Soon after the BJP came to power at the Center, education started trying to saffron. In August 2014, a few months after the BJP’s landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) set up a committee on the Indian Education Policy Commission for the Indianization of the country’s education system. Dinanath Batra, the old arm of the RSS, was the head of the NT Commission of Indian Education, which gained prominence in an attempt to bring forward a version of the Indian history of the RSS.
Not much effort has been made to analyze NEPs from this point of view as the new education policy has come. Muslims who have ended the RSS’s efforts to make the education system ‘Indian’ need not say much about it and its consequences.
However, Muslim educational institutions are trying to prepare themselves for the far-reaching changes that the new educational policy will require in the days to come. Muslims run millions of educational institutions from primary to university level and do not want to be left behind due to recent changes in educational policies. From primary schools to undergraduate colleges and universities, these educational institutions reach out to a large number, mainly from poor backgrounds.
The National Education Policy (NEP) has been widely welcomed across the country. The last education policy was formulated about 34 years ago, with some changes made in 1992 to the 1992 NEP. Since then, changes have been made in the educational system. However, this is the first time in more than three decades that a comprehensive change in education policy has been proposed. Needless to say, these things will have an impact on how education is taught in our part of the world.
The implementation of the new national education policy has now moved forward and the government is taking steps to start it as soon as possible. It has just been announced that children studying in Class VII will be the first to write board exams in 2025-26 using the completely changed exam pattern. Meanwhile, this will be the first batch of eighth-graders to experience a new curriculum framework and assessment system from next year. This has been confirmed by the Department of School Education and Literacy.
Muslims are skeptical about how the new national education policy will affect the 200 million strong Indian Muslim community. There is dissatisfaction among many, including the Muslim community, with the idea that these changes are drastic and will affect how education is delivered so far.
Extensive changes or alterations in education have caused confusion not only in the Muslim community but also in a wide area of the population. According to the report, the Department of School Education and Literacy has identified about 300 tasks for the broader implementing agencies that need to be implemented over the next five years.
Hassan Ghias, an advanced leader at Harvard University, says that first, we need to map out the architecture of Muslim-managed educational institutions in India through education from madrassas to primary to secondary to tertiary level. We must classify them into separate categories, and each category must be subjected to a detailed and thorough SWOT analysis. Once we are clear about their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and dangers, we can move on.
Speaking further on this, Ghias tells me, “NEP 2020 could have a lot of gray areas, possibly hidden motives and hidden agendas. You have to find the silver lining in the clouds. Instead of wasting time and energy arguing over coin toss, let’s find a way to harvest. In my opinion, this strategy will probably open up some opportunities that you can use to your advantage with your imagination and motivation.
He further said that the higher education policy states that “higher education can lift individuals and communities out of the cycle of inconvenience. The policy places special emphasis on SEDG and guarantees proper access to quality education to all students. Eligible government funds for SEDG education. Set clear targets for higher GER. For SEDGs. Provide more financial support and scholarships to SEDGs from both public and private higher education institutions.
Organize outreach programs on higher education opportunities and scholarships at SEDGs. The admission process is more inclusive. ”. He further said that the emphasis on socio-economically disadvantaged groups (SEDGs) creates opportunities for minorities at both school and higher education levels. Community leaders should make a concerted effort to liaise with MHRD, the Ministry of Minority Affairs and other relevant agencies to ensure that the rules, regulations, and plans formulated in the SEDG context reflect the objectives and emphasis set forth in the NEP.
An educationist living in the UAE, Dr. Taiba Kidwai says recent NEP documents have seen improvements in school children’s education, but they reflect a lack of understanding of the seriousness and depth of the schooling crisis among disadvantaged children. During my work, I have found that the problem of education has spread beyond school and is the result of childhood and early childhood events.
Therefore, a more holistic approach is needed, which highlights the lack of education among different groups of children and youth and thus hinders them from meeting the contemporary challenges of constructively engaging in the developmental changes taking place in contemporary India.
As a religious group, Muslims are among the most backward communities in the country. According to 2011 statistics, the literacy rate of religious communities and Muslims is 222.7%. For Hindus, it is .4 36 percent. According to statistics, the percentage of illiterate people for Sikhs is.
The total percentage of all illiterates is .93..9. According to the same statistics, the literacy rate of Christians is .374.3 percent, while among Buddhists it is .81.8 percent, among Sikhs 67.67 percent, Hindus 6.63.6 percent, and Muslims 57.57.3 percent. There are reasons to believe that overall literacy levels have increased in all societies, including Muslims. According to a revised study on employment and unemployment conditions, there is a slightly better picture among the major religious groups in India, although it also shows Muslims behind others.
According to the report, the literacy rate among urban Muslims was about 1 percent, while among Hindus it was 91 percent, among Christians it was 100 percent and among Sikhs, it was 86 percent. The report certainly shows that Muslims were actually catching up despite other groups being behind.
Ms. Kidwai says most Muslim children come from disadvantaged groups and special attention needs to be paid to them and their problems. “One needs to understand the lifestyle of deprived and vulnerable Muslim children among children from rich backgrounds, as it has a huge impact on the education of these children in later life. Many young vulnerable children enter with poor language and cognitive skills, but the benefits of pre-primary education are not uncommon for them.
Thus, when they enter school, sometimes if it is too late for their age, they will already be deprived and then in addition to the quality of education provided by poor government schools and low-cost private schools, the subsequent acquisition will result in poor reading, writing and arithmetic skills. ”. Kidwai tells me that although recent NEP documents consider improving schooling for schoolchildren, they reflect a lack of understanding of the seriousness and depth of the crisis in schooling among disadvantaged children.
During my work, I have found that the problem of education has spread beyond school and is a result of childhood and early childhood events. Therefore, a more holistic approach is needed, which may highlight the lack of education among different groups of children and youth, which may hinder them from meeting the contemporary challenges of constructively engaging in the developmental changes taking place in contemporary India.
There are other major issues that need to be addressed, especially for disadvantaged sections of the population. Muhammad Sajjad, who teaches history at Aligarh Muslim University, says, “NEP does not seem serious about implementing a policy of teaching in mother tongue / Indian languages. This is evident from his language policy.
In this age of mass internal migration, we have a large number of cities linguistically. Where will the money for teachers and books come from to educate the linguistic minorities in Indian languages? Then there is a lot of confusion about the future of Urdu and Urdu medium schools. Where Urdu will fit into the new education policy is a mystery and a concern for many Muslims.
