Student’s perception on implementation of new education policy-2020: A statistical view

Introduction

The National Education Policy (NEP) is formulated by the Government of India to promote education amongst India's people. The policy covers elementary education to colleges in both rural and urban India. The first NEP was introduced by the Government of India in 1968, the second in 1986, and the third after thirty-four long years in 2020. The new policy replaces the previous NEP, 1986. According to the policy makers, NEP 2020 emphasizes the development of student's intellectual, creative, and social skills. The multidisciplinary nature of the curriculum would encourage students to explore a range of subjects. Students will have the flexibility to pick subjects across different streams as per their interests and career goals. This would break the rigid walls of subject-stream limitations and encourage cross-disciplinary learning. NEP places a strong emphasis on vocational education and aims to integrate skill development programs within the curriculum to provide students with practical skills which would be helpful for their employment. NEP recognizes the integration of technology in education and promotes innovative teaching methods using digital platform. To cultivate a strong research culture in higher education institutions, it proposes to set up a National Research Foundation. NEP encourages collaborations with foreign institutions. This will allow students to have access to global platforms for learning, exchange programs, internships, which can immensely add to their educational experience and global outlook. There are also some drawbacks of this policy. Students willing to complete their graduation and to pursue higher studies have to study for four years while one can easily complete his/ her diploma in two years and degree in three years according to NEP 2020. This might encourage students to leave the course midway. Also, the policy may face challenges in implementation, especially in terms of funding and infrastructure. The increased use of technology in the classroom may pose technical barriers for some students and teachers, especially in rural and remote areas. The policy's emphasis on private and community participation in education may lead to a lack of quality control and standardization. Vocational Education with Traditional Academic subjects may shift the focus of the students from the core subjects. Establishing foreign universities in India may bring disparity between students according to their affordability, not according to their level of intelligence.

Literature survey: NEP 2020 focuses on education for sustainable development and global citizenship (Aithal, 2019) [1] .

The policy signifies a huge milestone for India's education system, which will certainly make India an attractive destination for higher education world-wide (Sawant and Sankpal, 2021) [5] compared the previous NEP with present. Lukose and Sharma (2023) [4] studied the role of NEP 2020 on perspectives of different stakeholders for skill enhancement. Kumar (2022) [2] investigated that there was a critical need for the Technical and Vocational Training for economic development of India. Pathak (2020) [7] discussed that the new education policy had given importance to vocational education to boost the employability skills. In this paper we have considered the perspective of undergraduate and post graduate students who are in the first batch under this new policy. The questionnaires itself was an awareness drive for the students on different factors of NEP and was given them an opportunity to present their opinions on it.

Research Methodology

An online survey was conducted by using Google form to collect the primary data for this research purpose. Target respondents were under graduate and post graduate Arts, Science and Commerce first year students who are the first batch under NEP 2020. There were 205 students participated in this survey. SPSS software is used to analyses the data. Descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test has been used to analysis the data. 81% students are satisfied by teaching of major and minor subjects in their colleges. Do you feel that the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) which will store the academic credits earned by the students of higher education within the country promotes a student centric education system? 84% students feel that academic credit earned by students in their Academic Credit Bank (ABC) in higher education will promote the student centric education.

Results and Discussion

Do you feel that ABC will lead to the dilution of the degree and ignore the quality of education as student can earn credits by any online/offline courses approved by UGC to acquire the degree? 73% students feel that academic credit earned by students in their Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) by any online / offline courses approved by UGC will dilute the quality of education in future. Do you feel that allowing foreign universities to set campuses in India will enable world class education available locally? 90% students feel that students will be able to do higher education from foreign universities if foreign universities are allowed to set campus of India. Do you feel that establishing foreign universities in India will reduce the cost for the similar courses compared to travelling and staying in foreign country? 86% students feel that establishing foreign universities in India will reduce the cost for similar courses compared to travelling and staying in foreign country. Do you feel that establishing foreign universities in India will bring disparity between students according to their affordability, not according to their level of intelligence? 86% students feel that establishing foreign universities in India will bring disparity between students according to their affordability, not according to their level of intelligence.

Chi-square tests at 5% Level of Significance to test the association between various factors Chi-square Test 1: To test the null hypothesis

𝐇 𝟎𝟏: There is no significant association between Stream of students and their comfort with New Education Policy 2020 in higher education.

Here, 𝑝 value= 0.014 which is less than 0.05. So, null hypothesis 𝐻 01 may be rejected at 5% level of significance and conclude that there is a significant association between stream of students and their comfort with New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Chi-square Test 2:

To test the null hypothesis 𝐇 𝟎𝟐: There is no significant association between Stream of students and their familiarities with various subjects / papers under New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Here, 𝑝 value= 0.013 which is less than 0.05, so, null hypothesis 𝐻 02 may be rejected at 5% level of significance and conclude that there is a significant association between Stream of students and their familiarness with various subjects / papers under New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Chi-square Test 3: To test the null hypothesis

𝐇 𝟎𝟑: There is no significant association between Stream of students and use of laboratory to teach skilled courses like Skilled Enhancement Courses (SEC) and Vocational Skilled Courses (VSC) in their colleges under New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Here, 𝑝 value = 0.000003 which is less than 0.05, so, null hypothesis 𝐻 03 may be rejected at 5% level of significance and conclude that there is a significant association between Stream of students and use of laboratory to teach skilled courses like Skilled Enhancement Courses (SEC) and Vocational Skilled Courses (VSC) in their colleges under New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Chi-square Test 4:

To test the null hypothesis 𝐇 𝟎𝟒: There is no significant association between Stream of students and their satisfaction level by teaching of Major and Minor subjects in their colleges under New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Here, 𝑝 value= 0.036 which is less than 0.05, so, null hypothesis 𝐻 04 may be rejected at 5% level of significance and conclude that there is a significant association between Stream of students and their satisfaction level by teaching of Major and Minor subjects in their colleges under New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

Conclusion

From the above analysis we can conclude certain things as follows Vocational Skill Course (VSC) in their colleges. 5. 74% students believe that introduction of Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in higher education will develop a sense of social accountability, compassion, and ethical decision-making in students. 6. There is a significant association between Stream of students and  Their comfort level with the New Education Policy 2020 in higher education.  Their familiarness with various subjects / papers.  Using laboratory to teach skilled courses like Skilled Enhancement Courses (SEC) and Vocational Skilled Courses (VSC) in their colleges.  Their satisfaction level by teaching major and minor subjects in their colleges under the New Education Policy 2020 in higher education at 5% level of significance.

So, we can have the overall conclusion that though students welcome the new changes through NEP-2020 and consider this as a gateway of opportunities for their future, but they are little confused to have many different subjects together. Also, there is a substantial number of colleges where skilled based subjects are not laboratory oriented. So, there is a lack of infrastructural facilities in many colleges which should be improved for proper implementation of new NEP.

References

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