DAILY GK 31 JULY 2020
1.
CABINET APPROVED NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY (NEP) 2020
·
Union Cabinet chaired by the PM Narendra Modi
approved the first education policy of the 21st century i.e. National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 which has replaced 34 years old NPE, 1986.
·
This was announced by Union Minister of Information
and Broadcasting Prakash Keshav Javadekar.
·
With this, the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD) will officially be renamed the Ministry of Education (MoE).
·
It should be noted that from now onwards
the education sector will get allocation of 6% of total Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) as compared to 1.7% previously.NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender
Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.
·
This new policy aligned to the Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG)-4 of 2030 Agenda is aimed at Universalization
of Education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 % Gross
Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
·
Policy also aims to achieve 100%
youth and adult literacy.
·
GER in higher education is to be raised
to 50% by 2035 with the addition of 3.5 crore seats.
·
The policy premised on the 5
pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability
has been created after the largest consultation and discussion process of its
kind in the country.
·
NCPFECCE: National Council of Educational
Research and Training (NCERT) will develop a National Curricular and
Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for
children up to the age of 8. The planning and implementation of ECCE will be
carried out jointly by the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development
(WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs.
·
NCFSE: A comprehensive National
Curricular Framework for School Education (NCFSE 2020-21) will be
developed by the NCERT.
·
PARAKH: As a part of Assessment reforms in
schools, a National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance
Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) will
be set up as a standard-setting body.
·
Teachers are to be prepared for
assessment reforms by 2023.
·
NRF: The National Research
Foundation (NRF) will be created as an apex body for fostering a
strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
·
NCFTE: A comprehensive National
Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE 2021), will be formulated
by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in consultation
with NCERT.
·
By 2030, the minimum degree qualification
for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree
·
NPST: For recruitment of teachers, a
common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will
be developed by the NCTE by 2022, in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs (State
Council of Educational Research and Training), teachers and expert
organizations.
·
SSSA: For standard-setting and
accreditation for school Education, states/UTs will set up an
independent State School Standards Authority (SSSA).
·
The SCERT will develop a School
Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) through
consultations with all stakeholders.
·
NETF: An autonomous body, the National
Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a
platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology
·
IITI: NEP recommends setting up an Indian
Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI), National
Institute (or Institutes) for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, and
strengthening of Sanskrit and all language departments in Higher Education
Institutes (HEIs).
·
HECI: Higher Education Commission of
India (HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body for
entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education.
·
This means that multiple higher education
regulators like the University Grants Commission (UGC), All Indian Council of
Technical Education (AICTE) and National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE)
will be merged into one.
·
HECI will have four independent
verticals :
·
National Higher Education Regulatory
Council (NHERC) for regulation
·
General Education Council (GEC ) for
standard setting,
·
Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC)
for funding
·
National Accreditation Council ( NAC) for
accreditation.
·
National Mission on Foundational Literacy
and Numeracy: It will
be launched by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) for
attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools for
all learners by grade 3 by 2025.
·
States will prepare an implementation
plan for this.
·
A National Book Promotion Policy will
also be formulated.
·
Now let’s have a look on major changes in
school and higher education.
·
School Education:
·
There is a major structural reform in the
school system from the 10+2 model to 5+3+3+4 model in order to
bring 2 crore out of school children back into the mainstream.
·
It will consist of the following:
·
Foundational stage – It will consist of two parts, 3
years of Anganwadi/pre-school + 2 years in primary school in Grades 1-2 and
will have flexible, multilevel, activity-based learning.
·
Age covered: 3-8
·
Preparatory Stage– An experiential learning across
sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities will be introduced
in Grades 3-5.
·
Age covered: 8-11
·
Middle Stage– It will have subject-oriented teaching
and curricular style for Grades 6-8. The school system will integrate vocation
education and internships from Class six onwards and activities involving coding will
also be introduced at this stage. Students will also participate in a fun
project/activity on The Languages of India, under the Ek
Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative.
·
Age covered: 11-14
·
Secondary stage- It will also consist of two parts i.e.
Grade 9&10 + Grade 11&12 and will have greater depth curricular
and student choice of subjects, and option to exit at grade 10 and re-enter at
a later stage in grade 11.
·
Several foreign languages will be offered
at this level.
·
Age covered: 14-18
·
Other Important Changes in School
Education:
·
–Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be
in mother tongue/ regional language.
·
–Curriculum content will be reduced in
each subject to make space for inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based,
and analysis-based learning.
·
–Mathematics and computational thinking
to be given increased emphasis throughout school years.
·
–Students will get 360 degree
holistic report card, which will not only include their marks, but also
their skills.
·
—Bagless days will be
encouraged in schools for enrichment activities involving arts, quizzes,
sports, and vocational crafts.
·
–There will be Inclusion of specially-abled
children in the schooling process.
