Every year on 11th November, National Education Day is observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in India. He was the first education minister of independent India and had served from 15th August 1947 until 2nd February 1958.
This day celebrates the contribution of Azad in laying the foundations of the education system in an independent India.
In 2008, the ministry of Human Resource Development had announced to celebrate national education day to commemorate the birthday of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. It said, “The Ministry has decided to commemorate the birthday of this great son of India by recalling his contribution to the cause of education in India. November 11 every year, from 2008 onwards, will be celebrated as the National Education Day, with declaring it as a holiday.”
What is NEP 2023 policy?
The National Education Policy 2023 aims to evolve the education system in India. It was proposed and approved by the Union Cabinet on July 29, 2020 and was implemented in the academic year 2023-24. This policy replaces the traditional 10 + 2 structure with a 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 structure and aims to make education more inclusive, and flexible.
It focuses on developing skills like critical thinking and problem-solving. It has introduced vocational courses such as artificial intelligence, data science, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IOTs). It has also introduced the Vocational Interest Inventory in 7th grade and the Skill-Based Aptitude Test (SBAT) in 10th grade to help students make career choices. It aims to provide education access to all children by the year 2030.
What is 5+3+3+4 academic structure?
The 5+3+3+4 education system is a new academic structure. It divides school education into four stages and is based on the stages of a child's intellectual development. The stages include:
- Foundational stage: 5 years- It focuses on play and activity-based learning method with development of language skills. It is for children of 3 to 8 Years.
- Preparatory stage: 3 years- It focuses on developing language and numeracy skills with play and activity-based teaching method. it also includes classroom interactions, reading, writing, speaking, physical education, art and more. It is for children of 8 to 11 Years.
- Middle stage: 3 years- It focuses on critical learning objectives, experiential learning in the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, humanities and more. It is for children of 11 to 14 Years.
- Secondary stage: 4 years - It focuses on multidisciplinary education, develops critical thinking, flexibility and provides choice of subjects. It is for children of 14 to 18 Years.