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Future of the Indian Education System

Future of the Indian Education System :            How Relevant is the National Education Policy 2020? by Dr.Narendra Jadhav; Published by Konark Publishers; Pages: 332; Rs.Price Rs 900/-

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Dr Narendra Jadhav is a multi-faceted personality, wearing many hats of different hues. He is Rajya Sabha Member, Economist, Educationist, Academic, Administrator and Author. He had an outstanding professional career in the last forty years. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Ashoka University, and a Master in Masters' Union School of Business.

Dr Jadhav’s family biography in English, 'Untouchables' is an international bestseller, translated into 15 languages, including French, Spanish, Korean and Thai. The Marathi original of this biography, 'Aamcha Baap Aan Amhi' has created history with unprecedented 201 editions. Its Punjabi version received a Sahitya Akademi Award.

A celebrated public figure, Jadhav is recipient of several awards including the title of the 'Commander of the Order of Academic Palms' by the Government of France.

After a gap of 34 years (since the New National Education Policy of 1986), a comprehensive National Education Policy has emerged.

The theme of the book under review is the New Education Policy 2020 which brings about sweeping changes in the way India has approached education so far from KG to PG.

Jadhav discusses the need for the right policies and approach, whether it is in further increasing female participation in education or developing the right skill enhancement programmes, to harness the benefits of the Demographic Dividend.

The book has been divided into four parts. The introductory part furnishes a summary of the major goals set by the United Nations and how the Indian educationists structured the National Policy on Education 1968, 1986 and then the revised POA 1992, keeping in mind the goals of quality education, reorientation of curriculum, education for sustainable development and technical and vocational education.

Jadhav has covered all the important committees and commissions starting from the Radhakrishnan Commission of 1948 to the Kasturirangan Committee of 2017 which submitted the Draft NEP 2019. He analyses the current challenges and opportunities in the Education as well as skill development sector .

Part One of this book provides an understanding of the current development in the Indian Education system and how much we have attained so far in the area of Skill development. The author has divided his analysis into various sub-topics such as

Elementary Education :

It deals with the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to improve the status of elementary education in India and its impact on the gross and net enrolment ratios and dropout rates.

Secondary Education:

This deals with gross and net enrolment ratios, school retention and dropout rates as well as the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan and Model school scheme implemented by the Government to improve the quality of Secondary Education.

Vocational Education:

It throws light on the vocationalisation of Secondary Education by the Government to provide employment opportunities to the learners. It also discusses the centrally sponsored schemes initiated in 1988, the development of National Vocational Education Qualification Framework by the MHRD and the National Vocational Qualification Framework by Ministry of Labour as well as the Scheme of Jan Shikshan Sansthan to improve the vocational skills and the quality of life of neo-literates.

Tertiary Education:

It provides an overall idea about the status of Higher Education and Technical Education in India with appropriate data.

Recent developments and policy issues provide an overall idea about policies initiated by the government to improve school education and higher education. The book also covers issues of gender, social and regional inequities.

Part Two provides a comprehensive overview of the NEP 2019 by dividing the analysis into sub-topics such as Early Childhood Care and Education, School Education, Higher Education, Skill Development, Vocational and Adult Education, Teacher Education, Equitable and Inclusive Education, Education and Technology and Financing Education. Besides, It also tackles reforms in the education system in relation to National Research Foundation and Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog .

Part Three of this book is an executive summary of the Draft NEP 2019 and a comprehensive, critical and constructive appraisal of the New Education Policy in all the major aspects of School Education, Higher Education, Teacher Education, Inclusive Education and Financing Education.

Part Four gives an idea about the future of Indian Education by providing a timeline for policy action programme from the year 2020 to 2035.

The new policy can become a great game changer, taking the country's education into a world class standard. Jadhav points out some missing items. One is an inadequate approach to tackle the "Out of School Children" problem. Another is that the policy falls short of transition to Education 4.0, along with the industry's transition into the fourth industrial revolution, with not sufficient focus on subjects like blockchain technology, internet of things and additive manufacturing.

A Postscript has been added drawing a comparison between Draft NEP 2019 and NEP 2020. It offers an in-depth analysis of the additions, deletions and modifications therein and identifies the critical conditions under which the NEP 2020 could lay the foundation of New India.

The book provides a historical perspective of the education sector and traces its contours since the appointment of the Radhakrishnan Commission in 1948, followed by recommendations of experts like AL Mudaliar, DS Kothari and others.

NEP 2020 is based heavily on the recommendations of the K Kasturirangan Committee and earlier inputs provided by the TSR Subramanian Committee.

The, NEP 2020, based on extensive consultation on the draft, is not just a distilled version; it also makes notable departures. Jadhav compares the contents of NEP 2020 with those of the draft NEP, offering critical appraisal of the additions, deletions and modifications therein.

Jadhav raises many questions that the NEP had not adequately or improperly addressed. The contentious issue of ‘promoting disguised trusts and pseudo non-profit entities’ is one such. Aware of the resource constraints of the government, the argument in favour of encouraging private participation is understandable.

Funding issues like the urgent need to enhance public expenditure on education to 6% of GDP, as recommended for decades, have been highlighted. Doubling of public expenditure on education as a ratio of total government expenditure over a 10-year period was recommended in the draft, but unfortunately deleted from the final policy document. Evidently, the ambitious targets set forth in the NEP would remain unattainable without the requisite funding and appropriate regulatory architecture.

Over all, this book provides a comprehensive picture of the troubled education sector. The book is a valuable contribution to a very troublesome sector of the Indian ethos.

Prof.Muchkund Dubey in a “Foreword” affirms that Jadhav has breathed in a new life,vigour and power of agency into a staid Government report and he commends it warmly to educationists, policymakers,researchers,teachers and students. One cannot but agree with Prof.Dubey.

Jadhav has presented a rich bibliography of books running into 13 pages and an array  of 51 tables with valuable data. 

P.P.Ramachandran.

10/01/2021.