·
—Indian Sign Language (ISL) will
be standardized across India, and National and State curriculum materials
developed for use by students with hearing impairment.
·
Higher Education:
·
—Multiple exit Options: UG
education can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate
certification within this period. For example, Certificate after 1 year,
Advanced Diploma after 2 years, Bachelor’s Degree after 3 years and Bachelor’s
with Research after 4 years.
·
–An Academic Bank of Credit is
to be established for digitally storing academic credits earned from
different HEIs so that these can be transferred and counted towards the
final degree earned.
·
–Multidisciplinary Education and Research
Universities (MERUs), at par with Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), to be set up as
models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the
country.
—
Students who have completed 4 years of
bachelors’ programme with research, there would be an option of a one year
master’s degree.
—
5 year integrated bachelors’ and masters’
degree would continue.
·
–For doctorate, the students who have
completed their master’s would be eligible for pursuing Ph.D.
·
–The M. Phil programme
would be discontinued.
·
Background of NEP, 2020:
·
In May 2016, Committee for Evolution of
the New Education Policy under the Chairmanship of Late
Thirumanilaiyur Sitapati Ramana (TSR) Subramanian, Former Cabinet Secretary,
submitted its report.
·
Based on this, the HRD Ministry prepared
‘Some Inputs for the Draft National Education Policy, 2016’.
·
In June 2017, Committee for the
Draft National Education Policy was constituted under the Chairmanship
of eminent scientist Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, which submitted the Draft
National Education Policy, 2019 to the HRD Ministry on 31st May, 2019.
·
Evolution of Education Policy:
·
University Education Commission (1948-49)
·
Secondary Education Commission (1952-53)
·
Education Commission (1964-66) under Dr.
D. S. Kothari
·
National Policy on Education, 1968
·
42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976- Education
in Concurrent list
·
National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986
·
NPE 1986 Modified in 1992 (Programme of
Action, 1992)
·
T.S.R. Subramaniam Committee Report (May
27, 2016)
·
Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan Committee
Report (May 31, 2019)
2. 1ST FIVE OF 36 FRENCH RAFALE FIGHTER
JETS LANDED
·
Forty-six
months after the €7.87 bn (Rs 59,000 crore) Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA),
that was signed between India and France in September 2016, the first five of
36 Rafale fighter jets, from France were landed in Ambala in Haryana after
covering a distance of nearly 8500 km to join the Indian Air Force (IAF).
·
The
five aircraft include two twin seater trainer aircraft and three single seat
fighter aircraft. These fighter jets are manufactured with 13 India Specific
Enhancements (ISE), by Dassault Aviation, a french company.
·
The
five jets were flown by pilots of the 17 Golden Arrows led by Commanding
Officer Group Captain Harkirat Singh along with Wing Commander
Manish Singh, Wing Commander Abhishek Tripathi, Wing Commander Sidhu, Wing
Commander Arun & Rohit Kataria.
3. UNICEF PUBLISHES REPORT “THE TOXIC TRUTH”
·
United
Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) and Pure Earth, international
non-profit organization authored and published the first of kind report on the
health crisis titled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead
Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential” states that around lead
poisoning affects large number of children all across the globe.
·
The
report states that around 1 in every 3 that is around 800 million children
across the world has the blood lead level above or at 5 micrograms per
decilitre, the amount at which action is required and Almost 50% of these
children live in South Africa.
4. NARENDRA MODI INAUGURATED SUPREME COURT BUILDING
IN Port Louis
·
PM
Narendra Modi along with his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth jointly
inaugurated the new Supreme Court building of Mauritius in Port Louis through
video conference.
·
The
Supreme Court building has been constructed with Indian grant assistance
of US$ 30 million and is the first India-assisted
infrastructure project within the capital city of Port Louis
·
The
newly inaugurated building is one of the five projects being implemented under
the ‘Special Economic Package’ of $353 million extended by India to Mauritius
in 2016.
5. DIAT DEVELOPED ‘AASHRAY’
·
The Defence Institute of Advanced
Technology(DIAT) has developed ‘Aashray’, the Medical
Bed Isolation System to fight against COVID-19 pandemic by controlling
the spread of infection released by the patient.
·
It is a low cost, reusable solution.
·
It will maintain proper isolation by
creating suction(negative pressure) near exhale of COVID-19 patients and
further filtering and disinfecting the aerosol.
6. IRAN LAUNCHED THE UNDERGROUND BALLISTIC MISSILES
·
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC), a paramilitary force, launched the underground ballistic
missiles from the depths of the Earth in a completely camouflaged way
during the last day of ‘Great Prophet 14’(code name- “Payambar e
Azam 14”) military exercise near Gulf waters.
·
It also released bombs from Sukhoi Su-22
fighter jets to target predetermined positions on Bani Farur Island in Iran’s
territorial waters.
