Note: Please note that some inputs have been given by our team in order to make the topic more relevant to UPSC.

Topics covered from the Syllabus:

Essay: Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression. GS-1: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism. GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. GS-2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Education has been the key focus area for the government of India in order to create livelihood opportunities for the rapidly rising population of the country. In pursuance to this, the Government of India has recently launched the National Education Policy 2020. The Policy is a holistic document covering all aspects related to the development of education in the country.

Principles of NEP 2020: The fundamental principles guiding both the education system, as well as the individual institutions within it are: Recognizing, identifying and fostering the unique capabilities of each student, in both academic and non-academic spheres. Achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by Grade 3. Flexibility to choose learning trajectories and own paths of life, as per talents and interests. Elimination of hierarchies and silos by ending the separation between curricular and extra-curricular activities, vocational and academic streams etc. Multidisciplinary and holistic education across sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities and sports. Conceptual understanding instead of rote learning. Promoting creativity and critical thinking to encourage logical decision making and innovation. Instilling ethics, and human and Constitutional values like empathy, cleanliness, spirit of democracy, equality and justice. Promoting multilingualism. Life skills like communication, cooperation and teamwork. Regular assessments instead of summative assessment, to end the ‘coaching culture’. Use of technology for increasing access, removing language barriers etc. Respect for diversity and local context. Equity and inclusion. Synergy in curriculum from preschool to higher education. Capacity Building and providing a positive working environment to teachers and faculty. ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework through good governance and empowerment. Focus on research. Continuous review of progress. Pride in Indian culture and knowledge systems. Education as a public service and right of every child. Investment in education.

 

 

History of Policies on Education in India

• National Education Policy 1968: This was the first policy laying the pathway for further spread of education in the country. It called for increasing the expenditure on education to 6%. It also called for free and compulsory education to everyone, along with development of regional languages and equalization of opportunity for all.
• New Education Policy 1986: It was released by the Rajiv Gandhi government. The main features of the policy included inclusion of early childhood care in the ambit of education, emphasis on the education of vulnerable sections like SC, ST, women etc., and providing avenues for inclusive education like distance education and open universities.
• National Education Policy 2020: The current policy has been designed keeping in mind the requirements of 21st century and the rapid growth of technology in the world.

Inspiration for NEP 2020

The policy derives its inspiration from the below goals:

• SDG-4: NEP 2020 has been formulated keeping in mind India’s commitments to Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 4, i.e. ‘to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.
• Right to Education: It was enacted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act in the year 2009 and was enforced in 2010. It introduced a new Article 21A into the Constitution. The act provides for free and compulsory education for children in the age group of 6-14 years.

Organization of NEP 2020

• The National Education Policy 2020 is divided into four parts:
• Part I: School Education
• Part II: Higher Education
• Part III: Other Key Areas of Focus
• Part IV: Making it Happen

Key Objectives

• Global Knowledge Superpower: The Policy aims to transform India into a global knowledge superpower, by allowing for best international institutes and universities to set up their satellite centres in the country, as well as sending the interested candidates to study in the foreign universities.
• Responsible Citizen: The policy seeks to build an informed citizenry, which is aware of its rights and upholds national integrity and sovereignty in high esteem. The focus is on making people aware of their rich heritage and culture, and take pride in being a national of a country having a great historical legacy, spanning over multiple millennia.
• Sustainability: NEP 2020 has an inherent focus on making the children of today, responsible citizens of tomorrow, who understand the importance of sustainable consumption of natural resources This will ensure that the availability of such resources is not constrained for the future generations. Thus, the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ i.e. the world being a big, happy family, is taken care of, side-by-side ensuring global well-being and reflecting the spirit of Indians being truly global citizens.
• Time Bound Development: The policy has a deadline of the year 2040 to implement the provisions mentioned in the policy.

Focus Areas of NEP

• Universalization of Education: The new policy has a target of increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at different levels of education. For e.g., from preschool to secondary level, the policy aims to have a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 100% by 2035. In the case of higher education, the target is to have a GER of 50%.

