31st August 2020

Teaching has always been a difficult occupation. A teacher has to portray a lot of roles apart from just educating the young learners and acts as a role model who is the first person to guide a kid towards the journey of life. As we all know that teaching-learning practices keep on changing from time to time, hence it is very much essential for teaching professionals to stay updated and motivated. It is also necessary for teachers to find out how to improve their teaching skills, amend overall organizational acquirement, improve time management with technical knowledge and so on.

The global situation regarding COVID-19 has led to a lot of unexpected changes in educational institutions all over the world, and these changes have accelerated the evolution of online learning. Of late, a remarkable change recently took place in the education industry is the introduction of New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in India. The Indian Union Cabinet has recently approved the NEP 2020 to make India a ‘global knowledge superpower’. This is the third education policy bought forward by the Indian government.

In this write-up, we cover how teachers and teaching enthusiasts can upgrade and adapt  themselves to the new Education Policy 2020 in India. However, it is still a policy and not a law to abide by as of now.

So, before anything let’s see what are the key highlights of the policy? Let’s have a quick look!
 

1. The current education system will soon be replaced by the 5+3+3+4 curricular structure when it corresponds with a child’s age; 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years as per the cognitive-developmental stages (early childhood, school years, and secondary stage) of a kid.
    
2. The planning and implementation of early childhood care and education (ECCE) curriculum will be carried out jointly by the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs.
    
3. The Policy brings changes to the examination structure as well where it has been said that children will give examinations only in class 3, 5, and 8.
    
4. The Policy states that schooling will be compulsory for children aged between 3 and 18 years, earlier schooling was mandatory for children aged between six and 14 years only. This also allows those aged 14-18 years to also demand the same Right to Education (RTE) which was earlier present only up to 14 years.
    
5. The Policy includes a three-language policy and states that mother tongue will be used as the medium of instruction. It is compulsory that at least two of the three languages should be native to India.
    
6. The Policy states that students will participate in a 10 day bag-less period where grades 6-8 will intern with local vocational experts like carpenters, gardeners, potters, artists, etc.
    
7. After the implementation of the Policy, students will be allowed to take up courses from varied streams (Arts, Science and Commerce) depending on their interests and division post 10th into streams will be blurred.
    
8. According to the Policy, children will be able to learn coding from class 6 as this will be included as a part of their curriculum.
    
9. A National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 will be developed by NCERT.
    
10. The Policy stated that the learners will be judged by common SAT (held twice in a year) which will decide the eligibility for different colleges.
     
11. The Policy also stated a 4-year bachelor degree structure that provides students with the option to change their degrees if they feel it does not proper for them. A student who wants to drop out after completing 2 years can do so and will be provided with a diploma certificate associated with that degree.
     
12. The Policy suggests a fee cap on the fee charged by private institutions in the higher education space.
     
13. According to the Policy, the top 100 education institutions in the world will be encouraged to come to India and set up their campuses.
     
14. According to the Policy, the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. Also, the public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the Commission.
     
15. According to the Policy, the Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardized across the country, and National and State curriculum materials developed, for use by students with hearing impairment.
     
16. National Scholarship portal for SC, ST, OBC, SEDGs students to be expanded.

Along with these, the focus will be more on the vocational studies in school level. A dedicated unit for digital and online learning will be implemented to ensure that learning shouldn’t stop.

Now, let’s see the qualification for teaching as per the Policy - in consultation with NCERT, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE. The minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. or any equivalent teacher training degree. The Policy also stated that children with special educational needs will be enabled to participate in the regular schooling process fully from the basic stage to higher education. Quite obviously, this can be achievable with the support of special educators with training, resource centers, accommodations, assistive tech-devices, apt technology-based tools and other support mechanisms customized to meet their needs.

The Policy also suggested that the curriculum content will be decreased in each subject with more holistic and analysis-based learning. More and more quality technology-based options for learning such as apps, online courses/modules, satellite based TV channels, online books, and ICT equipped libraries and Adult Education Centres, etc. will be developed.

The Survival Approaches for the Teachers and Teaching Enthusiasts

As the New Education Policy focuses more on the comprehensive, holistic and technology-based online courses/modules hence, the need for the teacher training became more indispensable. With apt knowledge, skills, and attitude, teachers will deal with the students effectively in a classroom, school, and wider communities. It is necessary to keep the classroom and curriculum fresh and highly knowledgeable which would help in the complete development of a child by increasing the potentiality of the child.

It is necessary for teachers to have a long-lasting constructive impact on the mind of young learners. Teachers have to acquire regular training opportunities in order to remain updated for excellence. These professional development programs provides a boost to their teaching career in this modern-day as well-trained teachers are always in demand. The major advantage of these programs is that they help teachers to learn new teaching techniques and styles and the skilled the teachers, the better the techniques applied in making a classroom session even more stimulating.

Teacher Training is Crucial Because -
 

• Teacher Training gives new teachers the greatest chance of success as well as sustain.
   
• Teacher Training gives important leadership roles.
   
• Teacher Training provides the financial incentives, taking the form of a salary raise with a professional license and so on.
   
• When well-trained teachers meet up on a learning platform, exchange of information takes place.
   
• Teacher Training helps teachers to improve their educational skills, technical knowledge, and learn effective ways to motivate students.
   
• With engaging Webinar on teaching methods, live placement/interview grooming session, different teacher training programs train an individual to develop themselves for the 21st century.
   
• Training for teachers is important for them to have effective classroom management skills.
   
• Teacher training is important for educators to master novel knowledge, develop better proficiency of practical learning and modeling.

All of these points have been shown to result in better student grades with a higher level of classroom involvement.

In the present-day international education industry, teaching is not only about long lectures, notes or homework, but it is an essential cognitive process where the teacher is a profound factor. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, educational institutions all over the world are offering online classes for which teachers need to train themselves well for. Online learning offers highly impressive learning environments with complementary interactive supports. With flexible scheduling, it is available in any location, with an internet connection. 

With a 21st century teacher training course, teachers learn about what makes a good modern-day teacher. They also learn about what elements are required to be present for an effective teaching-learning process. These programs help teachers in making a clearer picture for students with their concepts and a great teacher is critical to student accomplishment. Teachers must train before they come in the classroom, and they must acquire current grooming even as they work in the classroom.