NEP BOOST FOR B-SCHOOLS

THE NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY IS POISED TO ACT AS A TURNING POINT FOR B-SCHOOLS, UNLOCKING NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND PAVING THE WAY FOR HOLISTIC GROWTH.

- ASHUTOSH KUMAR

IN JULY 2015, on the eve of the launch of the Skill India mission — a government programme aimed at providing market-relevant skill training to the youth — a top Cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi government rued the education system in the country, saying it hasn’t kept pace with the ever-changing needs of the industry.

“We need to come out of the archaic ways of imparting education. Along with theory, practical needs of the economy, too, have to be kept in mind while designing the country’s education policy,” the minister told a select group of media persons at his residence in New Delhi. The Skill India Mission is a move by the government to bridge the gap between the industry and academia, and more will be done in due course, he added.

Five years later, the tenets of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 showcase the Centre’s efforts to syncronise the needs of the economy and age-old systems of education in the country.

With ‘multidisciplinarity’, ‘life skills’ and ‘flexibility’ to choose from as learning trajectories, and focus on ‘unique capabilities’ of students as the key foundational element, the policy aims to create the nation-builders of tomorrow. “Education must move towards less content, and more towards learning about how to think critically and solve problems, how to be creative and multidisciplinary, and how to innovate, adapt, and absorb new material in novel and changing fields,” NEP states.