The responses to the National Education Policy 2020 are diverse. There are those who sympathize with it, or critique it whole sale, others who applaud the document as a much-needed change in the education system and still some others who problematize the far-fetched thinking that the document enshrines and some who hail it as a document crafted with a hidden majoritarian agenda. As catholic educators, some of our significant questions will be the following:
How best can we ensure access for the economically impoverished, the culturally sidelined and the rural poor who cannot afford top class education? Are our institutions characterized by a culture of dialogue as Pope Francis spells out and are there ways by which the guidelines of NEP 2020 can help in transforming the identity of the catholic school for a culture of dialogue?
I suggest the following practical steps we could take as a Way Forward:
- Transform our understanding of what it means to be a leader in the field of education:
One of the positive aspects of NEP 2020 is the call to become a Pedagogical Leader. Etymologically, the word Pedagogy comes from the Greek word agogos and literally means, one who accompanies or leads a person to knowing. True learning happens when students experience an atmosphere of joy, warmth and homeliness in the place of learning. The best of philosophies emerged during friendly conversations around the coffee table. One of the most important roles we are called to play as educators is to facilitate learning through empowering processes. As leaders we ourselves must be continuous learners. Very often, those of us who are in leadership in our educational institutions, like headmistresses, principals, and so on function more often as administrators and not really as leaders who facilitate learning.
Pushpa Joseph
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