Education Minister Thokchom Radheshyam said the new National Education Policy, 2020 envisages modification of the existing 10+2 structure in school education with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18. In the new 5+3+3+4 structure, a strong base of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) from age 3 is included.
The minister was speaking as chief guest at the National Webinar on - National Education Policy, 2020: Curriculum & Pedagogy in Schools for Transforming India - organised by the RK Sanatombi Devi College of Education, Imphal in collaboration with RK Sanatombi Devi Educational Institutions, Imphal.
Th Radheshyam said that the home language/mother tongue has been emphasised to be the medium of instruction until grade 5 preferably till grade 8 and beyond as young children learn and grasp the concepts more quickly in their home language/mother tongue/local language. He said that according to the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 children will be exposed to languages early on with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue starting from the Foundation Stage onwards.
The minister said that there is also provision to enable children inculcate skills for reading and writing atleast in two languages in grade 3 and beyond. Efforts will be made for students to think and speak about the subjects both in their home language/mother tongue and in English. He added that the key overall thrust of curriculum and pedagogy reform will be to move the education system towards real understanding of the concepts and away from the culture of rote learning.
The webinar had academic sessions and interaction sessions. The resource persons of the academic session were National President, Council for Teacher Education Foundation, KM Bhandarkar on the topic – Construction of School Curriculum for Transforming India; Int’nal Secy Gen & Chairman Council for Teacher Education Foundation, Assam on the topic – NEP2020: New Vision in School Education, and Head of Department English & Cultural Studies, Manipur University, Irom Gambhir Singh on the topic – Medium of Instructions and NEP 2020. Retd. Associate Professor Kh Ajit Singh was the moderator of the session. The national webinar was attended by Director, RK Sanatombi Devi College of Education, Jina Thongram, Asst. Prof. RK Sanatombi Devi College of Education, Thangjam Medha Devi, academicians, teachers and students.
