The Clarion Call – Adapting India's Education System to the New Normal

Sri P.K Mishra is an influential voice in Indian governance. He has penned a lucid thought piece in today’s Times of India on how the “digital future” of education - one we imagined to be a distant reality - has arrived much sooner than expected. The article provides a glimpse as to how seasoned bureaucrats and policymakers view the role of new technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence and virtual laboratories) in improving the nation’s education infrastructure.

Those interested in education policy may find the following quotes from the article an interesting read:

“While education will play a critical role in this transformation, technology itself will play an important role in the improvement of educational processes and outcomes; thus, the relationship between technology and education is bi-directional.”

and

“I recently read, in a report by the World Economic Forum, that over a century ago, at the time of the Spanish Flu when people were isolating themselves, many (mostly Americans) turned to telephone to get in touch with friends and family. The Spanish Flu underscored how essential the technology of telecom was to modern society. Possibly we are at a similar inflection point in time today.”

Indeed, a willingness to experiment and adapt to change is perhaps more valuable than any disruptive technology.

Under the National Education Policy 2020, numerous new missions are proposed to be set up. These include the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, a National Assessment Centre (“PARAKH”), state-level School Standards Authorities, and a multi-vertical Higher Education Commission of India. The Policy also proposes the rapid establishment of new school libraries, model public universities, support centers (particularly for international students), skill labs, incubation centers for vocational education and agricultural technology parks.

Introducing new institutions alone is not sufficient in solving the many problems that currently ails India’s education system. Sri Mishra rightly acknowledges a few such issues (language barriers and the need for skill upgradation for educators and graduating students alike).

The essence of this year’s education policy is drawing a chalk line on the wall against which government authorities, students, teachers and educational institutions can measure whether their performance reaches an acceptable standard. For the policy to be truly successful, all stakeholders must not only adapt to technologies, but to such progressive and optimistic attitudes about our future.