Progressing J&K
Aims to increase Gross Enrolment Ratio in Higher Education from 26.3 pc to 50 pc by 2035
With implementation of National Education Policy from current session, Jammu and Kashmir will be among the first few states and Union Territories to implement this vibrant document with numerous reforms towards making the education system job-oriented. “Students now will be easily able to compete for national courses well on time, they won’t have to wait for months to get admissions in national colleges after declaration of results,” said an official.
“With implementation of NEP, national pattern of syllabus followed by other states and Union Territories will be introduced in Jammu and Kashmir. Syllabus and format approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) will be applicable in the UT,” he added. Be it in terms of syllabus, study formats, educational courses, exam pattern etc Jammu and Kashmir will not only implement the National Education Policy but will become at par with national standards.
In Jammu and Kashmir, 16 colleges have been finalized for option of Skill Development Programme along with Under Graduation courses.
Under the policy, the School Education Department has been asked to immediately rollout Vidya Pravesh, a preschool preparation programme for Class 1 students. The programme consisted of a three month play module and the Indian Sign language as a subject at secondary level. The policy seeks to restructure school curricula and pedagogy in a new ‘5+3+3+4’ design, so that school education can be made relevant to the needs and interests of learners at different developmental stages including ‘Foundational Stage’ (five years), ‘Preparatory Stage’ (three years), ‘Middle Stage’ (three years) and ‘High Stage’ (four years, covering grades nine, 10, 11 and 12). Pertinently, an online process was started for suggestions and comments from people, which became the basis for major decisions in implementation of National Education Policy (NEP-2020).
Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, also interacted with the Education Reforms Committees constituted at UT, divisional and district level and invited their valuable suggestions for working on the educational reforms in J&K and proper implementation of NEP-2020. The New Education Policy has paved way for innovative activities, modern labs, placements and many such features for bringing a landmark change in the education system. Lieutenant Governor stressed on timely implementation of NEP-2020 saying that ‘our prime focus should be to invite suggestions from all stakeholders and to remove the doubts.’ He said the NEP has been created, for the first time in history, as a reflection of aspirations of the parents, teachers, students and education experts which aims to address the challenges for the coming generations.
Sinha said the New Education Policy contains features of equity, quality, affordability, accountability and promotes individual development through experience based education and logical thinking. The policy aims to recognize, identify and foster the unique capabilities of each student by sensitizing teachers as well as parents to promote each student’s holistic development in both academic and non-academic spheres. It envisions the changes to the current system which included moving towards multidisciplinary universities and colleges, with more HEIs across India that offer medium of instruction in local/Indian languages; moving towards a more multidisciplinary undergraduate education; of moving towards faculty and institutional autonomy; revamping curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and student support of reaffirming the integrity of faculty and institutional leadership positions of establishment of a National Research Foundation, governance of HEIs by independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy; ‘light but tight’ regulation by a single regulator for higher education; increased access, equity, and inclusion. “By 2040, all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students. There shall, by 2030, be at least one large multidisciplinary HEI in or near every district. The aim will be to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3 per cent (2018) to 50 per cent by 2035,” the policy reads. “Growth will be in both public and private institutions, with a strong emphasis on developing a large number of outstanding public institutions. A university will mean a multidisciplinary institution of higher learning that offers undergraduate and graduate programmes with high-quality teaching, research and community engagement,” the policy reads further.