National Education Policy 2020 finally arrived in 2020 but had the academia guessing and fretting as to what it would bring forth. The panel of NEP under the able guidance of Dr. Kasturi Rangan had gathered input from many sources and collated the input before bringing out this instrument officially.

It made waves among the academicians – A few genuine, a few not so genuine and a few not concerned. The problem that one can visualise is in the process of implementation. upskilling of teachers is mandated but it is not mentioned who has to pay for it. So, the teachers feel management has to pay and the management feels teachers should pay for their upskilling. In the process the techniques are not learnt and the student suffers. All this reminds me of the famous Doha by Kabir – Do patan ke beech mein bacha na koi.

Videos are made by the NCERT which don’t enthuse motivation among the stakeholders to watch them. I have heard many a teacher say that they keep the video on, do some work and come back when it gets over. The reason is simple: The course does not move ahead if the video is not played! Can you expect the teachers to learn from these videos?

Teachers in the metros are getting the training. Publishers are providing some opportunities even if it is by way of Quid Pro Quo, it is worthwhile. I had a similar session online and talked for almost an hour on the Building Future Ready Classrooms with NCF-ready Pedagogies. There were more than 100 participants. I was not mistaken for a minute. My ‘charm’ was not what brought them to the webinar. It was FREE! Besides, they were given certificates for attending. Even before I concluded there were questions on the chat as to when and how certificates would be distributed. Teachers need to develop a drive, a fire in the belly to grow, To learn, To teach. I can go on about how teaching a subject is the best way to learn it. Let me stop my rantings here.