5+3+3+4: The new Upbeat of the Indian Education System

SottakuDoji: The literal translation of this expression is: “Simultaneous pecking from the inside out”. It refers to the action that occurs between the chick that is about to be born and its mother, so that together they can break the shell of the egg. When this action occurs simultaneously, something special happens, the chick opens its eyes to the world. However, if the mother decides to break the egg prematurely, the chick will basically die. And on the other hand, the chick will never be able to get out by itself just for more pecks that he tries. We might not understand it in the first glance but, SottakuDoji is quite relatable to the insides of our classrooms, the school environment and the culture of education in society. School is the place where kids’ the thirst to learn ignites and at that very moment if he/she gets a willing Guru,then there are no limits to what both can achieve. But due to the highly competitive ecosystem prevalent in our society, we don’t wait for that right moment for our kid when they are ready inside out to learn about things around them. Instead push our little kids towards rote learning as soon as possible. This was a huge challenge for me as Principal and my teachers at DCM YES, to make the parents of the primary classes, understand the importance of engaging their kids more towards live learning in place of introducing them to tables, spellings, cramming. But now when the New Education Policy 2020, introduced 5+3+3+4model, it turned out to be the best solution for breaking these old norms of rot education and introduce a systematic learning system where we they can flourish due to the educational system throughout their lives. This new pedagogical design, consist of : Foundational (3 years of preschool + Grades 1-2) Preparatory (Grades 3-5) Middle (Grades 6-8) and High school (Grades 9-12 in two phases, i.e. 9 and 10 in the first and 11 and 12 in the second) The ‘5’ in this model pays a great deal of importance on Early Childhood Care and Education, which is the Foundation of Learning. This Foundational Stage will consist of play/activity-based learning and the aforementioned curriculum and pedagogy of ECCE. It will also include a focus on good behaviour, courtesy, ethics, personal and public hygiene/cleanliness, teamwork and cooperation, etc. ECCE ideally consists of flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and discovery-based learning about, e.g., alphabets, languages, numbers, counting, colours, shapes, indoor and outdoor play, puzzles and logical thinking, problem-solving, drawing, painting and other visual art, craft, drama and puppetry, music and movement. It also includes a focus on developing social capacities, sensitivity, good behaviour, courtesy, ethics, personal and public cleanliness, teamwork and cooperation. It will take a great deal of time to completely analyse the NEP 2020 on all parameters but we all should be welcoming for the steps like new found importance of Foundational years of education and reap the maximum out of it. It is the time we equip our teachers to be ready for executing this challenging but developing step for our county’s better future.