Updated: September 11, 2020 4:43:14 pm
PM Modi during live interaction at NEP 2020 (Source: Youtube / @ narendramodi)
A student’s report card has become a “prestige sheet” for the family and a “pressure sheet” for the child, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday when he asked parents and teachers to help education set aside high-risk tests.
Speaking in the new National Education Policy (NEP) Posted in July at a two-day seminar organized by NCERT, Modi said education in India is based on qualifications, not learning. The policy recognizes this as a major drawback and focuses on shifting education away from high-stakes testing toward self-assessment and peer review, he said.
“Today’s parents don’t ask their children what they have learned in school. Instead, they ask about grades obtained on a test. The note sheet has become the family’s prestige sheet and a pressure sheet for children. The main objective of the National Education Policy is to get children out of this mental pressure. The effort is to move away from the high-level examination and promote self-assessment and peer review, ”he said.
Citing the example of countries with a good ranking in the Program for International Student Assessment or PISA, Modi advocated teaching students in their mother tongue at least until Class 5.
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“If you look at countries like Japan, Estonia and Finland that do well in PISA, they all teach children in their mother tongue. Teaching in the mother tongue helps the child learn faster. When taught in any other language, they first translate the information into their mother tongue in their heads and then process it. This can be stressful for such young children, ”Modi said.
“Furthermore, keeping the medium of instruction at school in a language other than the mother tongue creates a wall between parents and children, since the former cannot feel involved in their learning. Therefore, whenever possible, the medium of instruction should be the mother tongue or the local language at least up to class 5, ”he said, adding that the NEP does not prohibit the learning of English or any other foreign language in school. .
On video | Understanding NEP 2020 in 7 minutes
Speaking about the importance of improving students’ basic reading skills, the prime minister said that the The journey from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” can only be completed through fundamental literacy and arithmetic plan mentioned in NEP. “We have to make sure that all the children, who have passed Class 3, read 30 to 35 words in one minute. This is called oral reading fluency. If we can do this, students can easily understand the content of other subjects, ”he said.
He also emphasized experiential learning, saying that “engage, explore experience, express yourself, and excel” should be the mantra of school education. “Students should participate in projects according to their interest and explore topics based on their experience. This can be your personal experience or your corroborative experience. This will help them walk the path of excellence. “
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