The National Education Policy (NEP) will help India face the challenges in the future and enable it to meet the global academic standards, says T.V. Kattimani, NEP Implementation Committee member and Vice-Chancellor of Central Tribal University - Andhra Pradesh.
“The NEP will help every student become multi-talented and ensure a decent career in different fields,” Dr. Kattimani told The Hindu here on Thursday.
Dr. Kattimani, who hails from Karnataka, had worked as Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.
In 2016, he was taken on board the seven-member NEP drafting committee, and later included him in implementation committee as well.
The committee has been eliciting the opinion of academicians, bureaucrats, parents and students over the implementation of the policy.
Dr. Kattimani said the new policy would give the students the freedom to choose the subjects they were interested in instead of confining them to particular streams such as science, arts and commerce.
“At present, students pursuing B.Sc. course cannot opt history and politics as one of the subjects of study even if they are interested in them. Similarly, students studying humanities and commerce cannot opt chemistry and physics as their subjects in the 10+2 education system,” Dr. Kattimani said.
The NEP would, however, enable an engineering student to choose a subject related to medicine. The selection of subjects of various courses would help the youngsters excel in them.
“Even if they could not make a mark in a particular field, opportunities will always be open for them in other streams,” explained Dr. Kattimani.
‘No fear of job loss’
There would not be any fear of job loss as the multi-talented students would be able to find opportunities in other fields, he said.
Dr. Kattimani further said that introduction of pre-primary education system in the government sector would bring about remarkable changes in the future.
“The introduction of 5+3+3+4 education system by replacing the existing 10+2 system will certainly pave the way for the overall development of the children right from their third year itself. Fortunately, many States, including Andhra Pradesh, are taking steps to adopt the NEP guidelines in letter and spirit,” Dr. Kattimani said.
