Celebrating The Destroyer of Education.
Updated: Feb 18
Today, is Mahashivratri, the Great Night of Shiva. Theologically, it signifies "overcoming darkness and ignorance". The most prevalent perception of Lord Shiva is that he signifies "The Destroyer" among the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh. So, why do we celebrate the destroyer?
Bhagwat Gita teaches us that, "Nothing is permanent". Everything that is created is eventually destroyed and then recreated in a new form and shape. Only the soul (for the scientific minds, the energy) is neither created nor destroyed. Thus, creation and destruction represent the same point on the circle of cyclic existence. It is impossible to not celebrate destruction, because it is the seed of a new creation.
Lord Shiva destroys every creation once its existential relevance is over. And, then he recreates it. This is why I feel that the NEP 2020 is an act of God. In fact, NEP 2020 aims to completely destroy the old education system in order to recreate a more efficient and effective system.
For decades, educationists and other stakeholders have realised and spoken about the inadequacy of the existing education system to address the needs of either the learner or the nation. So much has been said about the failing education system by people and policies that saying anything more is a pure waste of time and effort.
The National Education Policy 2020 aims to completely annihilate the outdated system that has existed for decades. It aims to bring a new life and a new form to the practice of education. The NEP 2020 defines the vision and strategy that has the potential of making India a global knowledge leader.
On the occassion of Mahashivratri, let us consider five major elements of existing education system that will be destroyed (and of course recreated) in this process.
Culture of rote learning
NEP 2020 will begin an era where education will focus on developing conceptual understanding, thinking skills, problem solving skills that help students become lifelong learners.
Content-based education
Our education system is based on textbooks created strictly based on syllabi that is assumed to deliver the prescribed curriculum. The textbook becomes The Gita for a course. The NEP 2020 aims to end the total dependence of learning on textbooks. The new era of education will focus on competency-based education which is also referred to as outcome-based or proficiency-based or mastery-based education.
Teacher-centric education
The future is about learner-centric education where the preferences, choices, and interests of learners will take centre stage. The role of the teacher will be redefined from the driver of learning to the navigator of learning in each individual.
Sorting Learners
The existing assessment system is designed to sort learners in various categories - nonperfromers, average, performers, high achievers, etc. There is no strategy or focus on empowering non-performaners to become high achievers. Individualized education is the focus of NEP 2020. The performance and progress of each child towards mastering the required learning outcomes will become important instead of the "pass percentage" of a school.
Rigidity
The traditional education system is linear and rigid. The learner walks a predefined path from the start to finish. Unlike a river, this path has no tributaries. This has been a major drawback of our system. Moving forward, learners will enjoy flexibility and freedom to make choices about their learning paths. Abolishing the "streams" of school education and providing multiple exit options in higher education is one of the ways this will be achieved.
However, for the NEP 2020 to succeed, it is important that each one of the stakholders of education destroys the existing mindset and recreates a new growth mindset. We need to get out of our comfort zone, adopt change, and begin a new journey. Before we can help students, we need to introspect and ignite our internal inferno to destroy our existing assumptions and understanding of education and then embark on an expedition of new learning.
Wishing everyone a blessed Mahashivratri to overcome darkness and ignorance!