New Normal…?

I am feeling like winning a lottery of 1 Crore without even buying a lottery ticket and although it sounds too good to be true with a professional info-graphic presentation, it is another Master-stroke that has left the critics dumbstruck who are struggling to find a flaw in it except for the usual one – ‘It is good on the paper but let us wait for its implementation; we neither have the infrastructure nor the budget to support such a profound vision!’

Lest the politics behind everything that we are conditioned to bring in irrespective of the cause and purpose, I am extremely happy to see a Ground-breaking National Education Policy after almost 34 Years (more than 2 generations, you know!) and certainly a path-setting one after the first ‘Radical Restructure’ of Educational System of Independent India in 1968.

No one else would understand better than me the immense value of having a choice to pursue more than one interest(s) without ‘wasting’ your ‘promising’ years in learning that is not ‘useful’! The ‘Liberal’ or ‘Integrated’ is the very fundamental characteristics of ‘Learning’ and it must be facilitated and empowered, I wholeheartedly believe!

‘Students are the Future of the Nation’, they say, and if something constructive of this magnitude is proposed to bring in a sea change for a fundamental reform, it surly is a revolutionary step ahead that must be welcomed and celebrated! The Central Government, in spite of the usual criticism of ‘centralization’ and ‘commercializing’ everything, deserves applause for accepting all the recommendations of Expert Panel led by the 79-year-old eminent scientist and educationist Dr. K Kasturirangan, who believes that ‘A flexible education system under NEP 2020 will open our minds to excellence’!

Taking out Humans from the list of ‘Resources’ by changing the name of HRD Ministry to ‘Ministry of Education’, reserving a decent 6% of GDP for Education Sector and making Education flexible, learning-focused and ‘Meaningful’ are the least 3 outcomes of this new policy that promises to measure Learning Outcomes of what is experienced and understood rather than what is taught and remembered.

It is easier said than done, no doubt, but it certainly is a First Big Step in the Right Direction as far as a ‘Culture of Learning’ needs to be developed and uphold…

Way to go!

*Coincidentally it was last Sunday when I wrote about Developing a Holistic Personality of every Child for Nation Building on my Marathi Blog EETYADEE, you can read it HERE!

PS – The occasion for this New Normal of Indian Education Policy couldn’t have been better than the Day to Remember Lokmanya Tilak on his Death Anniversary. Among many of his strong viewpoints, one about Educations needs to be remembered for making the New National Education Policy Holistic –

“Secular education only is not enough to build up character. Religious education is necessary because the study of high principles KEEPS US AWAY FROM EVIL PURSUITS…“