A guru was once the epitome of knowledge and the only source of learning (Education 1.0). Learning was holistic and life-to-life in a remote gurukul setting. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, knowledge and information got segmented, transcribed, documented, and circulated as books and periodicals. Specialisations became the order of the day in higher education. A teacher was still important, but dependence on the teacher came down (Education 2.0). In the latter part of the 20th century, advances in telecommunications and television made remote knowledge dissemination or tele-education a reality (Education 3.0).
Today, the exposure of the Internet, expanded bandwidth, affordable hardware, and streaming software have unveiled a new paradigm in interactive online and offline learning (Education 4.0). The content created by the best of the teachers is consumed by students from all corners of the world. This is democratizing knowledge, and co-evolving traditional education systems to cater to the requirements of next-generation talent.
In this new paradigm, a student is at the centre stage. Today’s student is mature and informed, learns differently, learns while working, learns throughout life, and expects flexibility. Also, as industries recalibrate and adapt to digital, socioeconomic, ecological, and demographic drivers of change, most occupations and job roles are undergoing a fundamental transformation. In this backdrop, the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) unveiled by MHRD, now the Ministry of Education, is a pertinent move to prepare the country’s workforce for the future needs of a knowledge economy. Let’s look at it from the standpoint of higher education:
Multidisciplinary and Experiential Education: The silos of specializations are slowly disappearing. An aircraft’s progression across generations since the 1970s has been accompanied by increasing penetration of embedded electronics and software. The current generation of aircrafts are embedded with several thousands of lines of software code. Yet, our higher education system continues to largely function in silos of specialization. Our curricula require to incorporate elements of critical thinking, design thinking, and cross-domain understanding to enable students to empathize with end-user problems, ideate relevant innovations, and build prototypes. This certainly requires holistic and multidisciplinary education, which is well-addressed by NEP 2020.
By 2025, NEP 2020 proposes to get at least 50 per cent of the learners exposed to vocational education. As the world integrates knowledge and skills, our children must gain knowledge and the ability to use the same to solve real-world problems. In this context, the proposal to integrate vocational education into traditional education is a welcome move.
Technology in Education & Teacher Education: In a connected world, technology plays a key role in disseminating knowledge. It is exciting to see AI tools on some of the learning platforms creating “individual learning paths”. The proposed National Education Technology Forum (NETF) will facilitate the exchange of ideas for using technology to enhance not only learning but also assessment, planning, and administration.
Besides, the role of the teacher is dramatically changing and is increasingly challenging. Teachers are expected to become technologically-oriented and be responsible for student learning outcomes. Introducing a four-year integrated bachelor of education programme and creating a curriculum for teacher education is very timely.
Student-centric Education: As mentioned earlier, students take the centre stage now, and so education should offer flexibility and options to learn subjects of their interest and at their pace. It is imperative we move away from being prescriptive into creating an accommodating framework. This is precisely what NEP 2020 does. It provides the student with the flexibility to gain a degree either in three or four years and also offers multiple exit options. Creating an academic bank of credit gives the student the flexibility to earn a degree by taking courses in several higher education institutions simultaneously.
As we set to transform our education system, it is imperative that we facilitate deeper academia linkages with industry, strengthen innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem, and facilitate appropriate institutional autonomy (academic, administrative, and financial). This is important to achieve quality industry-ready education at scale under constrained budgets. While NEP 2020 briefly mentions these aspects, it is prudent to layout greater emphasis on these aspects to reap the benefits of NEP 2020 abundantly. The Ministry of Education has done well with consultative processes in coming out with NEP 2020, and will surely use a similar process to ensure flawless execution, so that we can truly build a Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
B.V.R. Mohan Reddy is the founder & executive chairman of Cyient and Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT-Hyderabad