As education secretary, Prasad Lolayekarclass of 2014 IAS officials, has been in front of the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) in Goa. The policy aims to significantly reform and revitalize the education landscape. “There was some confusion but now all stakeholders are on board,” he said The TOI team. Edited quote from City Hall with TOI
There is some confusion about NEP. Can you briefly explain the implementation of the policy?
NEP is a broad topic. When we say that NEP is implemented, the curriculum is implemented at different levels. But there are many other aspects. At the school education level, in terms of the curriculum, there are three documents that must be followed to understand how the NEP is implemented. The first is the National Curriculum Framework, the second is the National Credit Framework, and the third is based on the National Credit Framework with the Union education ministry tasking CBSE to come up with a different credit framework for implementation in India. Based on all these documents, we have become one task force committee at various levels.
1,200 credit hours explained
At the secondary level, based on these documents, the committee of this task force has created or designed a specific country curriculum framework. Based on this country’s curriculum framework, we implement the NEP. From 2027-28, we will complete the entire cycle (from preschool to Class XII NEP implementation). Students must complete 1,200 credit hours (in Class IX). The teachers estimate that they will have to teach up to 1,200 hours in the classroom. Not. We need to fill this gap with fieldwork, assignments, and projects…anything students do academically at home will also count as credit hours. So, all project work, project hours, field work, assignments etc. will count as credit hours. This is the main idea of NEP.
The second confusion arises when some people think that school hours will change. If an institution wishes to attend school full-time, that option is available. This does not mean that we force any school to go full-time, so that the school time and school hours remain the same. However, for effective implementation, if any management wants to choose a full-day school, the freedom is given to them.
Does the implementation of NEP lead to student and teacher resistance?
Not exactly. At the higher level of education, we have no resistance. In school education, only a few people are against it, but I don’t know what the basic problem is because they can’t speak. From the parents’ side or from the students’ side, generally, there is no resistance.
What about teachers?
He is also (on board). Now, we have taken everyone on board. For Class IX, we use NCERT syllabus in toto for science and maths. Not only in Goa, but throughout the country, the syllabus has been adopted in toto for science and mathematics. If you check NCERT syllabus is better than all over the world. But we lack in teaching approach. Now, the approach will change. It will be more experiential teaching-learning and result-based teaching-learning. This means that students’ competence will be tested continuously.
Will the question paper pattern change?
Yes, now the semester system will be implemented (in class IX). The first semester papers will be organized by the Goa Board while the evaluation will be done by the school concerned. Second, the question paper will be marked 80. Out of 80, 40 marks will be marked for multiple choice questions. The first impression is that multiple choice questions mean an easy exam. Not. The questions are not memory based. All these will be application based questions, so that students are trained to answer competitive exams like JEE and NEET from Class VI itself. The remaining 40 marks will be for subjective questions. The remaining 20 marks are for assignments, projects, and fieldwork.
Will schools be given sample question papers?
yes already. All (teachers) will be given training. Currently, training is underway for master trainers. These master trainers will go to all schools and train subject teachers.
The teachers said that the implementation of NEP in Class IX was announced in May when the school reopened in June. Has the announcement been made before?
The first meeting with all principals was held in March. They categorically told that we want to implement the NEP from this academic year. And the second thing… unless you apply it, you will never understand the difficulties and problems you face. All of these are practical issues when you do the implementation.
But wouldn’t a year’s news help?
Yes, it can. That’s why from this year we will announce everything in November Now we often hold meetings. We will interact not only with the heads of institutions but also with all stakeholders.
What steps do you have planned for students to deal with the transition?
We are not drastically changing the curriculum or the syllabus. Only the teaching approach will be changed first, then gradually the standards will be increased. If we immediately change the standards, students will be lost.
Ensure a slow transition for the benefit of students
The success of NEP will depend on students’ feeling that the education they received yesterday and the education they receive today are very different, and that there is a qualitative change. Only then can we say that we have effectively implemented the NEP. Otherwise, on paper, we can do many things.
Parents feel that while school hours and class time have increased, pedagogy has not changed. Don’t you think studying is boring for students?
Right now we have given training to all the teachers who teach class IX or not. We provide different types of training. One of them is experiential teaching-learning. Currently, experiential learning for science and mathematics teachers is conducted at the Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru). The second batch will be (trained) in Sep-Oct. This will happen within a year because from next year we will set up all these labs in SCERT. The Indian Institute of Science is a consultant, guiding us to set up a laboratory. We also provide insightful training from NCERT on outcome-based education, how to test competency, and how to map what outcomes have been achieved. I feel that most of our teachers are good, what they lack is exposition.
Many children are used to screen time from infancy. How challenging is it for teachers to engage children in 45 minutes?
Why are students in bundle classes? Because the alternative is better than classroom teaching. When your classroom teaching will be a better alternative than mobile or other electronic devices, students will enjoy classroom teaching.