• Differentiation in States: There is also a need for differential effort in different regions considering that the states are at different levels of educational attainment. For e.g., frontrunner states like Kerala and the North-Eastern states have a literacy rate greater than 90%. On the other hand, the northern belt lags behind with literacy rate of Rajasthan and Bihar hovering at almost 70%.
• Bring Back Drop-outs: The policy not only focuses on new entrants but also has an eye on the drop-outs. Due to socio-economic conditions, including ongoing pandemic, many children from the vulnerable sections have dropped out of studies. The policy provides for bridge courses for such children, so that they do not have difficulty in picking up from where they left off.

• Promoting Equity and Inclusion: The policy also takes into account the large variations in education levels at the interstate as well as intrastate levels. It envisages increasing access, participation and learning outcomes for the vulnerable groups.

• Special Education Zones: The policy provides for creation of special hubs for areas which manifest enhanced inequity in the level of education by declaring them to be Special Education Zones (SEZs). This is especially required considering the existence of belts of Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) in the states considered backward in the matters of education.
• Vulnerable Groups: At the same time, the policy also creates an enabling environment for the socially and economically disadvantaged groups, like SC, ST, Minorities, Girl Child and Child with Special Needs (CwSN). Similarly, various initiatives like Special Education Zones have been created to address gaps in various regions in terms of education.

• Curricular and Pedagogical Restructuring: The policy envisages restructuring of curriculum at both the level of school education as well as higher education to make it better aligned to the targets and goals enumerated in the policy.

• Early Childhood Care and Education: The policy recommends modification of the present 10+2 structure to make it 5+3+3+4, with a special focus on childhood education. It also provides for universal provisioning of quality early childhood care and application of pedagogical tools.
• Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: NEP 2020 considers 3-8 years as the formative age of a child and provides for laying down a strong foundation for the child to ensure overall development. It also calls for education of the child in accordance with her interests to make education interesting and likable.
• Higher Education: The policy envisions institutions having multiple academic streams running together and allows the students to choose any combination of subjects as per their interests. The aim is to develop multiple capacities by integrating formal and informal learning approaches.
• Multidisciplinary Educational Research University (MERU): The policy also envisages phasing out of single stream colleges and instead, transforming them into multidisciplinary Higher Education Institutions called Multidisciplinary Educational Research University (MERU).

• Effective Governance in Education: NEP 2020 calls for following a ‘tight but light approach’ in the matters of governance in the education sector. It means that the education sector would be freed from the menace of over-regulation, but at the same time, it would be ensured that the targets envisaged as a part of the policy are met.

• School Education: The policy follows a three pronged approach for reforming school education:

• Setting up school clusters
• Setting up school standards authority
• Reforming school exam boards

• Regulation in Higher Education: Higher education would also be reformed by setting up Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), a single regulator for the four verticals to take care of all aspects of higher education:

• National Higher Education Resource Centre: for regulating the higher education sector.
• National Assessment and Accreditation Council: to provide accreditation to higher education institutions.
• Higher Education Grants Council: for funding academic and research activities.
• General Education Council: for standard setting of academics in the higher education sector.

• Ensuring Quality Education: The policy also calls for enhancing the quality of education in the higher education sector to ensure that the education provided in both school as well as higher education sector meets the standards set by the respective bodies, viz. school standards authority and General Education Council.

