From time to time major reforms have been carried out in the education sector through out the country at a systemic level. The commissions constituted to lay out the map for reforms have given us detailed documents to be later implemented at the ground level.
In the recent series of documents that have been discussed thoroughly in public spaces we have NEP 2020 and NCF. Besides, there are more reforms carried out at the level of elementary and higher education keeping in view the changing trends in society, economy, job markets and new knowledge disciplines. What has brought in a new dimension is the mind boggling strides in technology.
Things like AI have changed the landscape radically, and no education system worth its name can ignore that. The way technology has disrupted society, industry, and even the ways of thinking about life itself, it is imperative that our education system takes care of the consequent changes that have already started unfolding.
For a geography like J&K, the need to stay in touch with the latest trends is more pressing. The reasons for that are multifold. We are a small population living in a territory that is limited in many senses. We are a people that struggling with the industrial development for decades now. We are a people that had a extra reliance on government employment for a long time now. All this is getting disrupted.
That means for our children to have decent livelihoods a whole new paradigm towards education has to be applied. This paradigm shift should happen from the primary level. Unfortunately our parents get serious about education only at the later stages. All experts in the filed of education tell us that the faculties of learning develop in the early years.
Our children move into the higher stages of learning with huge inadequacies. If we need to reform our education system and expect better results, commensurate with the changing times, we need to focus on our elementary education.
This is where the government needs to work, and this is where the private institutions need to work. If the government is really serious about reforms in education elementary stage must be a priority.