The time has come for us to review our existing educational system and revamp it.
India today is no longer rooted in a past that shunned technology, development, and advancement, we are quickly rising as a powerful economy, developed nation, and technologically enabled and advanced society. It is paramount today that we ensure our education system enables students to take on a future that is fast evolving. The time has come for us to review our existing educational system and revamp it to enable students to not only survive the future but thrive in that new advanced environment.
The inclusion of subjects like artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, basic computer technology/engineering, and sustainability is paramount. By giving students the opportunity to familiarise themselves with these subjects will help them be better masters of their technological skills in a world where technology is interwoven with everyday living.
While we need to prepare them for this technical future we foresee, we must also equally teach the life skills that are required for their growth and well-being. These include practices like meditation, yoga, and self-care, as well as skills that are required for independent living like housekeeping, cooking, and financial management. What we have learnt from our present educational system is that while it is academically rich it’s practically poor in its design.
Our system needs to develop with the times that have so vastly changed in this last decade. The stakeholders of the education industry, economy, and government must come together to brainstorm on how best to develop an educational system that is not only practical and futuristic but one that is student-centric, age-appropriate, and holistically comprehensible.
We need to consciously review certain subjects that no longer serve their original intention and purposes. Subjects like world history need serious re-consideration and advancement with the times. Mathematics and Geography are also subjects that need deeper investigation to gauge if they are indeed practical and useful. Environmental science with sustainability is a subject that can be certainly included as early as third grade.
Director
Vivekalaya Group of Institutions
While the new NEP policy has in many ways beautifully adapted to the new India, there are still areas that require greater attention to detail. Inquiry is a subject that is present at the university level across the globe, however, we do not find it available as a subject in the Indian sub-continent, the importance of developing inquiry in young minds is pertinent for this future that, we are in preparation of and its inclusion as a subject is one, we must consider seriously.
While the topic of subject inclusion and alteration is one that is vast and may vary between different stakeholders, one thing is a certainty what we include as topics of study in schools is something that cannot be derived without forethought, research and most importantly taking into consideration India as she is today and the India she will be tomorrow. A rising India needs an enlightened education system.