• Other Areas:

• Vocational Education: The policy looks to end the stigma attached to vocational education by mainstreaming it with other academic streams. It also sets a target of exposing 50% of learners to vocational education.
• Research: To facilitate innovation and to make India a knowledge powerhouse, the policy seeks to create a culture of research in the country. It also envisages setting up the National Research Foundation (NRF) with a mandate to foster research and innovation.
• Use of Technology: NEP 2020 envisages extensive use of technology to enhance access, improve participation and enhance learning outcomes. It also seeks to set up the National Educational Technology Forum (NERF) for achieving the aforesaid objective.
• Raising Education Expenditure: To enhance the levels of education in the country, the policy commits to enhancing the public expenditure on education to 6% of the GDP. The enhanced financing would be useful in providing a boost to key areas like capacity building of teachers and faculty, providing resources as well as nutrition to the students, ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy and use of technology and online education.
• Internationalization of Education: The policy also provides for a legislative framework for the well-known global universities interested in operating from India to facilitate regulatory approvals and ease of compliance for them. At the same time, it also provides for the high performing Indian universities to set up campuses abroad and facilitate the Indian students to study abroad in the institutions of their choice.
• Promoting Indian Language and Culture: NEP 2020 also provides for improving access to students speaking various local languages by establishing an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI). The mandate of the institution is to promote Indian languages. Apart from that, the policy seeks to promote Indian languages by making them a part of eligibility conditions for government jobs.

History of Efforts for Improvement of Education in India

• Concurrent List: Education is mentioned in the Seventh Schedule as a part of concurrent list, over which the Parliament as well as State Assemblies can make laws. This is critical in order to account for regional differentiation, while also addressing the requirement of uniformity in the matters of development of children.
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): It is the flagship scheme of the Government of India for the ‘Universalization of Elementary Education’ (UEE). The scheme has been operational since 2000-01. It has three aspects:

• Infrastructure: It includes construction of new schools as well as strengthening of existing ones as per the needs of the region.
• Human Resources: It covers recruitment of additional teachers as well as capacity building of the existing faculty.

• Quality Improvement: It includes provision of soft skills as a part of education, ensuring inclusivity for vulnerable sections like girl child and children with special needs, and bridging the digital divide through computer education.
• Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA): This is yet another flagship scheme of the Government of India, focusing on increasing access to secondary education in the country. Its objectives include increasing the enrolment ratio at secondary level (Classes IX-X). It seeks to achieve the objectives by providing access to a secondary school at a reasonable distance from home.
• Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): The scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and was launched in 2013. It provides funding to the higher education institutions, with an aim to enhance learning, provide better research facilities and promote innovation in the country. The scheme has various aspects including provision of better facilities like libraries and labs, promotion of autonomous institutions as well as clubbing of existing institutions to form cluster universities.
• Nipun Bharat Mission: The scheme has been launched by the Ministry of Education under the name of National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN). It is a time-bound scheme to ensure that every child attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade-3. It sets a deadline of 2026-27 to achieve the targets under the scheme.
• National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA): This is a scheme for capacity building of teachers. As per the scheme, every teacher is expected to participate in at least 50 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) every year for their own professional development.

• Continuous Professional Development (CPD): It covers the latest pedagogies including foundational numeracy and literacy, formative and adaptive assessment of learning outcomes, competency based learning and related pedagogies.
• Three levels of NISHTHA:

• NISHTHA 1.0 for Elementary level (Classes I-VIII)
• NISHTHA 2.0 for Secondary level (Classes IX-XII)
• NISHTHA 3.0 for NIPUN Bharat (ECCE to Class V)

• Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning Levels (SAFAL): It is a systematic assessment mechanism to monitor the progress and development of child throughout the schooling period. Apart from exams in Class X and Class XII, SAFAL will have assessments in Class 3, 5 and 8 also, which will gauge the basic learning outcomes, through assessment of core concepts and knowledge from the national and local curricula, along with relevant higher order skills and application of knowledge in real life situations.
• School Quality Assessment and Assurance (SQAA): It is a set of standards and best practices for attaining individual and institutional excellence. In simple words, it measures the progress of a student, as well as the contribution of the institution in which the pupil is studying. It has been developed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Other Supplementary Efforts

