paradigms in education like virtual classrooms, learning anytime, personalised learning at one's own pace and speed, remote examinations and admissions and many others.
The education sector continues to reel under the impact of the pandemic induced changes and some roll-over effect in terms of delayed exams and sessions etc. will likely be experienced for the next few years.
The second significant change that will have far-reaching effects on Indian education is the announcement of the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP) after a gap of almost 34 years. The NEP is a futuristic policy document which envisions more paradigm shifts in education as we know it. There is a strong emphasis on digitizing higher education and open learning systems to boost the GER.
The NEP 2020 aims to increase public investment in education from 4.4% of India's GDP to 6% and improve education for nearly 300 million students. Towards this, the policy sets out comprehensive reforms that will affect every student, from the play schoolers to ambitious master's degree pursuers considering a PhD. The activities could go from ability improvement and inventive financing to empowering research yield.
Another critical reform will be the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) setting, which will work as a single body for all higher education, barring medical and legal education. It will replace all other remaining regulatory bodies like the UGC or the AICTE. Creating a National Educational Technology Forum, an autonomous body, will also encourage the use of technology in college education.
Hence, much can be expected from the sector, and the sector itself has much to look forward to from 2021 onwards. Together, in the backdrop of these significant impact events, Indian education can look to the following soon:
Learn anytime learning and at any place: It will be easier for the students to learn and upgrade their skills. Students will be able to learn new courses from international universities. The modern learners will be able to consume, evaluate, and integrate continually changing data.
Flexible paths and more choice of subjects: Students will have various courses and subjects to choose from. The HECI is expected to set up a solitary all-encompassing umbrella body for all advanced education streams, barring clinical and legal training. Vocational or skill-based learning will also be included. The new system is expected to provide flexibility.
Project-based and experiential learning: Accurate assessment is the process of uncovering, understanding and figuring out what a learner does and does not understand, and moving forward from there. Project-based and experiential learnings may well become the norm then.
Mobile learning and self-directed learning could form the core of formal education models: Regardless of whether through versatile learning applications or 1:1 mixed learning or customised learning calculations, or self-coordinated learning, the fate of learning is without a doubt portable, individual, and self-coordinated.
Many believe that if the new policy is implemented sincerely with a careful designing of syllabi and curricula, it can transform India into a self-reliant knowledge superpower. The 2021 educationists should hook on to thinking about students as individuals and inspire students to learn.
The writer is Ashwani Awasthi, Managing Director- RICS School of Built Environment