Many left tongue-tied over NEP 2020 policy

Many left tongue-tied over NEP 2020 policy

Ronald RodriguesUpdated: Friday, July 31, 2020, 04:17 AM IST
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With the clearance of the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 on Wednesday, members of the education fraternity have analysed the probable cause and effect on the education sector.

Some educationists said that the policy will enable early childhood education as it has included three years of pre-schooling in the new 12 years of schooling curricula structure. Others opine that emphasis on mother tongue or regional language as a medium of instruction at least till Class 5 might create obstacles for students as higher education is entirely in the English language.

Swati Popat Vats, president of Early Childhood Association (ECA), said, "According to the policy, a national curriculum framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is laudable, but the devil here will be how much say each state will have in this. A common guideline and goal should be drafted, and state governments should not have the power to deviate from these essentials. It is not fair for young children in different states to get a differing head start in life."

Rustom Kerawalla, chairman of Ampersand group and founder chairman of Vibgyor group of schools, said, “The universalisation of ECCE will lay the foundation for the development of every child and honour unique skill-sets at an early age. Project-based learning, vocational learning at an early age, learning of life skills and inclusion of technology will help a child realise ambitions, gain multi-dimensional knowledge and universal skills and lay the foundation for higher education."

Teachers state the emphasis on mother tongue, local or regional language as a medium of instruction at least till Class 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond may affect students once they enter the league of higher education. Anjana Juneja, a teacher, said, "The fact that the government wants to promote local and regional languages is a positive approach, but we have to be careful as our entire higher education system after school is completely in the English language. We got to focus equally on English."

While Vats added, "The issue of mother tongue is suggested in the policy, it is not mandatory. Also, there is a difference between education and instruction so you may educate your child in an English medium school but the instruction that children receive in the early years has to start from the known to the unknown where known is the mother tongue and unknown is the English language."

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