• PM Poshan Shakti Nirman: The Mid-day meal scheme has been renamed as PM POSHAN Shakti Nirman Scheme. The changes introduced in the scheme include supplementary nutrition for the Aspirational Districts, more autonomy to states in deciding diets, promotion of local cuisines, social audits by students of colleges and universities and Direct Benefit Transfer to the schools for preventing leakages.
• PM e-Vidya: The scheme was started in May 2020. It provides for shifting of education to online medium in the wake of lockdowns enforced during the COVID-induced pandemic. It included various interventions like allowing the Top 100 universities to automatically start online teaching as well as a DTH channel named ‘Swayam Prabha’ to support students who did not have means to access online education.
• Vidyanjali 2.0: The scheme aims to strengthen schooling system through the support of volunteers and private sector companies. Under the scheme, volunteers like government servants, retired teachers, diaspora members and other professionals are invited to participate in school activities. It also includes funding in the form of donations by volunteers as well as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from the private sector.
• Performance Grading Index: It is an index released by the Ministry of Education for measuring performance of states in school education. The scheme ranks states on the basis of following 5 parameters:

• Access: It includes enrolment ratio, transition rate and retention rate.
• Governance and Management
• Infrastructure
• Equity: It is arrived at by assessing the difference in performance of general category students and students belonging to Schedules Castes category)
• Learning Outcomes: It includes average scores in mathematics, science, languages and social science.

Challenges in the Education Sector

• Gaps in Learning Outcomes: The education system in India suffers from promotion of rote-learning and emphasis on bookish knowledge. This promotes a lack of understanding among the pupils. For e.g. the ASER Report released by the NGO Pratham says that only 12.3% of the children in Class 3 were able to read a class-2 level text, while only 4.3% of children in Class 5 can do basic divisions. The need is to focus on internalizing the concepts and focus on applications.
• Lack of Understanding among Teachers and Parents: Due to the low literacy levels in the previous generation, there is a clear lack of understanding among parents and teachers about pedagogy. Therefore, the child is unable to seek proper guidance on how to proceed with the learning. It is also an impediment in taking decisions regarding the career choice for the students, as they are forced to take impulsive steps rather than making informed decisions.
• Lack of Motivation among teachers: At the same time, students complain of learning being a mechanical process, with teachers scrambling for course completion within the assigned time. This is problematic for the development of the country as teachers have a responsibility of developing future generations.

• Time Lost in Different Activities: On the other hand, teachers complain about the overload of work due to additional responsibilities like census duty, preparing mid-day meals, awareness generation programmes and election duties, which are given to them by the government.

• Ineffective School Leadership: Teachers also complain about a lack of effective guidance and leadership from the higher management of the schools. There is a lack of empathy for the personal issues faced by the teachers and emphasis on revenue maximization, especially in the private schools. Parents also complain of additional charges under the garb of school trips and fancy functions.
• Lack of Focus on Soft skills: As stated earlier, the focus of school education is on rote learning. This diverts attention from the overall development of the child as the children are unable to learn basic life skills like communication and socialization. In the future, the professional life suffers as the child lacks the aptitude for cooperation and team management.

Suggestions for Quality Improvement in Education

• Curriculum: The general perception regarding updates in curriculum is conservative in India, as it is considered that the foundational learning of a subject remains constant and may not be subject to frequent updates. However, this needs to change as many subjects like Information Technology show a rapid evolution in a short period of time and outdated learning in such subjects may lead to more harm than good.
• Curricular Material: Similarly, the course material needs to be designed in a way which ensures curiosity in the pupil and creates interest in the subject. The Boards can incorporate graphic designing and diagrams, to simplify the concepts and make them easier to understand.
• Linkages across School Levels: Again, there is a need to incorporate incremental learning across different levels of schools to make children grasp the concepts in an efficient manner. This includes creating a strong foundation at the pre-school level, so that children are able to grasp the concepts later on. Also, there is a need for better bridge courses which can make a child recover, if they are unable to clear assessments of a particular year.
• Synergy: Care needs to be taken in designing the course material in such a way that the subjects are informative and aligned with the real world. For this, it is imperative to engage the subject experts who have an idea of latest updates in the field. Therefore, a committee comprising subject experts, teachers, as well as parents, should be formed to look into better designing of the materials.
• Innovation in Pedagogy: It is well-established that all children have their own speed of learning and understanding a subject. Therefore, the teachers need to be encouraged to improvise teaching methods and engage all students in an inclusive manner. The teachers need to focus on engaging students in discussions, creating a spirit of enquiry, and making children discovery-oriented, so that learning process is more enjoyable for the children.
• Assessment: The issue of assessment holds vital importance considering poor learning outcomes of children in various surveys. It is critical to ensure that children are able to master learning outcomes of their level. However, this should be done in a manner which does not create fear of exams in the children. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive evaluation of children, to be ensured continuously throughout the year.
• Capacity Building: There is a need to make the teachers stakeholders in the education system, so that they understand their responsibility towards future development of the nation. The teachers also need to be given opportunities to continuously update themselves and learn new concepts in pedagogy, which can be applied in the country for better development of students.

