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Teachers’ Dignity and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

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By Surjit S Thokchom*

We celebrate Teachers’ Day on 5th September every year. It falls on the birthday of SarvepalliRadha Krishnan. Incidentally, the 5th September is also a birthday of Shri JP Naik who was an educationist par excellence, a Crusader of Emancipative Education.  My deep respect for both of them!

The teachers today can be categorized into three broad categories: Government school teachers, Para teachers supported by government schemes, and Private school teachers. Private school teachers work hard but paid very less, the para teacher too is less paid with no social security measures. The Government school teachers are well paid comparatively, well-educated, and well-secured but their dignity and accountability are at stake as the performance of government schools is far less than the popular expectation. We are now having a Cabinet Approved National Policy of Education (NEP) 2020 which we believe, will be tabled in the Parliament for further debate and discussion, and finally, it will become a policy:ready for implementation after gazette notification. In NEP 2020, there are two chapters devoted entirely to Teachers and Teachers’ Education.  But there are several recommendations in almost all the chapters that have direct implications to the life and works of teachers of all kinds.

There are several types of teachers as per NEP 2020: (i) the Aanganwadi workers who now will be called ECCE Teachers with 6 months or 1-year online Training depending on xii passed or below xii class, (ii) Peer group teachers who will be working under a trained teacher,(iii) Volunteers in much larger numbers than the teachers,  who will now be conducting Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Class under National Mission for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy,  (iv) Master Experts who will take a class on local knowledge and local vocational skills, (v) TET/NTA qualified teachers, (vii) one Sanskrit Teacher for every school who will teach Sanskrit through SSS(Simple Standard Sanskrit), (viii) arts, music and crafts teachers, (ix) special educators, (x) vocational teachers and (xi) teachers’ Leaders. All these teachers will be subjected to a new system called NEP 2020 provided it goes through the parliamentary debate, notwithstanding the so much look like already in the implementation process with a mere approval by the Cabinet.

The first blow to the teaching community is the paradigm changes in the Teaching-Learning Process. We were told that a teacher must be a philosopher, a guide, and a friend. We were also told in our D.EL. ED and B. ED Courses that the teachers are not necessarily the source of knowledge but a facilitator and children’s mind are not a blank slate. But the NEP 2020 says that we are Guru and we must pass on our knowledge, skills, and Ethics (5.1). Is this not the outdated giver-receiver paradigm?  It further says that we must be grounded in Ancient Indian values and Tradition. This seems okay if we look at it superficially but it further says that we are to teach a Sanskrit Knowledge System (4.17). Two systems that are not compatible with each other: the western scientific approach to knowledge generation based on external verification and the Sanskrit Knowledge System which is based on self-testified authority with no space for verification by external agencies are not compatible though both have their own merit. Within this perspective, are we going to work with two diametrically opposite pedagogical frameworks: one based on questioning and others based on submissiveness with no pinch of doubt? Is it doable? Attempt to force a child to engage in both systems will stress the cognitive apparatus of the child too much.

NEP 2020 concludes that small schools are economically suboptimal and operationally complex to run the good schools (7.1-7.3). So, it is to be clubbed into one School Complex within a distance of 5-10 kilometres. This means that many small schools will be closed down. This is called Rationalization by the Policy.  So large numbers of para teachers are to be out of the jobs. And those of us who are permanent or confirmed post holders, we are to move from school to school both in private and government at least within the campus in the name of sharing the human resources. And our immediate boss as a teacher of the school complex will be the Principal of the Secondary school of the Complex. This Principal can be either a Principal of a Government school or a Private school. That means sooner or later, some government school teachers will be working under the command of a young Private school head. How can it be? How can a private school teacher be the head of a Government school? My dear friends, under NEP 2020, all schools including Private and State Government-run schools will be assessed and credited on the same criteria (except school run by central government) (8.3, 8.7). There will be no preferential treatment for the government teachers but there is good news for our friends who work in private schools. Now he or she will get preferential treatment (8.7). There will be resource sharing of one private school and one government school in the name of twining& (best) practices of Private school will be institutionalised in Government schools (7.10). There is every possibility that some of the private school teachers will be getting higher salaries than government teachers. NEP 2020 now allows collecting any amount of fees however high or low arbitrarily provided it is disclosed in the SSSA website and it is allowed to collect surplus provided it will be reinvested into education (8.7).Is it bad or good? Each one of us have to ponder; whatever, the worse is going to happen for the government school teachers. The commitment of the Department of School Education (DSE) is now truncated and its support is limited to short term (1 year) or long terms (3-5 years) financial, human, physical (7.9). DSE’s role is limited to monitoring and policy implementation with no jurisdiction in accreditation, curriculum, and resource provisioning (8.5). DSE is a paper tiger under NEP 2020!!! Do we need a State Education Minister? Time will tell us!  A day is not far that many school teachers who were fortunate because you were not a part of pushed out Para teachers in the process of rationalization for school complex will now be under pressure to resign and join a private school. Over a short period of visible future, the government school teacher with high quality will be re-appointing at a much higher salary in a high fee-paying private school. And NEP 2020 removes the word “free” from the policy perspective and replaces it with “affordable”. So, budget Private schools will be converted into an affordable school with mediocre teachers.  What will happen to government school teachers? God knows!!!

It is said that Transfer will be under a computerized system of transfer based of Merit-based Tenure (5.17) and teacher’s career progression will be with no incentive in the name of equality of all teachers from Foundational level to Secondary level (5.18), Promotion and salary will be based on NPST and performance appraisal, not in seniority. Teachers are necessary to remember Art 51A (fundamental duties) but not necessarily fundamental Right. On one side, it is said that stand-alone Teacher’s Education Institute will be shut down and on other sides, it says that Teachers’ Education programme will be as per projection. (5.12, 5:29). As per NEP 2020, there will be multiple pathways for children who are out of mainstream education for whatever reason including SEDG children. (3.5). These multiple pathways viz Open, Online, Vocational Education, do not need teachers with B. Ed degree/TET/NTA. What is the obvious logic? A small number of TET/NTA qualified teachers are needed for 15% population and the rest of the population now will be taught through multiple pathways and therefore number of Teachers’ Education Institute should be decreased accordingly.

There is still one area of concern. What is our primary duty? NEP 2020 says that teachers must be involved in school administration (5.11), teachers must invest time in Mid-day meals (5.12). Do we feel okay with this additional burden in addition to going from one school to another and 50 hours of CPD online or offline? We as a teacher, as a Philosopher, a Friend, and a Guide, are the architect of the future of the nation. Don’t we think that it is our obligation to raise our voice?On this auspicious day of teachers’ day, I appeal to all teachers, “Speak up before your silence is mistaken as an Endorsement!”.  We shall overcome!!!

*Surjit S Thokchom is based in Shillong at present. He is a Secretariat Member of All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) and Editorial Board Member of a monthly publication of AIFRTE titled, “Reconstructing Education”.  He has been associating with an education project in rural khasi hills titled, “Demonstrating an Alternative Vision of Education”. He was a member of Institute Advisory Board of North East Regional Institute of Education (NERIE), Shillong, a Constituent of NCERT and he was a member of Position Paper of Work and Education, NCERT. He was also the official translator of National Curricular Framework, 2005(NCF 2005) into Manipuri. He can be reached through [email protected]

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