On 29th July 2024, the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India (GoI) celebrated the 4th anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 with week-long campaign “Shiksha Saptah” from July 22-28, 2024, along with Akhil Bharitya Shiksha Samagam (ABSS) 2024 at Manekshaw Centre Auditorium in New Delhi, Delhi.
- According to the campaign, on day 7 (last day of the campaign), schools across the country emphasized community involvement in education through the Vidyanjali and Tithi Bhojan initiatives.
Key Participants: Union Minister of State (MoS) Jayant Chaudhary, MoE and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE); MoS Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, MoE and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDoNER); K. Sanjay Murthy, Secretary, Department of Higher Education (DoHE); Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), among others attended the event.
About NEP 2020:
i.The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi approved the 1st NEP of the 21st century i.e. NEP 2020 on 29th July, 2020. It has replaced 34 years old NPE, 1986.
- Aim : To increase India’s investment in education to 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India.
ii.K.Kasturirangan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was the chairman of drafting committee of NEP 2020.
iii.NEP 2020 has 5 main pillars: Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability.
About Shiksha Saptah:
i.The campaign has 7 different themes for 7 days in order to celebrate the 4th anniversary of NEP 2020:
- Day 1 (22nd July 2024): Teaching-Learning Material (TLM) Day
- Day 2 (23rd July 2024): Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Day
- Day 3 (24th July 2024): Sports Day
- Day 4 (25th July 2024): Cultural Day
- Day 5 (26th July 2024): Skilling Day; Technology in Education Divas
- Day 6 (27th July 2024): Eco clubs for Mission LiFE Day
- Day 7 (28th July 2024): Community Involvement Day
ii.As part of the campaign, the DoSEL has outlined various activities for schools. Under this campaign, schools will enroll themselves to the Vidyanjali portal and will identify local volunteers to provide support.
- They will also involve the names of active volunteers on a “Wall of Fame/Notice Board” in schools.
- Also, principals, teachers, and students will write letters of gratitude to these volunteers.
iii.Community awareness activities including, rallies, street plays, poster-making, and chart-making about volunteer activities will also be organised.
iv.State- and district-level officials are actively participating to ensure the success of campaign. These efforts are in line with the goals of NEP 2020 to increase community participation in education.
- All these activities aim to build a strong support system for teachers and students, to create a better learning environment, by bringing together schools, volunteers, and the community through the Vidyanjali web-portal.
Launches/Initiatives:
i.During the event, the ministers launched various important NEP 2020 initiatives of MoE which includes:
- Dedicated TV Channels to provide learning of various Indian languages including a Tamil channel.
- Primers for early graders in 25 Indian languages in pursuance to 54already done.
- 10 Bagless days guidelines aimed at transforming learning into a fun, stress-free experience in schools.
- Career Guidance Guidelines, a massive library of more than 500 job cards.
- National Mission for Mentoring (NMM) and National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) in Braille and Audio books.
- All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in partnership with National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), and Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) will implement School Innovation Marathon; and a book on Graduation Attributes and Professional Competencies.
About Vidyanjali initiative:
It is volunteer management program which is being implemented by Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), MoE.It was launched by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on 7th September, 2021.
- Aim: To strengthen schools and improve the quality of education by involving community, promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts and private sector participation across the country.
About ABSS 2024:
i.ABSS 2024 was conceptualized to celebrate the adoption of NEP 2020 to stimulate the commitment of various stakeholders for it effective implementation and to support the collective strength for achievement of shared goals through collaborative efforts.
ii.It organised6 thematic sessions on different types of themes and initiatives of NEP 2020 related to schools and higher education such as:
- Importance of sustainability in education curriculum, job prospects, industry-academia collaboration.
- PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) , school education and skilling.
- Role of ranking and accreditation in enhancing quality
- Role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (in promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and enhancing Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) through Vidyashakti.
- Equivalence of curriculum and assessment across all school boards.
- National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) salient features and implementation roadmap.
iii. During the event , 3 books and lecture notes are also launched to promote the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) among teachers and students. The 3 books are
1.”Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Timeless Strategies for Modern Governance,” authored by Vinayak Rajat Bhat, Associate Professor at Chanakya University.
2.“Marma Kannadi: Decoding the Human Body the Siddha Way” authored by Gurukkal Dr. S. Mahesh, a 5th generation Kalari and Siddha practitioner and scholar, Co-Principal Investigator of the IKS Center for Kalaripayattu.
- “Shodha Vijaya” is a collection of research articles on the grandeur of southern dynasties with a focus on the Vijayanagara Karnata Kingdom. Edited and guided by Dr. Manorama B. N. and published by Noopura Bhramari.
Note: Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated the 1st event of ABSS in July 2022 which was organised at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
About Ministry of Education (MoE):
Union Minister- Dharmendra Pradhan (Lok Sabha Constituency- Sambalpur, Odisha)
MoS- Jayant Chaudhary (Rajya Sabha- Uttar Pradesh (UP)); Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (Lok Sabha Constituency- Balurghat, West Bengal (WB))