Conclusion

• India has seen a substantial improvement in the literacy levels as well as other indicators of education development in the country like Gross Enrolment Ratio of 102.7% at the primary level, indicating that almost all children at primary level are enrolled in schools. This is a testimony to the efforts taken by the Government of India in the education sector.
• However, the country still suffers from a lack of basic numeracy and foundational literacy as manifested in the ASER report released by the NGO Pratham. In such a context, NEP 2020 has come at the right time and is expected to boost India’s literacy and skill levels across the levels of education.
• The need is to implement the well-intentioned provisions in the policy in a time-bound manner. This will create hope for a better future for many of the poverty-afflicted households of the country and enhance the standing of the country at the international level and will create livelihoods.Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO): ISRO superseded INCOSPAR in 1969. It was followed by the establishment of Space Commission and the Department of Space (DoS) in 1972. Later, ISRO became a part of DoS.

       Vocational Education is a skill-based education which has more focus on applied education, than the theoretical part. It is sometimes also called career education. The Government of India has prioritized vocational education through various policy initiatives:

• National Policy on Education, 1986: Vocational education was prioritized as a part of the National Policy on Education, 1986.
• CSS of Vocationalization of Secondary Education, 1988: Vocationalization was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the year 1988. The scheme was subsequently revised in 2011 and 2014.
• National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF): It is a series of courses, organized in levels to achieve competency in the workforce. NSQF emphasizes on the acquisition of these skills for better employability, as a part of formal training or informal training.

Need for Vocational Education in India

• Demographic Dividend: India is a young country with an average age of just 28 years. In fact, more than 60% of the population in the country is in the working age (15-64 years). This is called demographic dividend. The need is to enhance the employability of youth so that they are able to contribute to societal and economic development, while earning their livelihood.

• Demographic Disaster: However, due to low availability of adequate skill, the energy of youth is not being harnessed properly. Therefore, the youth is venting out their frustration in illegal activities. If the situation continues to persist, the demographic dividend may eventually turn into demographic disaster.

• Filling the gap between educated and employable: India is experiencing an enhancement in the literacy levels due to sustained efforts in the last few decades. However, increasing literacy is much more related to disseminating the basic numeracy and knowledge of language. It does not prepare an individual for the employment of the new age. Instead, it is skill upgradation which is critical to ensure the employability of an individual as per the requirements of the field.
• Demand-Supply Mismatch: The paradoxical problem India faces today is the huge availability of manpower and contradictory shortage of skilled personnel in the industry. Thus, the need of the hour is to update the curriculum as per the needs of the industry so that the imparted skills are useful in finding employment in the current scenario.
• Decreasing the Pressure on Academic Higher Education: At the same time, it needs to be understood that scant resources are prioritized towards individuals who can use them in a more efficient manner. For e.g., an athlete, who has no interest in theoretical academics, may not be forced to complete a language course out of pure academic necessity.

