National Education Policy 2020 is in conformity with the Sustainable Development Goal-4 (2030). It intends to restructure and reorient the education system in India. Critically examine this statement.

SDG seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. New education Policy (NEP) calls for the entire education system to be reconfigured to support and foster learning, so that all of the critical targets and goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be achieved.

NEP and SDG are in Congruence:

NEP Recognizes, identifies, and fosters the unique capabilities of each student, by sensitising teachers as well as parents to promote each student’s holistic development in both academic and non-academic spheres.

Restructuring education system:

● This policy envisages that the extant 10+2 structure in school education will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18.

● To check drop outs, Counsellors or well-trained social workers connected to schools/school complexes and teachers will continuously work with students and their parents and will travel through and engage with communities to ensure that all school-age children are attending and learning in school.

● It is proposed to set up a National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), as a standard-setting body under MHRD.

● Each teacher will be expected to participate in at least 50 hours of Career Progression Development opportunities every year for their own professional development, driven by their own interests.

Issue with Implementation of NEP:

● Achieving the goal of doubling GER by 2035 will require far higher and faster investment in ramping the higher education infrastructure.

● The Government will need to come up with fixed investment plans, including in the Union Budget 2021 and also collaborate with the private industry to ensure continuous skill enhancement and training of teachers and bring them at par with global standards.

● Marks Dominated Education System: Until marks or grades dominate the education system, it would be challenging to bring transformation as envisaged by NEP.

● Persistent Inequity & Inequality: The NEP falls short in addressing the two main problems that plague our society and education system-inequity and inequality.

● Knowledge-Jobs Mismatch: There is a persistent mismatch between the knowledge & skills imparted and the jobs available. This has been one of the main challenges that have affected the Indian education system since Independence.

● Federal Angle: Though education is a concurrent subject in India’s federal structure, yet the NEP approach is suggestive of over-centralization.

India’s NEP 2020 has comprehensive potential for establishing an overwhelming impact on the socio-economic fabric of society, as expected in SDG by all the members’ states. It is very imperative to realise that education is a concurrent list subject, and thus the role of units of Indian federation in implementing the policy will also be crucial for the success of NEP 2020 in the line of SDGs 2030.