The Institute For Standards Curricula And Assessments: Fill & Download for Free

I could not locate the final document itself. All we have are news reports. Based on these, there are certainly some good ideas and some ideas I don’t agree with.Below I am posting a news report, with my comments shown by ***.https://www.indiatoday.in/education/story/national-education-policy-2020-announced-all-you-need-to-know-1705703-2020-07-29National Education Policy 2020 announced: All you need to knowEarly Childhood Care & Education: The 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively. This will bring the uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognised globally as the crucial stage for the development of mental faculties of a child. The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/pre-schooling. ***I like the highlighted sentence. In fact, the reality is that we need to aim at the age group 0-3 outside the school. This is the most crucial stage in learning. India needs to start working on that.***NCERT will develop a framework of the early childhood education of children up to the age of 8.Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be set up by the MHRD. States will prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools for all learners by grade 3 by 2025. A National Book Promotion Policy will also be formulated. ***Probably gets you nowhere because the schools are under the States,***Reforms in School Curricula and Pedagogy: The school curricula and pedagogy will aim for holistic development of learners by equipping them with the key 21st century skills, reduction in curricular content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking and greater focus on experiential learning. Students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects. There will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams. ***I like the highlighted sentences.***Vocational education will start in schools from the 6th grade, and will include internships. ***Probably gets you nowhere. Too young an age to become skilled in a vocation. Don’t expect much from this.***Multilingualism and the Power of Language: The NEP 2020 advocates for mother tongue/local language/regional language as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond. ***No one can be against this until Grade 5. After that, there must be a strong option to learn English. Indians are spending money to learn English privately. The demand is there. Don’t throttle it – all that will happen is that private schools will benefit.*** Sanskrit to be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an option for students, including in the three-language formula. ***In my youth, all of us took Sanskrit for 3 years in Class 6-8. No one learned anything. Same fate is likely even now.*** Other classical languages and literatures of India also to be available as options. No language will be imposed on any student. Several foreign languages will also be offered at the secondary level.Assessment Reforms: With NEP 2020, the Centre hopes to shift from summative assessment to a more competency-based regular assessment which tests analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity. All students will take school examinations in Grades 3, 5, and 8. Board exams for Grades 10 and 12 will be continued, but redesigned with holistic development as the aim. A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), will be set up as a standard-setting body. ***A very ambitious effort and desirable effort. However, its implementation is hard to do. The same teachers, the same schools … and then the same exams in Grade 10 and 12. Unless those are changed, lower level changes have no impact.***Equitable and Inclusive Education: NEP 2020 provides for setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund and also Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups. Children with disabilities will be enabled to fully participate in the regular schooling process from the foundational stage to higher education, with support of educators with cross-disability training, resource centres, accommodations, assistive devices, appropriate technology-based tools and other support mechanisms tailored to suit their needs. ***My support.***Higher Education:Increase GER to 50% by 2035: NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3 per cent (2018) to 50 per cent by 2035. At least 3.5 crore new seats will be added to higher education institutions. ***Adding seats is meaningless. So many new IITs – so many extra seats. But, everyone wants to be admitted to the old IITs. Unless you get top quality in the new colleges, it is just a holding place for youth to spend some time until they become older.***Holistic Multidisciplinary Education: The policy introduces broad-based, multi-disciplinary, holistic undergraduate education with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification. 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. **I support.***An Academic Bank of Credit is to be established for digitally storing academic credits earned from different institutes so that these can be transferred and counted towards final degree earned. **Seems like a minor issue***Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country. **So, finally, there is a proposal to set up something new at par with IITs and IIMs. But, we are now in a different era. In those days, it was essential for government to set up IITs and IIMs, had foreign collaboration. Government was the driving force. No longer. Government is now a limiting force. Government can facilitate such universities but should not set them up. The so-called Excellence universities idea has already flopped. Let’s not increase the direct role of the government in higher education. ***The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education. . ***Depends on who has the authority – academics or government. If the latter, please don’t do it.***Regulation: Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body the for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. HECI will function through faceless intervention through technology, and will have powers to penalise higher education institutions for not conforming to norms and standards. Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards. ***A waste of time and money. Fancy words – “faceless intervention.” Today, students and parents know and understand which education institutes do what. The information is available easily. We don’t need heavy-handed government regulation.***Rationalised Institutional Architecture: The definition of the university will allow a spectrum of institutions that range from Research-intensive universities to teaching-intensive universities and autonomous degree-granting colleges. Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges. Over a period of time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an autonomous degree-granting college, or a constituent college of a university. ***Do it in 7-10 years, with most to be done in 7 years. Urgent need.***Financial support for students: Efforts will be made to incentivise the merit of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and other SEDGs. The National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to support, foster, and track the progress of students receiving scholarships. Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer larger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their students. ***OK***Open and Distance Learning: This will be expanded to play a significant role in increasing GER. Measures such as online courses and digital repositories, funding for research, improved student services, credit-based recognition of MOOCs, etc, will be taken to ensure it is at par with the highest quality in-class programmes. . ***Don’t get carried away. MOOCs are either dead or in coma. There’s much to be said for in-class learning. Improving GER by this method is like offering second-class learning. Not against distance or online learning and teaching. But, they are not equivalent to in-class, on-campus learning.***Online and Digital Education: A dedicated unit for the building of digital infrastructure, digital content and capacity building will be created in the MHRD to look after the e-education needs of both school and higher education. ***Why? Let the universities and colleges handle this.***Technology in Education: 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 to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration. Appropriate integration of technology into all levels of education will be done to improve classroom processes, support teacher professional development, enhance educational access for disadvantaged groups and streamline educational planning, administration and management. ***Why? Let the universities and colleges handle this.***Promotion of Indian Languages: To ensure the preservation, growth, and vibrancy of all Indian languages, NEP recommends setting an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI), National Institute (or Institutes) for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, strengthening of Sanskrit and all language departments in HEIs, and use mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction in more HEI programmes. ***You want to push Sanskrit but there is pushback. So, you include Pali, Persian (!), and Prakrit to camouflage your intentions. ***Professional Education: All professional education will be an integral part of the higher education system. Stand-alone technical universities, health science universities, legal and agricultural universities etc will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions. ***What is the point?**

