National Independent School Alliance seeks more time to make suggestions

Yousufguda: The National Independent School Alliance (NISA) is asking for more time to submit its recommendations to the HRD Ministry on the proposed National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 draft. The Government of India solicited recommendations and suggestions by June 27.

The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) released a draft version of the 400+ page NEP, which was introduced by after 33 years of its previous edition. The new NEP has proposed radical changes in the direction of education in India.

S Madhusudhan, the vice-president of NISA, said, "To file a report on structural changes required in the education system needs in-depth research into content, teaching techniques, structure and formats." He was speaking at a one-day seminar on the NEP draft here on Sunday.

The symposium was attended by over 200 school leaders from schools in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This symposium focused on key points in the draft and primary education which collaboratively reflect on policy changes to present recommendations to MHRD for consideration before the release of the final Policy document.

NISA is planning to organise similar events across the country. 8 broad topics from the NEP including 'Curriculum and Pedagogy in Schools', 'Early Childhood Care and Education' and 'Equitable and Inclusive Education' were presented by eminent educators and were reflected upon. Outcomes of symposium will be submitted to the HRD Minister, Govt. of India on 27th June.

The delegation also included a representation of parents, teachers and children. Eminent Educationists from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka presented their opinions in the symposium.

Chukka Ramaiah, a veteran educationist popular for introducing IIT coaching across the Telugu states said, "Earlier teaching was visible and learning was not. Today, learning should be visible but not teaching." Ramaiah stressed on the quality of the education and adoption of teaching techniques should be made in a student-friendly way, where education system would be able to present opportunities to the students to achieve better learning outcomes.

Vijay Kumar, Commissioner and Director of School Education, Government of Telangana, mooted the idea of a portal that could be accessed by parents across the nation to help them to take the right decisions with respect to education. This symposium is organised by NISA in association with TRSMA (Telangana Recognised School Managements Association), HDRSMA (Hyderabad District Recognized School Managements Association), KAMS (Associated Managements of Private Un-aided Schools in Karnataka), and APPUSMA (Andhra Pradesh Unaided School Managements Association).

Dr Burra Ramesh, Dr E Prasad Rao, Dr J S Paranjyothi, E Prabhakar Reddy, S Sreenivas Reddy, Shashi Kumar, Srinivasan, Palli Neelam Naidu were lauded for their presentations. Dr Usha Reddy, Ganesh, Prathima Sinha, Anjali Razdan were also present.