THE NETHERLANDS 
New National Education Policy 2023:
New National Education Policy 2023: The New National Education Policy is nothing short of revolutionary in the education system in India. After our education policy monotonously followed the same norms for 34 years, the Ministry of Education (formerly known as MHRD) did some serious amendments in it on 29 July 2020. This New National Education Policy was recently approved by the Indian government in 2023. So, it is only natural that the question “What this New National Education Policy actually is?” must be coming to people’s minds. Our article is here to provide them with the answer to this question. Here, we will discuss all the key aspects of the New National Education Policy. Moreover, we will thoroughly explain the NEP 5+3+3+4 structure. So, the students who want to understand this education policy by the government, kindly check out this article.
There are a lot of changes that were made in the new National Education Policy because of the updated educational policy which we were living with for the past few years. The old education policy of India was definitely updated and it did not have a lot of changes that needed to be made to Western education. You can now take into account the national education policy for the year 2023 by checking out the article provided below. In this article, we are providing the benefits stages and also the step-by-step procedure through which you will be able to register yourself for this Policy.
राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2023: Highlights
NEP 2023 Major Reforms
The following is the list of all the Majo Reforms in Education Policy according to the NEP 2023.
- There will be no substantial distinction between arts, science, academic, vocational, curricular, and subjects of extracurricular streams.
- There will be extra emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.
- Substitution of 10+2 structure with a 5+3+3+4 model.
- No imposition of State Language on Students studying in any State.
- Permission of taking Board Exams two times for the students.
- The government will spend 6% of the Country’s GDP on Education instead of 1.7%.
- The Gender Inclusion fund will be fully established.
- The government will do extra efforts for providing proper education to the gifted children
- The UG Courses will be for 4 years.
- The minimum qualification to apply for the post the teacher will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed Course.
- There will be an introduction of a Common Entrance Test for admission to HEIs.
- The Master of Philosophy course will no longer be a part of the education system.
- The students will be able to opt for different subjects such as arts, crafts, vocation skills, and physical education in Secondary School.
- The Standards for Board Exams will be set by the body PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)
- The government will make literature of India and other classical languages part of the syllabus in schools.
- The exams for students will be held only in classes 2nd, 5th, and 8th instead of every academic year.
What is NEP 5+3+3+4 Structure?
The most attention-grabbing amendment in the NEP 2023 is the replacement of the 10+2 structure with the 5+3+3+4 structure. The 10+2 has been prevalent in our education system for a very long time. So, a complete change in that system can be a bit perplexing for the students. Below we will try to explain the meaning of the 5+3+3+4 structure and how it is completely distinctive from the old 10+2 structure.
In the new Pedagogical and Circular Structure, the government has subdivided the schooling of students into four parts. These four parts are Secondary, Middle, Preparatory, and Foundational. These four stages of schooling will be crucial parts of educational development in students’ school lives. The subdivision of these four stages in the schooling of students will be done as follows.
- The first stage of schooling for students is the Foundation Stage. In this, the early grooming of students will be done for 5 years. These 5 years will be 3 years of Anganwadi/ Pre-Primary/ Balvatika and first and second grade.
- The second stage will be the preparatory stage. This schooling stage will last for 3 years as well. Class 3rd, 4th, and 5th will lay the foundation for the middle and secondary stages.
- The third stage of schooling will be the middle school stage. In this from Class 6th to 8th. These three years will prepare the students for the final stage of their school life i.e. Secondary Stage.
- The final stage of schooling life for students will be the secondary stage, in this instead of 2 years, the students will have a complete four years from Class 9th to 12th to complete their secondary education.
Significance of 5+3+3+4 Structure
The Government aims to emphasize more on the cognitive-development stage of the students through the 5+3+3+4 structure. Through this structure, the government will flesh out the schooling stages of students for their benefit. Contrary to the 10+2 structure, the 5+3+3+4 structure will strengthen the base of students from the foundational stage to the secondary stage. This new structure will also help the Right to Education to be fully utilized by the students. Since the structure covers ages from 3 to 18 instead of 6 to 14. Because of this, the students will be supported by the inception of their school life.
In addition to all of this, this structure will be handy in substantially increasing student retention rates. With the implementation of this structure, more students will stay in their respective schools for the entirety of their school life. In short, this new structure will be beneficial for the students in every conceivable way. Moreover, a higher literacy rate with this structure will only work for the betterment of our country’s future.
Features Of National Education Policy
There are a lot of features of the national education policy and some of the features are below:-
School Education
- Focus on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: The policy accords the highest priority to achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by all students by Grade 3. The policy states, “The highest priority of the education system will be to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary school by 2025. The rest of this Policy will become relevant for our students only if this most basic learning requirement (i.e., reading, writing, and arithmetic at the foundational level) is first achieved. To this end, a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be set up by the Ministry of Education on priority. Accordingly, all State/UT governments will immediately prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools, identifying stage-wise targets and goals to achieve by 2025, and closely tracking and monitoring the progress of the same”. Subsequently, the NIPUN Bharat Mission was launched on 5 July 2021 to achieve this goal.
