The document discusses reforms to the Indian education system proposed in the National Education Policy 2020. Key reforms include changing the curriculum structure to 5+3+3+4 from 10+2, integrating essential subjects and skills into the curriculum, moving towards competency-based and formative assessment rather than rote learning, and establishing bodies to set standards and accreditation for school education. The policy aims to improve early childhood education, make education more holistic and flexible, and better prepare students for the 21st century.

1. SCHOOL
LEADERSHIP

3. INTRODUCTION
• Education for all” declares that everyone has a right to education. Its aim is to give
everyone a Chance to learn and benefit from basic education – not as an accident of
circumstance, or as a Privilege, but as a RIGHT
•
Education, as a discipline, is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in
schools or school-like environments as opposed to various nonformal and informal
means of socialization (e.g., rural development projects and education through parent-
child relationships).Education can be thought of as the transmission of the values and
accumulated knowledge of a society. In this sense, it is equivalent to what social
scientists term socialization or enculturation. Education is designed to guide them in
learning a culture, moulding their behaviour in the ways of adulthood, and directing them
toward their eventual role in society. In the most primitive cultures, there is often little
formal learning—little of what one would ordinarily call school or classes or teachers.

4. • Instead, the entire environment and all activities are frequently viewed as school and classes, and many or
all adults act as teachers. As societies grow more complex, however, the quantity of knowledge to be passed
on from one generation to the next becomes more than any one person can know, and, hence, there must
evolve more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission. The outcome is formal education—the
school and the specialist called the teacher. Education has always been considered as the only key
component of human development and greatest liberating force. Hence, traditionally, education has always
held the most venerable position in our society. It is considered as fundamental to all round development of
the individual both at material and spiritual levels. Education is intrinsically intertwined with the development
process and constitutes the instrumentality of modernization of tradition
The role of education in economic development has been noted by the researchers (Sodhi, 1985 & Singh,
1974). At the micro level the direct and indirect role of education through value-orientation in economic
development has already been established (Bhagat, 1989). Education is also vital to sustain competitive
markets and viable democracy. Researchers have shown that increasing the average primary schooling of
the labour force by one year can increase output substantially.

5. • Globalization brings numerous opportunities for India, which the South-Asian
country could turn to its advantage due to its demographic and economic
potential. Job creation is of central importance to the government, for its
success can become the engine of economic development at later stages. In
the Age of Information society, however, there is only demand for a well-
educated, professional workforce, therefore education is of paramount
importance. The education system of the subcontinent’s largest country
attempts to adjust to the challenges, but there is no doubt about the need for
reform. In the past years, India’s governments have consciously striven to
correct the errors of the old system, to adopt new developments, and to build
a knowledge-based society that privileges creativity and innovation.

6. • According to Article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic of India, education is compulsory
for children aged 6-14, but the government encountered difficulties in attempting to
enforce the article in certain areas even at the end of the 20th century. At the outset,
overseeing education was considered each state’s home affair. Thus, India’s government
had little influence over questions concerning education. This situation only changed in
1976, when, after an amendment to the Constitution, education came under the national
government’s purview. In the 1980s many legislative acts were passed to enforce
compulsory education regulations and to develop elementary education. In this spirit the
program “National Policy concerning Education” was passed, a modified version of which is
still treated as a priority project by the Modi-government. Women’s participation in
education was minimal at the beginning, but by 2001, with government support, more than
50% of all women could read and write, which can be seen as a formidable step forward in
comparison to 15% in the 1960s.

7. • In India’s current education system both government and private sectors are
represented, where maintenance of state institutions falls under the purview
of the central government, single state governments, and local communities,
in addition to numerous and varying kinds of private schools.
• Education is pursued on three levels: elementary, middle, and higher. The
lower section of elementary education comprises five years, then follow three
years of upper elementary, and four years of middle school (divided into two
sections each lasting two years), then at universities and colleges there is
three years of Bachelor’s, two years of Master’s, and in certain cases three
years of Ph.D. training.

