Knowledge Of India: Key Tool for Implementing NEP 2020

Here indigenous knowledge is referred to as Knowledge of India (KI). It is suggested here how indigenous knowledge could be used as a tool for implementing the National Education Policy(NEP) – 2020 at the school level. 

Knowledge is one and universal. However, looking at its spread, time tested efficacy and the current state in which it is often treated, it is mentioned here as indigenous knowledge and is highlighted for implementing the NEP-2020. 

1. Many recommendations have been made in NEP and a well thought out strategy is required for making them doable in the school. Some of these recommendations are as follows :
2. There should not be any hierarchy between the subjects or curricular areas.
3. The difference between streams such as Arts, Science and Commerce should be done away with at the secondary stage of school education.
4. The difference between the Curricular Areas (CA) and Other Curricular Areas (OCA) would not be there. The NEP uses the term ‘Extra Curricular’ to highlight this. In place of that, the term Other Curricular Areas (OCA) is more suitable, because ‘extra’ gives an impression  that it is ‘non- curricular’, ‘superfluous’ and ‘less important’. This dilutes the significance of the OCA in the teaching-learning process.
5. The difference between CA and Vocational Learning (VL) should also be done away with and the VL would begin from Class-VI.
6. Learning of CA in Mother Tongue / Home Language / Regional Language is to be emphasised.
7. Learning of multiple languages should be the goal of every learner.
8. The Secondary and Senior Secondary stages should be merged and the semester system be adopted at the Secondary Stage from Class IX to XII.

These goals are achievable to a great extent, only when we realise the significance of OCA and VL as supplementary and complementary to the learning of CA. So long they are seen as deterrents to the learning of CA, KI or Indigenous Knowledge cannot be integrated in the current knowledge system. In other words, KI, which is seen here as a synonym of Indigenous Knowledge, could be a key to realise it. 

As one understands, the semester system is the spine of the proposed secondary education. KI could be best integrated through the OCAs in the CA at the secondary stage. But, the Upper Primary Stage from Class VI to VIII and the preceding stage also offer sufficient scope for bringing the OCA in a serious manner. 

The vast store of KI could be explored in Art and Heritage Craft and Health and Physical Education. The use of these would supplement the learning of CA and make the school more attractive to the students mass. The NCF-05 had suggested the club period (combining time slots of two periods into one) in school time-tables for making the OCA effective. But it is seldom practiced. 

The time-table needs to have two hours a day or at least 10 hours a week for the OCA. For example, the everyday prayer in the form of a music class could include songs in different Indian languages (as brought out by NCERT under the title Ao Milkar Gaen). This would be KI by allocating half an hour to it every day.  At least two hours at one stretch need to be given for health and physical education in a week. Similarly, at least learning of heritage craft right from potter’s wheel to shoe-mending to wood craft may have to be given two hours a week. Literary and performing arts with KI components need similar attention. Each school needs to have a repository of and on KI, which would be housed in the school library and  visiting the library at least two hours a week has to find mention in the school time-table. Not allotting a specific time slot for library visit or not issuing books to the young students is as good as not having a library in the school.

Until now, the vocational education is generally looked down upon as a gateway for child labour for children who cannot afford to study further or are typified as ‘not fit’ for pursuing higher education. However, the reality is: vocational education is purely learning of heritage craft, a trait absolutely essential for holistic education and indispensible for relating the classroom knowledge to the knowledge outside. KI could be best integrated here. 

Gandhiji’s Nayi Talim with adequate focus on the balancing of head, meaning the mental labour, and hand, meaning physical labour, for holistic learning could be achieved here. In the proposed setting, craft learning for two hours a week could be real fun and would prove to be art integrated learning. 

