'Disruption' is Central to Development of Curriculums in Restructuring Education

Most educational institutions, the colleges and universities are still struggling to implement NEP-2020 proposed 4 years ago while some states have squarely rejected it stating that they will have their own State Education Policy (SEP).

- S. K. SAIDAPUR

In all fairness, the universities should have seized this opportunity immediately by incorporating all needed and utilitarian changes, keeping the essence of the policy intact, instead of getting stuck with trivial bottlenecks, and deferring its implementation indefinitely.

The central philosophy of the new policy is restructuring the curriculums and the pattern of education. The term 'curriculum' broadly refers to an entire academic program (courses and activities). Whereas, the term 'syllabus' refers to the unitized content of a paper. Here, I am highlighting some crucial nuances which need serious consideration while developing curriculums and restructuring education, making it apt for overcoming contemporary challenges.

First and foremost, it is vital to grasp the urgency of revamping the country's education programs and also make them successful. My arguments are as follows:

Firstly, the current education programs are dented with outdated curriculums, disintegration of disciplines, inadequate faculty and infrastructure, irrelevant research output, poor funding, lack of vision, and poor leadership of educational institutions.

Secondly, technology-driven disruptions in jobs and obsolescence of people and things have become serious challenges in unearthing new careers and trades.

Thirdly, lackluster teaching-learning-assessment processes and governance have resulted in the erosion of credibility of credentials of the degree-awarding institutions with few exceptions.

Fourthly, following globalization and the digital revolution, people's expectations have transformed; they now aspire for global citizenship and hence, global standards of education.