8. • The most important government body that exercises oversight over public education is the Council for Education,
Research, and Technical Training. Among others, it oversees the implementation of education policy in the country;
furthermore, it determines teaching materials and the curriculum, while it also provides financial support to
institutions. India boasts serious accomplishments in elementary education development. As a result, by 2011 the
literacy rate among children aged 7-10 reached 75%. This had a positive effect on economic development as well.
80% of elementary schools are state-financed. Accordingly, in 1994 a new program was started to unify elementary
education, which also contributed to the development of elementary education. The newest program that aims to
provide unified education for all is Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, which is currently one of the greatest educational
initiatives in the world

9. • In January 2019, India had over 900 universities and 40,000 colleges. In India's
higher education system, a significant number of seats are reserved
under affirmative action policies for the historically disadvantaged Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. In universities,
colleges, and similar institutions affiliated to the federal government, there is a
maximum 50% of reservations applicable to these disadvantaged groups, at the
state level it can vary. Maharashtra had 73% reservation in 2014, which is the
highest percentage of reservations in India.

10. • It is necessary that the current education system focuses on the relentlessly advancing
future scenarios and align itself with the evolving changes. The new forms of education
should redirect the students towards sustainable knowledge acquisition and builds in
them the capacity to rightly manage the cognitive content.
• It is time that the Indian education system moves from its sporadic education policies
and focuses more on lifelong learning structure. A general restructuring of the entire
process and substance of today’s education at all levels is necessary to bring possible
changes to the system. The need is to bring in educational reforms to build a
progressive education system that allows students to conglomerate emotions with
intellect and practical knowledge with the theoretical, thus unleashing and unifying the
real meaning of education in human life.

11. EXISTING CHALLENGES IN THE PATH OF
EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
• When it comes to educational reforms, there is no shortage of challenges. It can be frustratingly
intractable for the reformers to handle the biggest threats and challenges lying ahead of them, despite
their efforts to reform and regulate the entire educational system. However, identifying and addressing
some of the most significant challenges and threats can certainly help education analysts bring about
viable solutions to them.
• Most of the threats and challenges in the educational processes and structures remain deeply
entrenched into our system. The roots of the problems are quite difficult to change, and that makes
the policies to often focus on quick winning solutions by making changes at the margins rather than
digging deep into the system where the changes seem complex.
• However, the real education reform and the significant progress in improving the quality of education
impartation at Indian schools depend largely on how well the government tackles the deepest and
most stubborn challenges posed in the education arena.

12. THE NEED TO DESIGN A 21ST-CENTURY
CURRICULUM
• This is one of the crucial challenges that the education system of India is facing today. The 21st-century world has
tremendously changed in all aspects from what it was 50 years ago. With the pace at which technological advancement and
globalization are accelerating the world, it is important that we restructure the school curriculum to prepare the younger
generation for life and work in the 21st-century era.
• With the steep rise in knowledge-based work, the emergence of multi-disciplinary professions, greater workforce mobility, and
greater requirement for continual workplace learning, it is high time education reforms are taken to equip the students for the
changing world. However, if you see, many features of schooling and curriculum have remained unchanged for decades. It is
necessary that we move away from conventional learning pedagogies and start viewing learning as a collective activity rather
than the mastery of factual and procedural knowledge. A significant redesigning of the school curriculum is a must for
overcoming this challenge so that we revamp and redesign the curriculum such that it makes students’ experiences of school
subjects much relevant to the practical life environment.
• The redesigned curriculum should be such that it allows the young minds to meet the demands of the 21st century. It must
give greater priority to skills development in children and developing in them a better insight into concepts and principles,
thereby enhancing their ability to apply those learnings to resolving complex real-world problems.

13. EMPHASIS MUST BE LAID ON IMPROVING THE
BAR OF TEACHING STANDARDS
• It is necessary that the Indian education system raises the status of its teaching
career as a knowledge-based profession, which would definitely help attract more
capable and efficient faculty. Do you know the top-performing school systems at the
global level always hire the best talents into their faculty team, and consistently invest
in faculty development programs as well? This clearly shows up in the kind of world-
class education these institutions impart. It is hence necessary that as a part of
teaching pedagogy, our schools shape teacher education programs, coaching and
mentoring arrangements, and professional development facilities for the faculty as
well. Rigorous teacher education is essential to build high-performing systems as it
can significantly help to define and recognize advanced teaching expertise.

14. NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020
2020 – REFORMS IN INDIAN SCHOOL EDUCATION
SYSTEM
• Rote learning, the bane of Indian education, is finally being shown the door and is
proposed to be replaced by competency-based learning and development of students
which tests higher-order skills such as analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity.
The long-awaited National Education Policy 2020 ("NEP 2020"), was announced by the
Union Cabinet on July 29, 2020. The NEP 2020 is promoted as the first education
policy of the 21st century with an objective of revising and revamping the Indian
education structure and move towards creation of new system that is aligned with the
aspirational goals of 21st century education. NEP 2020 is based on the principle that
education must not be restricted to development of cognitive skills i.e., 'fundamental
skills' of literacy and numeracy and 'higher-order' cognitive skills such as critical
thinking and problem solving. Instead the education system must focus on
development of 'soft skills' of a child, i.e. social and emotional skills including cultural
awareness and empathy, perseverance and grit, teamwork, leadership and
communication.

15. • The foundational pillars of NEP 2020 include access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability. Some of the key principles on which
NEP 2020 is based include:
• flexibility, for learners to choose their learning trajectories and programmes and thereby choose their paths in life according to their own
talents and interests;
• no hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic, etc.
to ensure integrity and unity of knowledge and eliminate harmful hierarchies amongst different areas of learning;
• multi-disciplinary and holistic education (across the sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities and sports) for a multidisciplinary world;
• emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than rote learning and learning for exams; on creativity and critical thinking to encourage
logical decision making and innovation; on ethics and human and constitutional values and on life skills such as cooperation, teamwork,
communication, resilience etc.; and
• regular formative assessment for learning rather than the summative assessment that encourages the presently existing coaching
culture.
• Based on the aforesaid foundation and principles, NEP 2020 has introduced changes to the school education as well as higher education
segment within India. In this update, we have focused on the reforms introduced in the school education system. Reforms introduced in
the higher education system will be discussed in a separate update.

16. REFORMS INTRODUCED IN THE SCHOOL
EDUCATION SYSTEM:
• Early childhood to semi-adult stage, K-12 segment is the founding pillar of holistic child development.
Some of the key reforms introduced vide NEP 2020 in the Indian school education system include:
1. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): One of the key visions and focus of NEP 2020 is its emphasis
on ECCE to promote and achieve appropriate care and stimulation of the brain in a child's early years for
healthy brain development and growth. For implementation of ECCE, National Council of Educational
Research and Training ("NCERT") has been tasked with the development of a National Curricular and
Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education for children up to the age of 8 years.
Planning and implementation will be undertaken jointly by Ministries of Human Resource Development
(being re-named as the Ministry of Education), Women and Cor universal access to ECCE, the Anganwadi
Centres are proposed to be strengthened with high quality infrastructure, play equipment and well-
trained Anganwadi workers/teachers, to be funded by the central and state governments. NEP 2020
further proposes to introduce comprehensive training of the Anganwadi workers/teachers by conducting
a certification program which will be mentored by the Cluster Resource Centers of the School Education
Department.hild Development, Health and Family Welfare and Tribal Affairs.

17. 2. Change in Curricular and Pedagogical Structure: The existing academic structure of 10+2 structure (ages 6-
16 and ages 16-18) has been replaced with the structure of 5+3+3+4 with the structure being as follows:
a. Foundational Stage (ages 3-8): This stage involves multilevel, play/activity-based learning classified into 2
sub-stages, viz. (a) anganwadi/pre-school/balvatika for ages 3-6; and (b) classes 1 and 2 for ages 6-8.
b. Preparatory Stage (ages 8-11): This stage involves play, discovery, and activity based and interactive
classroom learning and includes classes 3 to 5.
c. Middle Stage (ages 11-14): This stage involves experiential learning in the sciences, mathematics, arts, social
sciences, and humanities and includes classes 6 to 8.
d. High School (ages 14-18): This stage involves multidisciplinary study, greater critical thinking, flexibility, and
student choice of subjects and includes classes 9 to 12. The High school stage is proposed to build on the
subject-oriented pedagogical and curricular style of middle stage, but with greater depth, greater critical
thinking, greater attention to life aspirations and greater flexibility and student choice.

