A new national learning curve

The complex task of transforming school and university education in India interweaves issues of access, modernization, skills development and diversity, among others, says Krea University vice-chairman Kapil Viswanathan. The recently approved National Education Policy 2020 presents an ambitious vision and a daunting execution challenge. Mint invited luminaries of the university’s governing council to share their perspectives

■ NEP puts the spotlight on vocational courses

S. Ramadorai is former chairman, National Skills Development Agency and National Skills Development Council

The National Education Policy (NEP) is a comprehensive reappraisal and revamping of education that is adapted to the changing needs of today. It has the potential to forge a transformative vision that is bound to impact the grassroots micro-narratives that radically change and create fresh possibilities for constituting a new national identity. Read more

■ Being rooted in local language is key

Vishakha Desai is senior adviser to president of Columbia University

I will never forget the day I arrived at Elphinstone College in 1968 as a second-year student. As someone who had attended a Gujarati-medium school and experienced America as a high school exchange student, I was looking forward to a cosmopolitan, intellectual atmosphere that could combine my global and local interests. Read More

■ A clear roadmap is crucial for policy implementation

Cyril Shroff is managing partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

The National Education Policy 2020 is an excellent step towards overhauling the Indian education sector to bring India on a par with other global centres of learning.

The policy recognizes that the three sections of the education system (students, teachers and the institution itself) need to work as a cohesive unit to create value for the nation and address issues associated with them. Read More

■ The new design will lessen the need for coaching centres

Our education’s aims are broadly threefold: aesthetic, economic and cultural.

While these are constant, the practice has to be revisited every so often for review. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was thus eagerly awaited.

A commitment to treat the Sciences, Humanities and Arts as equals is a much desired step. Indeed the ministry of human resource development and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had already set the skill vision more than a decade ago: critical thinking, the capacity to synthesize ideas, and the use of multiple intelligences were always at the forefront. Read More

■ Critical thinking will drive the design of curriculum

R. Seshasayee is chairman, executive committee, Krea University

The impact of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 will most likely be felt not earlier than two or three decades from now. That would be the middle of the 21st century. What would Indian industry look like by then? What would be the industry’s requirements of skills and knowledge?

The honest answer would be, no one knows for sure. Only thing that is predictable is that the amplitude of change in the nature and character of industry will be extremely high, as new and rapid waves of technology and science erase the sand prints of the earlier waves. This will demand, in every commercial organization, a healthy stock of workers who have the eagerness to reskill, relearn and renew themselves continually. Read More