The village school will have advantages than their urban counterparts in this field. Children can visit the workplace of a weaver, potter or carpenter. Bamboo work, shoe mending, cycle repair shop and the workplace of a blacksmith could also be the place of visit. However, there is one rider here: without a sense of empathy for the craftsperson and a sense of dignity of labour, the exercise could be a cruel joke. Unless the craftspersons from whom the students intend to learn are duly respected, the learning about or familiarity with the craft would be a distant dream. Due weightage should be given to heritage craft in the school. The family should inculcate the desired pride in the children, who hail from the artisan family and the families living on hard labour.

The biggest advantage with the semester system at the secondary stage would be the availability of time for OCA.  A four credit course requires only 4 hours of classroom teaching in a week. Giving more than four hours a week to the classroom learning of a curricular subject is not advisable from the student’s point of view. 

One of the problems today is over emphasis on classroom teaching. Tuition-centrism is a by-product of it thereby inflicting a heavy injury to the child’s normal childhood.  If we take students’ feedback, this approach is counter-productive. It makes the school repelling and the learning repulsive. It is more so during the period of adolescence. We need to re-look at the prevailing system. There is an over-arching demand for lessening the curriculum load. But, lessening the curriculum load should also correspondingly give more time to the child in pursuing OCA and VL in the school as well as outside the school. 

In one semester there could be a maximum five courses with 20 hours of teaching in a week. (This means there can be 36-40 courses in 8 semesters giving ample opportunities to the students to choose subjects from liberal arts, multiple languages, to science and advanced mathematics.) However, the per week total school time is 36 hours. The remaining 16 hours in a week could be allocated for OCA and VL. The daily prayer in the form of a music class comes within the OCA.

After the break time of 50 minutes per day,  there would be a minimum 10 hours @ two hours a day for 5 days for OCA including library visit. The OCA could have four distinct areas: Health Education, Art Education, Literary Education and Heritage Craft Education. Continuous two hours could be given to each area every week. The remaining two hours could be given to Library visits. Infusing KI in all these OCA and VL will prove to be very natural in any standard.

Many schools may not have teachers with the expertise on OCA like sports or music. But having a sense of appreciation for sports, literary or art forms is more important at this stage. The cooperation of the guardians and civil society is very essential for its implementation. The OCA is supplementary to the learning of CA; it is not in any eternal rivalry with CA; it does not make the school monotonous and repelling; it helps in relating the theoretical knowledge to the knowledge outside; saves the child from rote learning and as an equalizer it boosts the confidence level of every learner irrespective of her social grouping and class room performance. 

The teacher, school and the civil society need to realize the significance of this sense of appreciation. The OCA is a neglected area; often it is sacrificed for the sake of CA learning. On the plea of exams and other CA related works, it is often overlooked despite its mention in the time-table. This attitude needs to go away. 

With the introduction of the Semester System at the Secondary stage, it may suffer bigger setbacks than earlier. Hence, unless the exams are made partly flexible, local and school based, the semester system will be nearly un-implementable. The exams are conducted and the result is out on time, only when the evaluation is done at the school level. The system has to have faith in its teachers. Secondly, once the schooling is process oriented, this problem of mark centrism will go away, as in many other quality academic institutions. In other words, semester system, integration of KI, according due weightage to OCA and VL, flexible examination system, checking the dropout rate and natural decline of rote learning methods are intrinsically related to one another. 

The problem of non-availability of specialist teachers is more acute in Government schools. There any CA teacher with a sense of appreciation could be a meaningful replacement for an OCA teacher. 

The mere presence of a teacher in an OCA and VL class and merely allowing the students to the sports field for games at the specified time or to the library could be a major booster for retaining the child in the school system, both bodily as well as mentally. However, the best situation would be to have specialist teachers for conducting the OCA. In many Co-Ed schools the girls are in the minority. A differently-abled child could also be in the minority. Not involving them in OCA on some pretext or other is easy, but a terrible loss of their talents in the making of a learning community.  

To conclude, KI could be a very useful tool for implementing the implementable aspects of the NEP-2020. It will, hopefully, be a great step forward in realising the objectives of NEP-2020.