Q) Recently the Government has increased the public spending on education by 6% of GDP. Does the government spending on education promote Economic growth? Discuss the significance of New Education Policy 2020.
Answer
Recently, the Union Cabinet approved a plan to increase public spending on education to nearly 6% of gross domestic product (GDP) from around 4% now through the New Education Policy 2020. Investing in education is the engine for the Economic growth which is driven by new ideas, by discoveries that result in better products and more efficient production technologies.
Importance of education in promoting Economic growth:
- A better educated labour force increases the return on research and development.
- It ensures that discoveries are more readily absorbed in the productive structure of the economy.
- Education increases the human capital of the labor force, which increases labor productivity and transitional growth.
- Education increases the innovative capacity of the economy, knowledge of new technologies, products and processes, and thus promotes growth.
- Increased investment in education will help to successfully meet key education targets and build a skilled workforce.
- Technological change and global competition demand the mastery of competencies and the acquisition of new skills for many.
Significance of the new education policy 2020
This is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.
- The policy is based on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability, and Accountability.
- It is also aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- The policy aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making both school and college education more holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary, suited to 21st century needs and aimed at bringing out the unique capabilities of each student.
- The regular and formative assessment envisaged in the policy Tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity and increases competency.
- The policy ensures transparent and robust recruitment of teachers.
- The policy envisages holistic under- graduate education with flexible curriculum, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education, and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
- The policy will provide a platform for free exchange of ideas on the use of technology through establishment of the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF).
- Special emphasis on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SEDGs) will reduce gender inequalities, improvise socio-cultural relations and cover all the people from every nook and corner of India.
- The replacement of 10+2 structure of school curricula by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under the school curriculum.
- Common Standards of Learning in Public & Private schools is a notable move in this policy.
As education is a concurrent subject with the cooperation of the states and the center, the robust and transparent implementation of the New Educational policy 2020 can transform the educational system in India.