Major Features of Samagra Siksha

• Objective: Samagra Siksha scheme is aligned with the objective mentioned in NEP 2020, i.e. ‘the aim of education will not only be cognitive development, but also building character and creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with the key 21st century skills’.
• Features: The CSS of Vocationalization of Secondary Education was finally integrated as a part of Samagra Shiksha, which is also a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• The scheme has been implemented in government schools and government-aided schools.
• It provides for an additional subject at the secondary level and a compulsory elective in senior secondary level.
• Data: Already 14.435 schools have been approved to impart education based on the Samagra Shiksha scheme. There are 62 skill courses available in 20 sectors such as Agriculture, Electronics, Healthcare, IT/ITes, Plumbing, Retail, Tourism, Hospitality etc. The scheme covers 1.5 million students currently being trained by trained instructors. The number increases to about 3.5 million, if CBSE schools are included.
• Institutional Support: The scheme is being implemented in collaboration with States and UTs. At the same time, national agencies like Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), National Skill Development Corporation, Sector Skill Councils etc. are providing support to the programme.
• Infrastructure: The scheme provides for creation of a trade specific laboratory setup within the school which is used to impart hands-on training to the students.

 

 

Principles behind Samagra Siksha

• Child at the Core: The scheme seeks to provide age-appropriate education to the students so that they are able to achieve the required outcomes.

• Informed Choice: Students choose their area of interest before secondary and senior secondary levels. However, before offering the choices, it is important that the students are able to out of the available collection. Therefore, they are deliberately exposed to the avenues of vocational education at Upper Primary Level (Grades 6-8).
• Activity Based Learning: The aim of vocational education is to apply the knowledge gained till today to the real world. Therefore, the course seeks to decrease the distinction between the theoretical knowledge and its applications in the outer world. At the same time, the children will learn a new skill and also, take a conscious decision about their future path.
• Dignity of Manual Labour: It is felt that the society does not perceive manual labour in the same manner as it perceives the high-paying, managerial jobs. Such jobs are looked down upon in the society and are only sought after as a means of last resort, when all other avenues have been exhausted. The scheme seeks to end this distinction by inculcating a sense of respect for the manual labour at the foundational age of a child.
• Development of Soft Skills: Again, the scheme teaches the importance of values like teamwork, cooperation, aesthetics, quality consciousness and sustainability in the form of judicious use of raw materials. Such qualities are desirable in a student aspiring to play a bigger role in the society in the later stages of life.

• Real Life Experience: Samagra Siksha is unique in the sense that it provides real life experience to the students in the form of internship/On-the-Job Training. In fact, the State governments have already been advised to treat the vocational subjects taught in Samagra Shiksha at par with other academic subjects.
• Value Addition: Apart from the knowledge of vocational subject, Samagra Shiksha also provides for imparting other skills like Communication, Entrepreneurship, Green skills, Self-management and Information Technology Skills to the students, so that their employability is enhanced to a higher extent.
• Mobility: The problem which the students pursuing vocational education face is related to transfer or migration from one place to another in pursuit of better opportunities and facilities. However, the scheme seeks to resolve the issue by providing for a credit-based education. For this, a unique credit accumulation and transfer framework is being devised.

• Credit-based Education: The new system targets a specific number of credits to be achieved in a particular session or semester in a course. It is immaterial whether the credits are accumulated in a single institution or multiple institutions. This will facilitate transfer and movement of students to a new location even in the middle of a semester.

• Hub and Spoke Model: To fulfill the gap created by lack of adequate infrastructure, hub and spoke model is being used in the country. In this model, schools in surrounding areas provide vocational education by sending their students to a nearby school having the infrastructure. This is being followed till all the schools have not been provided with adequate infrastructure.
• Technology-based Solutions: It is critical to ensure that all learners benefit from the scheme, without any discrimination based on learning capabilities. Therefore, under the scheme, new technologies like Artificial Intelligence are being used to create curated courses for learners according to their present levels and speed of learning.