- Instead of exams being held every academic year, school students will only attend three exams, in classes 2, 5, and 8.
- Board exams will continue for classes 10 and 12 but will be re-design. Standards for this will establish by an assessment body, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development). To make them easier, these exams would conduct twice a year, with students being offered up to two attempts. The exam itself would have two parts, namely the objective and the descriptive.
- This policy aims at reducing the curriculum load of students and allowing them to be more “inter-disciplinary” and “multi-lingual”. One example given was “If a student wants to pursue fashion studies with physics, or if one wants to learn bakery with chemistry, they’ll allow doing so”. Report cards will be “holistic”, offering information about the student’s skills.
- Coding will introduce in class 6 and experiential learning will be adopt
- The Midday Meal Scheme will extend to include breakfasts. More focus will be given to students’ health, particularly mental health, through the deployment of counselors and social workers.
Higher Education
- It proposes a 4-year multi-disciplinary bachelor’s degree in an undergraduate program with multiple exit options. These will include professional and vocational areas and will implement as follows-
- A certificate after completing 1 year of study
- A diploma after completing 2 years of study
- A Bachelor’s degree after completion of a 3-year programme
- A 4-year multidisciplinary Bachelor’s degree (the preferred option)
- MPhil (Masters of Philosophy) courses are to discontinue to align degree education with how it is in Western models.
- A Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up to regulate higher education. The council’s goal will be to increase the gross enrollment ratio. The HECI will have 4 verticals:
- National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), regulates higher education, including teacher education, while excluding medical and legal education.
- National Accreditation Council (NAC), a “meta-accrediting body”.
- Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), for funding and financing of universities and colleges. This will replace the existing National Council for Teacher Education, All India Council for Technical Education and the University Grants Commission.
- General Education Council (GEC), to frame “graduate attributes”, namely the learning outcomes expected. It will also be responsible in framing a National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF). The National Council for Teacher Education will come under the GEC, as a professional standard-setting body (PSSB).
- Other PSSBs will include professional councils such as the Veterinary Council of India, the Council of Architecture, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and the National Council for Vocational Education and Training.
- The National Testing Agency will now perform the additional responsibility of conducting entrance examinations for admissions to universities across the country, in addition to the JEE Main and NEET.
- The policy proposes that higher education institutes like the IITs make changes with regard to the diversity of learning.
- The policy proposes to internationalize education in India. Foreign universities can now set up campuses in India.
- The fees of both private and public universities will fix.
Stages Of National Education Policy
The new national education policy has completely renovated the previous policy and the stages of this policy are as follows:-
- The “10 + 2” structure will be replaced with the “5+3+3+4” model. This will implement as follows-
- Foundational Stage: This is further subdivided into two parts: 3 years of preschool or Anganwadi, follow by classes 1 and 2 in primary school. This will cover children of ages 3–8 years. The focus of the studies will be on activity-based learning.
- Preparatory Stage: Classes 3 to 5, which will cover the ages of 8–10 years. It will gradually introduce subjects like speaking, reading, writing, physical education, languages, art, science, and mathematics.
- Middle Stage: Classes 6 to 8, covering children between ages 11 and 13. It will introduce students to the more abstract concepts in subjects of mathematics, sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
- Secondary Stage: Classes 9 to 12, covering the ages of 14–18 years. It is again subdivided into two parts: classes 9 and 10 cover the first phase while classes 11 and 12 cover the second phase. These 4 years of study are intended to inculcate multidisciplinary study, coupled with depth and critical thinking. Multiple options of subjects will be provided.
Benefits Of National Education Policy
There are following benefits and features under new national education policy
- The students will be provided early childhood care and this will help them in having a white foundation for learning at a young age.
- A proper framework will present by the concerned authorities in order to help the early childhood care and the education of children who are between the age of 3 to 8 years.
- The students will be provided with proper education so that they have improved their ability to read and write. The students will be provided foundation literacy and numeracy.
- Also, the teachers will appoint in the areas which are disadvantaged as compared to the basic areas of the country which are developing.
- The nutrition and the health of the children will address including in mental health of the children.
- The schools will have well-trained social workers and counselors on the campus 24 into 7.
- More emphasis will be given to the dropout reads and universal access to education will provide at schools.
- Volunteer events will present in the school so that the students
- The teachers can rebound their relationship with each other and understand the differences between them.
- Learning will be provided to the students in an enjoyable manner and this will help the students to develop a form of understanding
- The curriculum content will reduce in order to help the students enhance their learning and critical thinking ability.
- There will also be experiential learning at all stages of the school and the students will be empowered through the flexible courses.
- There will be different types of languages added to the school curriculum so that the students have a proper relationship with different languages. The students will also be learning Indian Sign Language.
