‘Our education must be culturally rooted and suit 21st century needs'

Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ tells Prakash Kumar that the National Education Policy 2020 aims to “transform India into a ledge society and global knowledge superpower”. Excerpts from the interview:

Why do we need a new national education policy when the agenda of the previous policy remains unfinished?

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is set to meet the unfinished agenda of the previous policies, whose implementation focused largely on issues of access and equity. A major development since the last policy of 1986 (modified in 1992) has been the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, which laid down the legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education. As the first education policy of the 21st century, and built on the foundational pillars of access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability, NEP 2020 is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making both school and college education more holistic, flexible and multidisciplinary—suiting 21st-century needs and designed to bring out the unique capabilities of each student.

Why was the 10+2 curricula structure changed to 5+3+3+4?

The new curricular structure is based on the brain development of the child. With an emphasis on early childhood care and education, the 10+2 structure of school curricula will be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively. This will bring under the school curriculum the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for the development of a child’s mental faculties.

Lakhs of teaching posts are lying vacant in schools across the country. How will 5+3+3+4 be implemented without teachers?