West Bengal State Education Policy 2023: Internships from Class 9, Bengali in all schools, research fund

NEW DELHI: The West Bengal State Education Policy 2023 has suggested the introduction of internships from secondary level, the three-language policy from Class 5 and a semester system in schools from Class 8, among other changes. It also suggests that Bengali should be introduced from Class 1 to Class 12 in schools with other languages as medium of instruction.

It also calls for a School Accreditation Authority for ranking schools in the state.

The West Bengal government had said that it will not implement the central National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and that it will come up with its own state education policy.The State Education Policy 2023 for West Bengal was approved by the State Cabinet on August 7. That said, many of the recommendations are in line with the NEP 2020 including the merger of schools, four-year undergraduate programmes, and greater focus on vocational training.

The State Education Policy 2023 also sets itself the same goals with regard to enrolment in school and higher education as the NEP 2020, along with the same timelines for achieving those targets. The new education policy in West Bengal also proposes state versions of central bodies such as a state-level Academic Bank of Credits and a state-level research fund.

100% school enrolment by 2030

The new education policy 2023 in West Bengal has set goals of achieving a gross enrolment ratio (GER) at secondary and higher secondary levels in school to 100% by 2030. It also aims to ensure that at least 50% of students graduate from secondary and higher secondary-level education with at least one vocational subject. Gross enrolment ratio is the percentage of students enrolled in a particular level of education out of the total number of youth in the appropriate age group.

The policy wants to ensure 100% proficiency in numeracy and literacy among students up to Class 3 by 2025. It also aims to ensure 50% GER in higher education by 2035.

The policy also says that the existing structure of primary, upper primary, secondary and

higher secondary will continue. Here, it differs with the NEP 2020’s suggestion of restructuring the levels entirely into a 5+3+3+4 structure. In West Bengal’s policy, the only change is that the first two years of early years' education at an anganwadi centre will be added to this structure.

The committee in charge of framing the policy said that the policy was framed after deliberating on the NEP 2020, and the state-level task force reports on the NEP by Maharashtra and Kerala.

State Education Policy 2023: Pre-primary

The policy says the state should ensure angandwadi centres are set near primary schools.

At present 18,000 anganwadi centres are co-located with primary schools out of the 1.2 lakh in the state. If physical co-location is not possible, the policy suggests a “functional linkage” using the “hub-and-spoke” model. This, again, is akin to NEP’s recommendations.

It also suggests that the curriculum for pre-primary education should be prepared by an expert committee on school education for seamless transition from pre-primary to primary school level.

The committee also recommends that a unique identity card with “embedded memory chip” can be developed which can contain basic and academic records of the student from age three till Class 12.

West Bengal State Education Policy 2023: School

The new State Education Policy 2023 suggests that Bengali should be introduced as a subject from Class 1 to Class 12 for students in schools that have other languages as medium of instruction.

It also suggests that the state should follow the three-language formula in schools, for the students of Classes 5 to 8 depending upon availability of infrastructure and resources. In this the first language will be the mother tongue or the medium of instruction of the school. The three-language formula will only be applicable for upper-primary level (Classes 5 to 8).

The policy suggests integration of higher-level, such as secondary and higher-secondary schools, with primary schools to ensure “mentoring by higher-level schools” and “optimum utilisation of infrastructure and human resources”.

The State Education Policy 2023 has proposed a separate body for research funds under WBSCHE (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

It also recommends evaluating the curriculum at the primary, secondary and higher secondary level against national and international standards of school education.

The policy recommends that the semester system be introduced from Class 8 onwards over a period of next three years. It said that this will enhance the system of formative assessments.It also said that the semester system in Classes 11 and 12 will help students transition from school to university in a phased manner.

It also calls for introducing internship programmes or projects during summer vacations for secondary and higher secondary students. It suggests tie-ups with media houses, publishing houses and corporate firms for this internship.

The policy recommends holding State Achievement Surveys for assessing the performance of students in Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 on an annual basis. However, this is already part of existing policy.

It also suggests giving teachers a compulsory service in the rural areas of the state for five years to address the problem of skewed pupil-teacher ratios (PTR) in certain districts. A promotion policy for teachers based on performance indicators is also among the suggestions.

As in the NEP 2020, the policy calls for creation of school clusters for schools to share “physical resources along with community building”.

It also suggests that the government should set up a State School Accreditation Authority for quantitative assessment and ranking of schools.

In order to accommodate the out of school children at upper primary level, the committee calls for a suitable policy for the introduction of upper primary and primary level education through West Bengal Council Of Rabindra Open Schooling. At present, the West Bengal Council of Rabindra Open Schooling (WBCROS) only takes in students from the secondary level.

State Education Policy 2023: Credit system, FYUP

The State Education Policy 2023 calls for greater collaboration of government and private universities. “To unlock the potential of private universities and state-aided universities through optimal utilisation of resources, the state should frame a policy to promote fruitful collaboration between private and state-aided universities in teaching-learning process and research,” the policy says.

It also calls for a “systematic addressing of regional and local disparities” by looking at the unequal distribution of colleges per lakh population and GER across districts.

The policy suggests that the four-year undergraduate programmes can be introduced from the academic session 2023-24. Universities will also be encouraged to offer translation studies as a discipline, take up translation projects, and offer courses in bilingual mode.

It suggests that vocational courses be integrated with the mainstream teaching-learning process through the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) mode. University professors will be encouraged to offer open and distance-learning (ODL) courses through portals like Swayam.

The policy says that state colleges and universities will be registered under the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) of the central government. In addition to this, the state government can also consider introducing a state-level credit bank for intra-state mobility of students.

Education Policy 2023 West Bengal: Research

The policy proposes a separate body for research funds, a State Research Fund, under the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education (WBSCHE ) to strengthen the research base of higher education institutions in the state. The WBSCHE will also be entrusted to identify the thrust research areas and suggest appropriate methods of funding them. This recommendation was made “in view of the declining central research grants for state HEIs”, say the document. The SRF, again, is based on the central National Research Fund.

The West Bengal policy also proposes that existing engineering institutions should undergo a national accreditation process and upgrade themselves to Centres of Excellence.

Additionally, it suggests phased increase of undergraduate and postgraduate seats in medical colleges over the next five years, and integrating nursing and paramedical colleges into single campuses.