Srinagar: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, today chaired a high-level meeting of the Task Force constituted for the smooth implementation of National Education Policy-2020 in School Education Department (SED) at Civil Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by Secretary SED, B.K Singh; Vice Chairperson JKBOSE, Veena Pandita; Directors of School Education Jammu/Kashmir, Director Skill Development, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, representatives of NCERT, members of the Task Force and other concerned officials of the SED in person and through video conferencing.
The meeting held in depth deliberations on all themes of NEP-2020 for SED like Early Childhood Care and Education: The Foundation of Learning, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy; An urgent and necessary prerequisite to Learning, Curtailing Dropout Rates and ensuring universal access to education at all levels, Curriculum and Pedagogy in Schools, Equitable and inclusive education, Standard setting and accreditation for school education besides other components of NEP were also discussed during the meeting.
Speaking during the meeting, Advisor Bhatnagar maintained that the NEP-2020 aims at the reconfiguration of Primary and Secondary school education in all aspects from foundational stage to secondary stage with focus on Equitable and inclusive education for all. He added that this policy will refurbish the education sector across J&K and maximum needs of this sector will be met through this policy.
Remarking about the action plan for achieving the objectives of policy, Advisor Bhatnagar asked the members of Task Force to draft an action plan for next five year with re-modelling of present set up so that the outcomes as per the NEP can be achieved. He stressed upon them to work closely and in tandem with each other in order to achieve the desired goals of NEP in a time bound manner.
The Advisor maintained that an outcome based framework should be drafted at the earliest for proper implementation of the policy with analysis on regular basis.
Highlighting about the need for training of teachers, Advisor Bhatnagar impressed upon the members that regular Capacity Building Training programmes for teachers should be held as per the recommendations of NEP as teachers are the backbone for effective implementation of this policy on ground. He emphasized that regular skill up-gradation, commitment, motivation and accountability of teachers should be done so that proper education is provided to the students.
The Advisor further said that the teachers should be evaluated on daily basis and their performance should be monitored regularly for achieving desired outcomes after these capacity building training programmes.
Underlining the importance of creating linkages between different departments during implementation of this policy, the Advisor asked the Task Force to create proper linkages between Anganwadi centres and primary schools in order to implement the several objectives of policy in cohesion with social welfare department. He impressed upon them that constant communication, coordination and synergy within the departments and among the Sub-Groups is paramount for effective implementation of the policy on ground.
Regarding the accreditation of schools, the Advisor asked the members that a methodology with set of parameters should be drafted so that the schools can be accredited on performance basis. He asked them for regular evaluation of schools for effective outcomes.
The Advisor delved upon all the participants that regular review meetings shall be held to assess the progress in the implementation of NEP which is crucial for successful implementation of this policy. He asked the participants to utilise the existing resources and be practical in implementation of the policy on the ground.
While reviewing the existing infrastructure and facilities in schools, Advisor Bhatnagar directed the officers of SED to improve the facilities in all primary schools and make them at par with private institutions both in terms of imparting quality education and basic amenities so that more children are attracted towards these schools. He asked them to Geo Tag all schools and prepare digital inventory for same so that renovation and maintenance of these schools can be done on real time basis.
On the occasion, Secretary, SED informed the Advisor about the steps taken so far for the successful implementation of policy on ground.
He further informed the Advisor about action plan framed with timelines for smooth implementation of some of the key components of NEP.
