No clarity on implementation of National Education Policy

Tribune News Service

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, February 4

While the UT Administration has conducted a series of seminars on the advantages of the new National Education Policy (NEP), city schools are still wondering if it has already been implemented here or not amid a lack of clarity by the UT Education Department.

Sources in the UT Education Department claim that the new policy had already been implemented at the school level. Contradicting the claims, a majority of schools claim that they have not received any orders in this regard.

In year 2020, the Union Cabinet had approved the NEP with an aim to introducing several changes in the Indian education system from the school to the college level.

“There is no clarity on the implementation of the NEP by the UT Administration. A majority of the schools have completed the process of inducting kids to entry-level classes. Several schools are still following the old pattern. They are uncertain if the new policy has been implemented or not as there are neither any official order in this regard nor about the addition of any particular syllabus,” said a school head.

“The NEP has already been implemented. However, the conditions will not be implemented in the already ongoing (existing) classes. For new admissions, a majority of the schools, including government institutions, are already following it in the city,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

As per NEP’s foundational stage, the pre-stage includes three years of preschool or anganwadi, followed by classes 1 and 2 in primary school. This will cover children in the age group of 3-8 years. The focus of studies will be in activity-based learning. The preparatory stage - classes 3 to 5 - will cover children in the age group of 8-11 years.

Schools likely to open with full strength from next week

Meanwhile, city schools are likely to open with full strength from next week. “We are expecting that the UT Administration will order the opening of city schools with full strength from next week. A meeting in this regard was held with officials recently,” said HS Mamik, president of the Independent Schools’ Association, Chandigarh. At present, the schools are allowed to open only for students of classes 10 to 12.

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