Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, lakhs of Indian educators took up the mantle and ensured that the pillars of the country’s education system do not end up crumbling during the crisis.
More than 100 million students have been equipped and acquainted with new learning methods in the past year. Taking into consideration that India is one of the few countries with the maximum number of school-going children, it would only be appropriate to state that in the last 18 months, the Indian education system has witnessed a great metamorphosis.
From teaching methods to the ones being educated, standing on the receiving end of the system, all of it has seen an amalgamation of traditional and technologically advanced techniques to pursue the larger objective.
The advent of National Education Policy 2020, which was brought to the forefront after 34 long years, calls for great timing for a mindful approach to education.
Scrutinising the metamorphosis happening over time, Mr Gaurav Yadav suggests five key milestones that could be set for Indian school educators to ensure they benefit from the changes happening.
Cultural and mindset shift
The traditional way of educating the world has remained unchanged ever since independence. Academicians have been stuck with the same processes that have continued for ages now. Although the paradigm shift in technology resulted in different concepts in the system, with a new policy as effective as NEP, the pedagogies of the industry can improve to a stronger level and can potentially move the sector from teacher-centric education to student-centric education.
Building practices to adapt and not just to last
The leaders of the education system, their prowess in the field notwithstanding, end up building strategies that last only for the moment.
When one brings something new to the table, however small it may seem, it should be constructed in a way that passes the test of time adapting and surviving any changes that happen in the long run.
For instance, when the academicians contrive methods of e-learning now, it should be an agenda to build a framework that is flexible to the constantly evolving requirements of the industry.
Developing entrepreneurial orientation from schooling
It has been a natural instinct for maximum educators to teach the students that once outside the classroom, they would need to bag a job in order to sustain a comfortable living.
However, while talking about inhibiting leadership qualities, what they tend to forget is to tell youthful minds that it is not necessary to work under someone after you graduate.
Hence, schools and colleges need to inculcate the practice of introducing students to entrepreneurial activities from the very start. Enabling them to channel their talents and become masters of their own ventures from initial days of the growth period would certainly account for better development of the child.
Greater people-to-people collaborations
Developing skills in school should have an effect even after the degrees are acquired.
But considering current trends, these skills or methods do not step outside the school itself, let alone the state or the country.
When one talks about collaborating on a very initial level, there is a need to share ideas, tools, methods and strategies with the world outside the four walls of the learning environment. It will, in turn, lead the country to the pinnacle of growth because the ideas will be in abundance and open for all to act on.
Upskilling teachers as a concerted exercise
The abrupt shift to e-learning directly challenged the knowledge, mindsets, and skills of the academic workforce.
Formerly ‘nice-to-have’ skills in digital integration became ‘must-haves’ in traditional classroom management. Within the education sector, traditional competencies require constant forms of upskilling to keep themselves upgraded with the changing trends and meet the demands of the ever-inquisitive students.
It should not be a one-time exercise though, upskilling needs to be adopted as a concerted exercise so that one does not miss any important detail because of incompatibility in the long run.
The educators and academic leaders are now responsible to redefine skills and develop systems that allow the education system to enhance and support roles to learn, unlearn, and relearn the factors necessary to succeed in advancing the metamorphosis of the education sector. With NEP 2020 falling into place, and the educators keeping in mind the aforementioned milestones, the education system in India will be looking forward to an exponentially growing graph.
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