Education ministry prepares list of near 300 tasks for improving school education following NEP: Nishank

In an email interview with HT, Union Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said that he had been conducting regular review meetings of the implementation of the NEP for both the school as well as the higher education departments of his ministry.

The Union Education ministry has prepared a list of nearly 300 tasks and plans which it is considering implementing to boost the quality of school education across the country on the lines of measures suggested by the National Education Policy (NEP), Union Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said.

The Union Education ministry has prepared a list of nearly 300 tasks and plans which it is considering implementing to boost the quality of school education across the country on line of measures suggested by NEP. (HT Photo)

In an email interview with HT, Nishank said that he had been conducting regular review meetings of the implementation of the NEP for both the school as well as the higher education departments of his ministry.

The Department of School Education and Literacy as well as the Department of Higher Education have been conducting consultative workshops to prepare indicative and draft implementation plan/task lists with the aligned timelines and outputs, the minister said.

“For example, the Department of School Education and Literacy has prepared a task list of 297 tasks based on the NEP recommendations, which has been shared with the States/UTs/Autonomous Bodies for providing feedback,” the minister said.??

The key priority areas include the development of National Curriculum Framework for ECCE, school education and teacher education, setting up of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) mission, focus on holistic examination, strengthening of teacher education programs, he added.

Indicating the priorities for the higher education sector, he said a series of reforms will be carried out such as the introduction of regional languages as medium of instruction, running of multi-disciplinary courses with multiple entry and exit options and formation of academic banks. ICT facilities and digital learning will be strengthened across both school and higher education.

The minister also said that the Education ministry was also planning to set up a university of Indian languages.

“India is a treasure trove of languages. The diversity of languages is our strength. In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The time has come to preserve and protect Indian languages. With this objective, we are setting up a Bharateeya Bhasha Vishwavidyalaya, which will ensure proper research into languages. As an adjunct to this, we are also deliberating on setting up an Indian Translation Institute,” he added.

Nishank also said that the Ministry of Education will be strengthening the ICT facilities in Upper Primary, Secondary and Sr. Secondary Government Schools following the recommendations of the National Education Policy. We are making provision of Smart Board across the government secondary and senior secondary schools, he said.