Union Minister of Education Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal on Thursday, 28 January, compared teachers to ‘warriors in the field of education’ while urging them to take on the ambitious task of implementing the National Education Policy.
Addressing a meeting of more than 1,000 principals, which was organised by CBSE to discuss changes to school curriculum that will be implemented from the 2021-22 academic session, Dr Pokhriyal said that the board will train 10 lakh teachers in the coming year.
“CBSE will make its processes digital and also digitise records of its students in the last 45 years. It will also train 10 lakh teachers for implementing NEP.”Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal
Focus on Vocational Education, 360 Degree Assessment
Speaking on the major aspects of NEP 2020, Dr Pookhriyal said that the policy lays a great deal of emphasis on vocational education right from Class 6, which would also include internships and experiential learning.
Further, the education minister said that the holistic, 360 degree report card, as envisaged in the NEP, would allow students to assess their own progress and allow them to identify and rectify weak points.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, 27 January, CBSE had said that schools would have to rejig their teaching process to implement NEP.
“Schools will actually need to redefine the teaching and learning process and change the pedagogical structure for a proper implementation of NEP 2020 to witness the trajectory of transformation.”CBSE Statement
CBSE also said that following this interaction, the board will be steering the orientation programmes through its 250 active Sahodaya School Complexes in the country to create awareness about NEP 2020.
NEP Reforms in Schools
Apart from completely overhauling the pedagogical structure by suggesting a new, learning and vocation-based curriculum, NEP 2020 also provides for quality early childhood care and education for all children between 3-6 years.
While seeking to make board exams low-stake, NEP 2020 suggests upto two board exams in a school year, with the provision of an improvement exam.
The policy also emphasises the use of mother tongue or local language as the medium of instruction till Class 5, while recommending its continuance till Class 8 and beyond.
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