National Educational Policy, the great transformer

This refers to India's new and remarkable initiative in revamping educational standards in the country, with the proposed new National Educational Policy in the country. India is in the process of jettisoning redundant and obsolete practices in planning as well as in the educational sector that we have been so used to carrying on without a murmur.

As India bids adieu to the Five-Year Plan, it is time to think afresh according to growing challenges in order to make India a competitive and compatible entity to reckon with, in the face of global challenges and diverse applicability of science and technology.

What could be undoubtedly called a pathbreaking move in revamping education in the country, the new Education Policy could not have come at a time when there is no uniform quality in education in the country, with overall educational quality taking a nosedive, except for in some select educational institutions. That would be a blueprint for coming years, doing away with the present 10+2 model to 5+3+3+4, covering ages 3-18.

The merger of UGC, AICTE and the introduction of vocational training from Class VI, with internships will surely prove a game changer in technical education in the country, providing an enormous scope for self-employment, and to take care of paucity of skilled workforce in the emerging markets in the country and abroad.

S Lakshmi, Meenangadi, Wayanad, Kerala