creative imagination, with sound ethical moorings and values. It aims at producing engaged, productive, and contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive, and plural society as envisaged by our Constitution.
A good education institution is one in which every student feels welcomed and cared for, where a safe and stimulating learning environment exists, where a wide range of learning experiences are offered, and where good physical infrastructure and appropriate resources conducive to learning are available to all students. Attaining these qualities must be the goal of every educational institution. However, at the same time, there must also be seamless integration and coordination across institutions and across all stages of education.
The fundamental principles that will guide both the education system at large, as well as the individual institutions within it are:
- recognizing, identifying, and fostering the unique capabilities of each student, by sensitizing teachers as well as parents to promote each student’s holistic development in both academic and non-academic spheres;
- according the highest priority to achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by all students by Grade 3;
- flexibility, so that learners have the ability to choose their learning trajectories and programmes, and thereby choose their own paths in life according to their talents and interests;
- no hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams, etc. in order to eliminate harmful hierarchies among, and silos between different areas of learning;
- multidisciplinarity and a holistic education across the sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, and sports for a multidisciplinary world in order to ensure the unity and integrity of all knowledge;
- emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than rote learning and learning-for-exams;
- creativity and critical thinking to encourage logical decision-making and innovation;
- ethics and human & Constitutional values like empathy, respect for others, cleanliness, courtesy, democratic spirit, spirit of service, respect for public property, scientific temper, liberty, responsibility, pluralism, equality, and justice;
- promoting multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning;
- life skills such as communication, cooperation, teamwork, and resilience;
- focus on regular formative assessment for learning rather than the summative assessment that encourages today’s ‘coaching culture’;
- extensive use of technology in teaching and learning, removing language barriers, increasing access for Divyang students, and educational planning and management;
- respect for diversity and respect for the local context in all curriculum, pedagogy, and policy, always keeping in mind that education is a concurrent subject;
- full equity and inclusion as the cornerstone of all educational decisions to ensure that all students are able to thrive in the education system;
- synergy in curriculum across all levels of education from early childhood care and education to school education to higher education;
- teachers and faculty as the heart of the learning process—their recruitment, continuous professional development, positive working environments and service conditions;
- a ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework to ensure integrity, transparency, and resource efficiency of the educational system through audit and public disclosure while encouraging innovation and out-of-the-box ideas through autonomy, good governance, and empowerment;
- outstanding research as a corequisite for outstanding education and development;
- continuous review of progress based on sustained research and regular assessment by educational experts;
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