NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY (NEP) 2020 - OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN TEACHER EDUCATION

To boost the growth of the Indian education sector, the present government decided to revamp it by introducing a comprehensive National Education Policy 2020. This is in line with the Prime Minister's recent call on leveraging the Fourth Industrial Revolution to take India to new heights. The currently introduced National Education Policy 2020 envisions an India centered education system that contributes directly to transforming our nation sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high quality education to all. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommends major changes in the Teacher Education scenario. The recommendation on teacher education is given in chapter- 15 of the NEP-2020 under Part II which details the policy changes in Higher Education. It has divided into eleven sub points. The main objectives of NEP is to “ensure that teachers are given the highest quality training in content, pedagogy, and practice, by moving the teacher education system into multidisciplinary colleges and universities, and establishing the 4-year integrated B.Ed. offered by such multidisciplinary HEIs will, by 2030, become the minimal degree qualification for school teachers” (NEP2020 -Page 42: 15.5). While analyzing the NEP 2020 more deeply, it is a curious combination of opportunities and at the same time challenges for Teacher education scenario. The present Paper tries to analyze National Education Policy 2020 with regard to the paradigm shifts in terms of Opportunities and Challenges in Teacher Education Sector.