The new education policy and why coding is mandatory and how it would be helpful for kids.

“Whatever good we see in our world today is because of an educative mind behind it.”

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“The Education system in India is worse…This Education system focuses on being Bookworm techniques i.e how to get marks despite providing knowledge and innovation.” said the majority of Youth.

But now the situation is quite opposite, Finally, there is a change in the Education policy of India. The Indian Government replaced a 34-year-old National Policy on Education, framed in 1986, with the New Education Policy of 2020.

Despite the tragic year 2020, Something best happened in India.

The details of the policy were released to the nation after cabinet approval on 29th June. It was said that this National Education Policy or NEP 2020, would be a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the country.

So following are the key points on this national Education policy 2020:

I Will be Dividing the Policy into two parts i.e.

1. Lower Education:

• Universalization of education from preschool to secondary level with 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
• To bring 2 crores out of school children back into the mainstream through an open schooling system.
• The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3–8, 8–11, 11–14, and 14–18 years respectively.

• It will bring the uncovered age group of 3–6 years under the school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for the development of the mental faculties of a child.
• It will also have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre-schooling.
• Class 10 and 12 board examinations to be made easier, to test core competencies rather than memorized facts, with all students allowed to take the exam twice.
• School governance is set to change, with a new accreditation framework and an independent authority to regulate both public and private schools.
• Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in schools.
• Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with Internships.
• Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/regional language. No language will be imposed on any student.
• Assessment reforms with 360-degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes

2. Higher Education:

• Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50% by 2035. Also, 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
• Holistic Undergraduate education with a flexible curriculum can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.
• M.Phil courses will be discontinued and all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. levels will now be interdisciplinary.
• Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits.
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
• The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
• Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single umbrella body for the entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. Also, HECI will be having four independent verticals namely,

National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation,

General Education Council (GEC) for standard-setting,

Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,

National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation.

• Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
• Over a period of time, every college is expected to develop into either an autonomous degree-granting College or a constituent college of a university.

“Everyone should know how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.” — Steve Jobs

✨So What is the best part of this National education policy 2020?

This new education policy is something which was to be implemented much before but Better late…than Never.

Though Each part of this Policy is praiseworthy but In my opinion, The best part of this NEP is the Mandatory coding teachings from class 6 onwards, As seeing the trend of these present times, Computer science demand is at a peak and is eventually increasing day by day.

We live in a digital age in which technology plays a role in much of what we do every day. there is no place where technology/Innovation doesn’t exist and all that is possible due to computer science. So to balance this digital world we have to focus on the coding skills, programming skills, implementation, innovation, and all that is needed. And the fact is whichever domain you take you have to go through computer science once, I repeat whatever stream you choose.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Now the question arises…The need for kids to learn how to code isn’t important, right?

Well, that’s true to some extent, but the fact is fundamentally understanding how these technologies work and how they can ultimately be customized for even greater functionality would enhance kids’ experiences with digital devices and could become much more important to them later in life. Anyone that has taken an introductory programming class will tell you that at the very least, it helped them understand basic programming logic, structure, and design.

As we all know, learning a new thing practically is much more impactful. Children are innately curious and love to explore. Coding is extremely easy for children to grasp and thus, after a brief introduction and some exploration, rudimentary skills can be mastered. This basic coding knowledge helps children to interact with the technology around them, thereby building their self-confidence. As children become more confident, it encourages them to press further in their coding education to learn more.

Even those who did not go on to become software engineers say that the fundamentals of programming a computer at the coding level has helped them shape how they think logically has sharpened their common sense.

For Kids coding is a must as Coding and Programming skills definitely enhance one ability to think, to act, to analyze a situation or problem, to use logic in a situation, and as stated earlier it sharpens one’s common sense.

“Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”
― Linus Torvalds

✨Here are some of the points why a kid should start his/her coding Journey?

Photo by Arif Riyanto on Unsplash

1. Encourages kids to think outside of the box.
2. Use Maths in real-life problems. (Coding will help your child in their Math subject so it’s boon for their academics too.)
3. Learn how things work, and create things that work.
4. Learn to persist if what they are creating is not working.
5. Learn algorithmic thinking.
6. Increases Logical thinking.
7. Enhances one’s thinking ability and makes them more vulnerable to problem-solving.
8. A child expands their creativity when they learn how to code.
9. Will Gradually increase your child selection for future Jobs/Internships.
10. Lots of career opportunities in various sectors in the future.

Even many non-programming jobs that require the use of computers would require a bit of coding knowledge. In addition, when learning to code, kids also learn other important future skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

It is a progressive shift towards a more scientific approach to education. The prescribed structure will help to cater to the ability of the child — stages of cognitive development as well as social and physical awareness. If implemented in its true vision, the new structure can bring India at par with the leading countries of the world.

Thank You for reading. 🙏