Reforms In Indian Education

“Dive into the waves of change, for in its depths lies the treasures of opportunity.”

During the ongoing nationwide examinations, significant reforms are currently underway in the education sector, driven by the changes outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020. These reforms are being felt from the highest levels of policy-making down to the everyday workings of our schools.

In recent weeks, much attention has been given to the rapid implementation of measures aimed at transforming our examination and assessment systems. This began with the introduction of the National Credit Framework (NCrF) following last year's National Curriculum Framework (NCF). Additionally, CBSE has proposed several changes, such as twice-a-year public examinations for classes X and XII and an expansion of subjects at secondary and senior secondary levels. You may recall that I explained concept and importance of NcrF in the previous article.  

While these changes promise significant benefits for future generations, it is essential to pause and consider certain questions. Are examinations becoming overly emphasised, potentially overshadowing the true essence of learning? Are we adequately prioritising both the execution of exams and the individuals involved? The decision to hold board examinations twice a year raises concerns about whether we are focusing too much on exam logistics rather than fostering genuine intellectual growth.

The complexity deepens with the introduction of open-book examinations and the Holistic Progress Card (HPC) by NCERT, which the stakeholders are currently grappling with. HPC is an excellent document and must be implemented for the betterment of our education system and to enable our children and their parents to know about the real level of achievement. But should we not pay more attention to the real issue and that is, the learning acquired by the children? If the teacher-pupil ratio and relations are good and the teachers are concerned and committed to their children, then any report card would work well, but if the content is not good then the packages would not be of any real benefit. If I look at the information to be filled in the HPC (which is quite a lot) and visualise the benefits, it makes me feel great. But the question arises - who will do it? The clear answer would be - the teachers and that is precisely the worry and the concern of many, that do we have teachers in plenty as needed. Amidst all this transition, it's crucial not to lose sight of the fact that our education system is facing practical challenges, including the shortage of quality teachers and inadequate infrastructure. Here, I am reminded of the scenes flashed on TV screens in which the so-called life-changing examinations in our country (board exams) are shown highlighting the desire of managing to pass or score better marks by using all unfair means. In the scenes, there were cheating gangs trying to provide cheating material to the examinees inside the exam halls. When the board chairman (State board) was approached and asked the reason, the usual answer was that he would try to find the reason and then take action. The DEO (district education officer responded in the same manner. Then news reports in English daily and the reports of investigation made by their journalists stated that there are insufficient teachers and other staff required as per the strength of the students. As per the RTE Act, the teacher-pupil ratio should be within the range of 1:35 (which itself is quite large) and in one of the schools it was 1:55. One more stark reality revealed was that a school though is higher secondary but there were no teachers to teach classes 10- 12 and these students were taught (if at all) by the primary school teachers. In the other school, one teacher was taking care of around 100 kids that too of three different grades (1,2 and 3).

Such scenes can be seen in many parts of the country especially in rural areas and not much has been done to improve the situation. The people from NCERT, and CBSE must look into it before proposing innovations (which are necessary). The number of teachers required is manifold than what is available. When I write teachers, this means quality teachers, the ones that are committed to the welfare of their students and not just for the Job. I do not feel comfortable when a news report mentions that so many people will get jobs as teachers. Rather it should be considered that so many schools will be provided with quality teachers and not just the teachers. Good and committed people can be attracted when we have quality teachers` training institutes so that the ones coming out of such institutions help in taking forward the school education for the better. Infrastructure is important but even if we can provide basic necessities and not necessarily the fancy buildings and other costly things, we must look into the working conditions of the teachers and the odds they face while posted in rural areas, we need equally good schools in these areas as we need in urban areas. The ASER report and other surveys do show us the insights but unfortunately, the inertia remains intact in the mindset of the responsible people.

There are many examples when announcements are made without proper preparation not only the shortage of infrastructure and teachers but many other things directly required by the students. One example is the availability of the books well before the session begins, the books for classes II and VI which should have been in the market by January are not available yet (this is March end when I am sharing my thoughts). Now, as per the newspaper reports these may not be available before July and this is not conveyed by responsible people directly but told to reporters without disclosing their identity. This is not the approach to implementing innovations in education when nobody owns the responsibility. When CBSE proposed to have examinations twice a year, someone should have tried to find out how much time the teachers spend on conducting internal and external exams and thereafter evaluation work. The conduct of examination and evaluation tasks is very important but equally important is the learning process in and outside the classroom and for that teachers need time. I would like to reiterate that the reforms are most awaited but equally important is proper execution and not just having a feel-good factor. Please avoid ignoring the difficulties and challenges at a basic level and sometimes have the approach from the bottom upwards rather than always forcing things from the top.

Another concern I have is, whether putting everything on record in the performance card is necessary, or in which activities the children involve themselves or how others did the same.  Let it be an ongoing journey of pleasurable learning rather than recalling everything and the way it was performed. If we look at the HPC which is so elaborate, the teachers, parents and children would have to look at every step of learning as this has to be remembered so that the same can be mentioned in the report card. I was talking to one of the assessors of the academic audit, who we got obdurate regarding the lesson plan to be strictly followed and any deviation from the same is not appreciated. And she was strong on insisting that there should have been only this time spent on the activity performed in the class. My suggestion was/ and is that the teacher should have some freedom (from the rigid regime of LP) so that there could be some change in the time allotted or anything planned because so many things will come up while interacting with the students. The idea behind reiterating the fact that there is a shortage of quality teachers in addition to the urgent requirement of the new schools, hence the authorities have to assess the ground reality and take corrective measures accordingly. In this, we have protests on many issues but nobody seems to worry about the school education, except expecting and searching for good schools, though the lesson plan is of paramount importance and should not become the hurdle in the learning process and the same should be true for the performance card. So I would like to emphasise: -

Reforms are a must and all need to understand, embrace and implement the same wholeheartedly.

The central government and state governments must work in tandem to implement the changes and reforms. 

Please ensure that sincere efforts are made to make all stakeholders aware of the possible advantages due to these reforms, the training programmes or the workshops for the teachers should not be organised for the sake of completing a task and for records purposes only but need to ensure real learning.

The focus must be on learning outcomes rather than just the examination.

Efforts must be initiated to create an environment in which there is trust among all stakeholders, especially educators, parents and students so that initiatives such as open-book examinations reap positive results.

Avoid documenting everything in the report cards. I can recall that during the CCE era, even the formative assessment was shown in the report cards which was not required as that was meant for the diagnosis purpose for the teachers and the students.

More publicity is required through print and electronic media about NCrF and NCF which may seem to be meant only for educators, but also parents. students and the public in general need to understand them.

Most importantly give adequate time to the people responsible for implementing the same and not force them to do it in a hurry.  

In the end, I would like to say that as we embrace these educational changes, it is important to remember that genuine reforms should prioritise holistic learning and assessment, rather than simply preparing students to excel in exams. I urge the policymakers to consider practical changes involved in the realities of our classrooms, guided by the principles of providing equitable quality education for all and the same can be achieved if we have quality and trained teachers as per the need of the hour as the objectives of any policy can be achieved only when our teachers understand it well.