EDUCATION POLICY
YOUNGSTERS ELATED OVER THE INTRODUCTION OF SMART CLASSROOMS, PEER ASSESSMENT, VOCATIONAL LEARNING, SIMPLER BOARD EXAMS, BAGLESS DAYS AND STORYTELLING IN CLASS
Think of a school kid and even today, the visual of a half bent child, due to the weight of his/her school bag, gains prominence in our minds. But, with the recently announced National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, this might not be the case any more. Youngsters are elated over the introduction of new features in the policy, namely smart classrooms, peer assessment, emphasising vocational learning, simplifying of board exams, bagless days, and storytelling in classroom.
Ecstatic that the heavy school bags will now make way for smart classrooms, Bhavini Khanna, a standard 11 student, says, “Having bagless days is a great idea. Learning should be outside the textbooks as students develop more curiosity then. And smart classrooms will provide a break from the monotonous look of the whiteboard and the marker; now all periods will be as cool as the computer class!”
What has received applause from youngsters is the endeavour to change the ‘ratta maar’ approach. Shagnik Roy, a standard 12 student from Gurugram, says, “In some subjects, memorising 1,500 pages gets too hectic. So, the reduction of rote learning is a positive thing.” But, like most students, Roy is also concerned about the Board Exams and confesses, “Over the years, we have come to rely on previous years’ question papers. Now, with these new changes, there is some fear of what will the new format be!”
The NEP aims to shift the focus of Boards to test a student’s core competencies. In addition, new teaching techniques are also garnering praise. “I hope history lessons won’t put us to sleep now. How cool will it be to see the boring chapters getting enacted like a story in the class,” exclaims Tushar Bansal, a class 12 student from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
However, the introduction of peer assessment in report cards has received mixed reactions. Anusha Kabra, a standard 10 student, says, “It sounds interesting, but I feel that most students will have a bias, and it may hamper the right feedback. On the other hand, peer evaluations can also be easier as students will feel less nervous among friends.”