Challenges in the implementation of Samagra Siksha

• Perceived Social Status Hierarchy: In India, vocational education is not looked upon as a career of choice. It is considered something which is taken up due to a lack of alternatives or as a formality to fulfill eligibility conditions for government jobs. This discourages pupils from taking up vocational education courses and creates a gap in availability of technically-trained workers.
• Lack of Vertical Mobility: At the same time, students coming out of vocational courses are not perceived as good managers. Candidates having a management background are preferred for such high-paying jobs. This leads to a lack of promotional avenues and opportunities for future growth of a child pursuing a career in vocational education.
• Integration with Mainstream Education: To encourage students to take up vocational education as a preferred career choice, there is a need to integrate vocational education with academics, even at the higher levels. The focus needs to shift towards application-based learning and solving practical real-life issues. This is also helpful in understanding the challenges faced by entry-level workers and coming up with feasible solutions for the same.
• Rapidly Emerging Trends: The scheme needs frequent updates in the curriculum to make it aligned with the needs of the evolving world. It is also important to understand that technology based sectors need faster revision of curriculum than the other sectors, due to the rapid changes in the sectors. Therefore, a policy of differential updates can also be developed for the different sectors as per their requirement.

Conclusion

• Various predictions suggest that the demographic dividend currently being enjoyed by India will wane by the end of 2050s. After that, the country will face issues related to the care of the elderly as the bulge will shift towards higher age groups.
• In such a context, it is critical to ensure that India maximizes its growth during the demographic dividend so that it can create better facilities in the future for the needy. The need is to ensure better implementation of the Samagra Shiksha scheme to develop vocational education sector in the country.

UPSC Previous Year Questions

1. Examine the main provisions of the National Child Policy and throw light on the status of its implementation. (GS2 - 2016)
2. “Demographic Dividend in India will remain only theoretical unless our manpower becomes more educated, aware, skilled and creative.” What measures have been taken by the government to enhance the capacity of our population to be more productive and employable? (GS2 - 2016)
3. Professor Amartya Sen has advocated important reforms in the realms of primary education and primary health care. What are your suggestions to improve their status and performance? (GS2 - 2016)
4. The quality of higher education in India requires major improvements to make it internationally competitive. Do you think that the entry of foreign educational institutions would help improve the quality of higher and technical education in the country? Discuss. (GS2 - 2015)
5. Should the premier institutes like IITs/IIMs be allowed to retain premier status, allowed more academic independence in designing courses and also decide mode/criteria of selection of students. Discuss in light of the growing challenges. (GS2 - 2014)
6. The concept of Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme is almost a century old in India with early beginnings in Madras Presidency in pre-independent India. The scheme has again been given impetus in most states in the last two decades. Critically examine its twin objectives, latest mandates and success. (GS2 - 2013)

Mains Practice Questions

1. Discuss the interventions employed by the Government of India in the field of education sector to improve the literacy levels in the country, with special reference to the National Education Policy 2020.
2. Analyze the evolution of national policies in the education sector as per the changing needs of the country.
3. Enumerate the key objectives of National Education Policy 2020, while highlighting how they contribute to the overarching vision of the policy.
4. How does the NEP 2020 help India in achieving targets enumerated under SDG4 as well as the intention behind 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2009?
5. What are the challenges associated in achieving the targets enumerated in NEP 2020? Discuss, in light of the principles enumerated in NEP 2020.
6. Do you think that India can benefit from its demographic dividend, considering the prevailing demand-supply mismatch in the human resources required by the industry? Analyze critically, in light of ‘Samagra Shiksha’ scheme.
7. What are the objectives and principles behind ‘Samagra Shiksha’ scheme? Also, discuss the challenges associated in the implementation of the scheme.
8. Enumerate the policies and schemes launched by the Government of India in the interest of improving the quality of education in the country in the recent times. Also, assess the impact of such schemes especially in the era of corona pandemic.

What are the areas demanding quality improvement in the arena of school education in India? Also, discuss the steps taken by NEP 2020 in meeting such demands.