Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have significant importance while deploying any policy. NEP 2020 has tried to incorporate all these important parameters to ensure consistent teaching & learning outcomes for diversified country like Bharat (India). Diversity is about differences, equity is about providing equal access, and inclusion is about fostering a sense of value and empowerment among students, teachers, and parents.
In Bharat (India) where we have diversity in the languages, food, social & financial status, it’s important for us to implement equity and inclusion appropriately. Let’s understand equity with real life example. Consider we have 3 students in the class with different heights and they are asked to observe an object from class window. For sure student below the window height won’t be able to see things outside the class window. This is where we need to implement Equity & Inclusion principle to ensure all the students in the class can see desire objects.
National Education Policy NEP 2020 overview
Let’s understand the National Education Policy NEP 2020 in detail. Following are the key principles of NEP 2020
- Respect for Diversity & Local Context – In all curriculum, pedagogy and policy
- Equity & Inclusion – As the cornerstone of all educational decisions
- Community Participation – Encouragement and facilitation for philanthropic, private and community participation.
- Use of Technology – In teaching and learning, removing language barriers, for Divyang students, and in educational planning and management.
- Emphasize Conceptual Understanding – Rather than rote learning and learning-for-exams
- Unique Capabilities – Recognizing, identifying them in each student.
- Critical thinking and Creativity – To encourage logical decision-making and innovation
- Continuous Review – Based on sustained research and regular assessment by educational experts.
Each of the above principles needs to be implemented across all the schools (Government & Private). “WHAT” part of the policy is very clear, now it’s a responsibility of esteemed schools to define “HOW” part for the successful implementation of NEP 2020.
In this blog, we’ll cover what to be done to ensure implementation of equity and inclusion with NEP 2020.
Focus on Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs)
SEDGs can be broadly classified using multiple dimensions, including the following:
● Gender-related factors, with particular focus on female and transgender individuals
● Socio-cultural backgrounds, such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs, and minority communities
● Geographical contexts, covering learners from rural areas, small towns, and aspirational districts
● Physical and learning disabilities, which may affect educational access and progress
● Economic and social circumstances, including migrant families, low-income households, children in vulnerable conditions, victims or children of trafficking survivors, orphans, and child beggars.
According to U-DISE 2016–17 data, about 19.6% of students belong to Scheduled Castes (SC) at the primary school level; however, this proportion declines to 17.3% at the higher secondary level.
More strikingly, enrolment drop-offs are even more pronounced for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, decreasing from 10.6% to 6.8%. Similarly, the participation of Muslim students falls sharply from 15% to 7.9%, while enrolment of children with disabilities drops from 1.1% to just 0.25%. Furthermore, within each of these Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs), the decline is even steeper for female students, highlighting persistent gender-based disparities across educational stages.The decline in SEDGs’ enrolment in higher education is even steeper.
We have 1Bn+ global population with special abilities who need special attention from education system and society to live a normal life. Along with SEDG, we need to build a strong ecosystem across all government and private schools to make their lives comfortable.
Ensuring Equity
NEP 2020 has outlined following resources & guidelines to provide equity
- Targeted scholarships
- Conditional cash transfers to incentivize parents to send their children to school
- Providing bicycles for transport
- Build eco-system of early childhood care and education
- Hiring of counsellors and teachers that work with and connect students, parents, schools, and teachers to improve attendance and learning outcomes.
- More focus on Special Education Zones (SEZ) contain significantly larger proportions of SEDGs
- Build additional schools like Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya’s and Kendriya Vidyalaya’s around the country, especially in aspirational districts, Special Education Zones and disadvantaged areas, to increase high -quality educational opportunities in every area of India.
- Focus on attainment of learning outcome of children belonging to SC/ST/OBC.
Gender
The exclusion and inequity that SEDGs face is only amplified for the women.
Safety and Rights
Careful attention to safety and rights of all children particularly girls to retain them in school.
KGBVs
Strengthening and extension of KGBVs (Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya’s) up to grade 12
Gender Sensitivity
‘Gender Sensitivity’ to be an integral part of curriculum
Policies targeted for Girls
Thrust on designing policies and schemes targeted towards female students in the SEDGs
Bridging Gender Gap
Focus on bridging the Gender Gap and provide equal opportunities to all.
Gender Inclusion Fund
Gender-Inclusion Fund for female and transgender students
Supporting Children with Special Needs (CWSN)
Enabling Mechanisms
Enabling mechanisms for CWSN or Divyang to receive quality education
Regular Schooling
Children with special needs will be integrated in the regular schooling process from elementary to higher education levels
Assistive Devices and Orientation to Parents
Technology enabled assistive devices/tool for CWSN and orientation of the tools/devices for parents/caregivers
Modules
NIOS will develop high-quality modules to teach Indian Sign Language
Alternative Schools
Alternative forms of schools will be encouraged to preserve the alternative pedagogical styles
Certificate Courses
Certificate courses for pre-service and in-service teachers to become special educators
The NEP 2020 school curriculum will include, from an early stage, learning material that emphasizes core human values. In particular, it focuses on fostering respect for all individuals, along with empathy, tolerance, and awareness of human rights. Additionally, the curriculum promotes gender equality and non-violence, helping students develop ethical and socially responsible perspectives. At the same time, concepts such as global citizenship and the role of culture in sustainable development are integrated to build broader social awareness. Moreover, learners are encouraged to adopt sustainable lifestyles while understanding the importance of environmental responsibility. Ultimately, through a strong emphasis on inclusion and equity, NEP 2020 aims to nurture compassionate, informed, and responsible citizens who can contribute positively to both society and the global community.Children shall learn the basic philosophy of ancient Indian civilization and the inherent acceptance of diversity.
Build system to understand teaching & learning strength and gaps
28% population of our country is under 14 years of age, so we need to do all our level best to implement scientific systems to understand teaching & learning strength and gaps on a daily basis. Teaching and learning are happening every day, so monitoring, measurement, and analysis should also happen on a periodic basis.
Manually we can’t track the progress of how we are implementing equity and inclusion on the ground? If we provide them with periodic feedback in structured format, then it’ll surely help them to better their teaching and learning plans.
In conclusion, if we integrate implementation of NEP 2020 with technology then adoption will increase significantly to get the desire outcome.
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