SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Aug 4: The implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 from this session has begun to seem haphazard as teachers and students alike are raising issues they may face.
Several teachers have raised issues like the extra load on contractual teachers who are paid peanuts, the large number of vacancies of teachers, and even the new subjects being created without hiring teachers for them.
When questioned in this regard, Prof Dr Prashant Gaurav of the Hindi Department at Gossner College said, “There are both positive and negative aspects that should have been thought of before implementing the policy.”
“With the introduction of subjects like ‘Understanding India’ among other new ones, teachers will also learn several new things along with the students. Not only this, but a different way of teaching and learning may also emerge here. Education, thought process and even our way of functioning have become polluted, but the new direction given to the education system may end up improving the scenarios,” Dr Prashant added.
However, talking about the negative effects of the same, Dr Gaurav said, “After the introduction of NEP, teachers will have a huge workload with both the new syllabus and the old syllabus. Along with this, earlier courses were of three years, which will now be for four years.”
He further added, “With students given the option of dropping one subject and joining the other, teachers will once again face issues. Even with a large number of vacancies of teachers, the load will fall on contractual teachers that already have a lot of workload in a meagre pay. Not only this, they are not even trained properly, but will now have to teach the new syllabus without any kind of training. This will be the same for the permanent teachers.”
When asked what can be done to better the present condition, Dr Prashant said that Universities and education departments all over need to train teachers, and conduct workshops and seminars to clarify doubts and problems that the teachers are now facing. He further said that more teachers need to be hired and trained. He further added that several subjects have just been introduced, however, the shortage of professors will aggravate issues.
Pointing out the issue with Ranchi University implementing NEP and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University declining to do the same this year, Dr Prashant said that even students who want to shift from RU to DSPMU will face issues.
Prof Dr Chaturvedi of Doranda College said, “There will be long-term effects of the NEP 2020. There are many positive aspects that are being advertised, however, what’s not being told is the importance of different subjects for different jobs, which the students may not understand completely at present.”
“Also, they have the option of changing subjects and we know that most of the students follow mob mentality and follow their friends. In such a situation, they may destroy their future, without proper information that is yet to be provided,” Dr Chaturvedi added.
