The National Education Policy aligns a new age roadmap for teacher empowerment

The ‘Knowledge Society’ we are living in currently is extremely competent and challenging. For teachers and young students looking to enter the teaching force, this acts as an important progression and the right training and pedagogy can ensure a teacher’s professional excellence. Understanding the gap and trying to ensure teachers have all resources, The NEP 2020 has beautifully laid down a series of empowering and comprehensive frameworks for our teaching force.

Teachers play the most important role in the education system. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to create high-quality human resources in the classrooms. The policy proposes to completely overhaul the teaching profession to create a robust merit-based structure of tenure, salary, and promotion, that both incentivizes and recognizes outstanding teachers.

Expressing their views on The NEP guidelines, Mr. Rishabh Khanna, Cognitive Scientist & Co-Founder at Suraasa shares, “Upskilling teachers to attain and deliver curriculum in a practical and adaptable manner is what Suraasa has always believed in. We are extremely glad for The National Education Policy (NEP) by the Central Government to also highlight this and introduce many new and important aspects for our teachers. The policy emphasises practical skills and not just a knowledge-driven curriculum. This will certainly benefit students to curtail the challenges of the future. Aligning the educational roots of the country with the modern development of the world was the need of the hour and we are happy that with this new education policy, we as a country are moving in the right direction.”

With their policies, The NEP targets to bring in massive changes in the teaching structure by the end of 2022. A National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be created to determine all aspects of Teacher Career Management, including salaries, promotions, recognition and Continuous Professional Development. It also aims to incorporate formulated Teacher Audits or Performance Appraisals that will be carried out at regular intervals which will be the key factor for merit-based appraisals rather than seniority or length of tenure. 

Adding to the fundamentally crucial changes, international pedagogical approaches will be studied by NCERT, identified, and recommended for assimilation in pedagogical practices in India through CPD. Teachers along with principals will have to undergo Continuous Professional Development modules (CPD) every year in order to enhance teaching quality, leadership, and school management along with implementing competency-based learning.

This reformation comes as an enlightening factor to empower teachers and also helps ‘teaching’ emerge as an attractive profession of choice for bright and talented young minds looking to make a successful and satisfying career.