SARTHAQ "EMPOWER IAS"

 

In news:

• Union Education Minister has launched ‘Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ), the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 implementation plan for school education.

 

SARTHAQ

What is ‘Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education or SARTHAQ?

• Launched in pursuance of the goals of NEP2020 and to assist States/UTs in this task.
• The programme aims at providing an all-around development for the students at the primary and secondary level.
• It will also establish a safe, secure, inclusive and conducive learning environment for students as well as teachers.
• The major focus is to define activities in such a manner which clearly delineate goals, outcomes and timeframe i.e., it links recommendation of NEP with 297 Tasks along with responsible agencies, timelines and 304 outputs of these tasks.”

 

The plan is being implemented to meet the following aims of NEP 2020:

• It will pave way for curriculum reforms including new national and state curriculum frameworks for school education as well as early childhood care and education.
• The programme will focus on the improvement of the enrollment ratio of children at all levels and a reduction in dropouts and out of school children.
• It will provide access to quality ECCE and Universal Acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by Grade 3.
• It will implement vocational education, sports, arts, knowledge of India, 21st-century skills, values of citizenship, awareness of environment conservation in the curriculum.
• It will focus on experimental learning.
• It will also improve the quality of Teacher Education Programmes.

 

Envisaged outcomes

• Increase in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), Net Enrolment Ratio (NER), transition rate and retention rate at all levels and reduction in dropouts and out of school children.
• Access to quality ECCE and Universal Acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by Grade 3.
• Improvement in Learning Outcomes at all stages with an emphasis on teaching and learning through mother tongue/local/regional languages in the early years.
• Integration of vocational education, sports, arts, knowledge of India, 21st-century skills, values of citizenship, awareness of environment conservation, etc. in the curriculum at all stages.
• Introduction of Experiential learning at all stages and adoption of innovative pedagogies by teachers in classroom transaction.
• Integration of technology in educational planning and governance and availability of ICT and quality e-content in classrooms.

 

Highlights of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

Key Points

• School Education:
  • Universalization of education from preschool to secondary level with 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
  • To bring 2 crore out of school children back into the mainstream through an open schooling system.
  • The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
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    • It will bring the uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child.
    • It will also have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
  • Class 10 and 12 board examinations to be made easier, to test core competencies rather than memorised facts, with all students allowed to take the exam twice.
  • School governance is set to change, with a new accreditation framework and an independent authority to regulate both public and private schools.
  • Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in schools.
  • Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with Internships.
  • Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/regional language. No language will be imposed on any student.
  • Assessment reforms with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes
  • A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) 2021, will be formulated by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in consultation with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
    • By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.

 

Higher Education:

 

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• Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50% by 2035. Also, 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
• The current Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 26.3%.
• Holistic Undergraduate education with a flexible curriculum can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.
• M.Phil courses will be discontinued and all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level will now be interdisciplinary.
• Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits.
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
• The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
• Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single umbrella body for the entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards. Also, HECI will be having four independent verticals namely,
  • • National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation,
    • General Education Council (GEC) for standard setting,
    • Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,
    • National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation.
  • Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
    • Over a period of time, every college is expected to develop into either an autonomous degree-granting College, or a constituent college of a university.

 

Other Changes:

 

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  • An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration.
  • National Assessment Centre- 'PARAKH' has been created to assess the students.
  • It also paves the way for foreign universities to set up campuses in India.
  • It emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.
  • National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up.
  • It also aims to increase the public investment in the Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.
  • Currently, India spends around 4.6 % of its total GDP on education.

 

Higher Education

 

 

• Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035;  3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
• The policy envisages broad-based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate Program with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entries and exit points with appropriate certification.
• Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate  Transfer of Credits
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
• The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
• Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. HECI to have four independent verticals  – National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC ) for standard-setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,  and National Accreditation Council( NAC) for accreditation.
• Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
• Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
• Over a period of time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an Autonomous degree-granting College or a constituent college of a university.

 

Others

• An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration.
• NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups
• New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and higher education. National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up
• The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in the Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.