The ASIC website confirms that the European International University is accredited by ASIC. This is not the same as being Government recognised. ASIC accreditation of UK institutions is recognised by the UK Visas and Immigration service as identifying the institution as a genuine education provider, enabling students to apply for a student visa. ASIC is also affiliated to the European Network for Quality Assurance and the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation. So, in short, this is a genuine accrediting body.However, as ASIC states in their FAQ: “The ASIC inspection process includes an examination of the content and standard of the curriculum as well as the quality of its delivery to learners. The consistency and reliability of the assessments are also considered by our inspectors. However, it should be noted that ASIC Accreditation neither confers nor validates degree-awarding powers. Applicants wishing to study at any institution, including those offering distance education programmes, should always satisfy themselves that the level of recognition of the relevant award is sufficient to meet their needs.”It seems clear, then, that EIU is a recognised education provider. What is not clear is whether their degrees (various forms of MBA, it seems from their website) will be recognised. These are not UK degrees (ASIC accreditation cannot grant that power) and nor do they appear to be US degrees (they do not have a US incorporation, unlike, for example, Richmond the American International University in London). They have an Academic License from the French government allowing them to run the MBA course, but the MBA is not part of the French degree system. As EIU says on their website: “EIU – Paris offers higher education programmes that are different from the French National Curricula and Programmes leading to French Government accredited university qualifications, which falls under the French Public Higher Education sector.”It seems clear that EIU is not a “scam”. There is evidence that they are accredited as an educational institution and licensed to offer their courses. But, as with any international university, there is no guarantee that their awards will be recognised in the US or the UK.

The University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) is an Indian University located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand known traditionally for its education and research in fields of energy & power. The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) has become the leading educational institution for over 10000 students pursuing undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees. Founded by prominent educationalists and industry experts, UPES is committed to maintain high standards in providing quality higher education and has emerged as an innovative multi-disciplinary institution. UPES is the only Asian University to receive the World Oil Award.The vision of UPES is to be an institution of global standing for developing professionally competent talent contributing to nation building. The University offers industry aligned Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph. D. programs in the following sectors:EnergyInfrastructureTransportationInformation TechnologyElectronicsHigh TechnologyDesign, BusinessPlanning and ArchitecturePublic PolicyLegal studiesAdvanced teaching methodologies, innovative and updated curricula and focus on 'on-the-job exposure' give UPES students an edge to be readily deployable in their chosen fields. Its focus on imparting strong subject – matter expertise (through classroom learning, case method of teaching and rigorous continuous assessment) and top notch practical exposure.You can check their website for more information : UPES- Asia’s first core sector University