18. • NEP 2020 further proposes to offer greater flexibility to the students concerning choice of subjects, including subjects in physical
education, arts, and vocational crafts, so that the students are free to design their own paths of study and life plans. Holistic development
and wide choice of subjects and courses is proposed to be the new distinguishing feature of secondary school education. There will not
be any hard separation amongst 'curricular', 'extra-curricular' and 'co-curricular' activities among arts, humanities, and science or
between vocational or academic streams.
3. Curricular Integration of Essential Subjects and Skills: NEP 2020 further mandates that certain subjects and skills should be learned by all
students to help them become successful, innovative, adaptive, and productive human beings in the rapidly changing and constantly
evolving world. These skills inter alia include scientific temper and evidence based thinking, creativity and innovativeness, sense of
aesthetics and art, oral and written communication, health and nutrition, physical education, wellness, fitness and sports, collaboration
and teamwork, problem solving and logical reasoning, coding and computational thinking, environmental awareness, water and resources
conservation, etc. It is thus targeted that curricular and pedagogical initiatives including the introduction of contemporary subjects such
as artificial intelligence, design thinking, holistic health, organic living, etc, will be undertaken to develop the identified important skills in
students, as part of school education.
4. Transformation in Assessment for Student Development: The assessment mechanism, being an integral part of school education, is also
proposed to be shifted from the system which primarily tests rote memorization skills to a system which is more formative and
competency based. The Board exams are proposed to be reformed to encourage holistic development and students will be able to choose
the subjects in which they want to take the Board exams, depending on their individual interests.

19. • It is also proposed that the National Assessment Centre for School Education shall be a standard setting body under the Ministry of Education, to fulfil the basic objectives of setting norms,
standards and guidelines for assessment and evaluation for all recognized schools boards of India, guiding the State Achievement Survey and undertaking the National Achievement
Survey, monitoring achievement of learning outcomes within the country.
5. Standard-setting and Accreditation for School Education: NEP 2020 has demarcated the roles of governance and regulation into four bodies:
a. Department of School Education: The department will be responsible for overall monitoring and policymaking for continual improvement of the system but will not be involved with the
provision and operation of schools or with the regulation of the system.
b. Directorate of School Education: The Directorate will be responsible for implementation of policies regarding educational operations and provision.
c. State School Standards Authority: An independent, state-wide body called the State School Standards Authority (SSSA) will be set up in each State/Union Territory which will establish a
minimal set of standards based on basic parameters to be followed by all schools. The SSSA will also be responsible for transparent public disclosure of all regulatory information.
d. SCERT: The State Council of Educational Research and Training ("SCERT"), in consultation and collaboration with the NCERT, will be responsible for academic matters including academic
standards and curricula in the State.
6. Professional Development for Teachers: Recognizing the importance of teachers for sustainability of world class education system, NEP 2020 mandates that teachers will be given constant
opportunities for self-improvement and to learn latest innovations and advances in their profession. Developmental opportunities, in the form of local, state, national and international
teaching and subject workshops, as well as online teacher development modules will be made available to all teachers. Each teacher will also be expected to participate in 50 hours of
continuous development opportunity, every year for their own professional development.
• The school leadership members such as principal and school complex leaders will also have similar modular leadership/management workshops and online development opportunities and
platforms to continuously improve their own leadership and management skills and will thus also be expected to participate in 50 hours of continuous development opportunity, every year
covering leadership and management aspects.
• The National Council for Teacher Education in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers from across levels and regions, expert organizations in teacher preparation and development,
and higher educational institutions shall develop a common National Professional Standards for Teachers by 2022. The said standards shall cover expectations of the role of the teacher at
different levels of expertise/rank, and the competencies required for that rank.

20. CONC
• Globalization brings numerous opportunities for India, which the South-
Asian country could turn to its advantage due to its demographic and
economic potential. When it comes to educational reforms, there is no
shortage of challenges. It can be frustratingly intractable for the reformers
to handle the biggest threats and challenges lying ahead of them, despite
their efforts to reform and regulate the entire educational system. NEP 2020
further proposes to offer greater flexibility to the students concerning
choice of subjects, including subjects in physical education, arts, and
vocational crafts, so that the students are free to design their own paths
study and life plans