Attendance v/s Education: National Education Policy 2020

Ever since the Government of India released the National Education Policy 2020, there have been several debates about this topic. While the authorities might view this policy as beneficial to students entering their 20s in life and not only education, the students themselves might not be of the same opinion. Through this policy, the focus of students has shifted from excelling in studies to just getting through their graduation with enough attendance to their name.

What is the National Education Policy 2020?

The National Education Policy 2020 introduced three new papers to the existing curricula of university syllabuses to provide holistic education to the youth of India. These include value addition courses (VAC), skills enhancement courses(SEC), and ability enhancement courses (AEC). 

At face value, it appears these add-ons are a good initiative of the government to develop students' soft skills from an early age. However, the reality exists in dirtier waters. Instead of providing us with something substantial, these subjects have only managed to increase our burden by tenfold.

Now, instead of juggling just core and elective, we have three other papers or subjects to devote our time to. Further, the marks distributions have become one where our attendance is carrying the higher weightage because internals and continuous assessments are now at the back of our minds (mainly because AI has made doing assignments and giving exams easier). It is not only the students who have lost the spark of curiosity, but it is also the professors who recognize the detrimental effect of the National Education Policy 2020 on the young minds of the nation.

Insufficient Time Due to Class Distribution

Earlier, the core papers and the general electives had their classes equally distributed in the week, which led to classes ending fairly early, and students would get the rest of the day to rest, study, attend their coaching classes, do internships, etc. But unfortunately, because of VAC, SEC, and AEC, the classes of our timings go till 5 or 6 in the evening. People who live 2 hours away from their colleges reach by 8, and by then, they are way too lethargic and fatigued to actively participate in any holistic activity. Holding classes on Saturday worsens this situation because not only are we getting less time on weekdays as it is, but one of the weekends is taken too. 

This haphazard clustering of classes and syllabi into one semester, which in reality is just four months, barely gives us time to take in the essence of what we are learning. Our education ends up being very surface-level because we never get the time to go into the depth of things. To cover one text, we might get just four classes, during which the professor has to give us an internal assessment and hold extra classes called tutorials to conduct continuous assessments as well.

How It Affects Students Across Streams

If you are an arts or humanities student, you know how important it is to get knee-deep in the history and context of the time in which the text you are studying came out, but the National Education Policy 2020 does not give you the liberty to do so. If you are an engineering student, the professors themselves are uninterested in teaching, and you resort to YouTube and other online sources to study. Going to college is only seen as necessary for attendance with the added advantage of getting to hang out with your friends. But learning is not at all what it used to be.

You are just studying for the sake of studying. You are somehow trying to catch up with 7 subjects and do well in all of them. You are trying to keep up your attendance along with managing a social life and I know it is even more complicated than it sounds. The real problem is that these added courses do not even provide an advantage.

The Masquerade-like Nature of this Policy

 A course called “Advanced Spreadsheet Tools” only tells you how to create a table in Excel, and the rest of the semester goes by with every student presenting that table. Before you know it, the semester is over. Another course called “Social and Emotional Learning” does not even have the professor coming to the class. You Whatsapp your names to her, your attendance is marked, and you meet her on the day of the exam. Correct me if I am wrong, but the sheer uninterestedness of the professors and the students alike is doing anything but helping either party. 

The additional fourth year added at the undergraduate level is meant for research, but writing a dissertation requires sufficient time between a mentor and a mentee, which at college comes in the form of a professor and a student. However, the insufficient number of professors again negates the possible positive outcome of this initiative. 

ALSO READ: Indian Reservation Policy in Education: A Boon or a Bane?

Conclusion

The purpose for which the government released the National Education Policy 2020 has not been realized, and the tussle between attendance and education seems like it's going to be a long one. The increased number of courses and assessments does not help with increased learning. Students would have appreciated it if they had been given more time to delve deeper into the context and practicality of their texts. So, while the National Education Policy 2020 tried to make things better, it does not seem to have done what it set out to do.

Let us know what you think about this policy in the comments below, or reach out to us at larra@globalindiannetwork.com.