Arts will be at par with the other subjects in new education policy: Vinod Indurkar – Times of India

‘Lalit Kala Guru’ and former head of Nagpur University’s fine arts department Vinod Indurkar is leading a national focus group on arts education constituted by the NCERT. This group will create a roadmap for the subject for the national education policy right from the foundational to the secondary stage. Indurkar and his team will decide how and what the new generation of India – 3 to 18 years of age – will learn in schools about all the aspects of arts. In an interview with
TOI, Indurkar shared his vision about the future of arts education in the country.

Excerpts…


What is the role of your focus group in the framing of the national education policy?

The national education policy or NEP was declared in 2020 with the task of implementing certain goals required for further development of school children and addressing issue of concern from pre-school to secondary school. In view of deliberating several aspects of school education in detail, 25 themes were identified and committees were formed to develop focus papers on these scientific subject areas. One of them is arts education. This will cover performing, visual and media art. We are preparing a document for arts education which will be a guideline for implementing arts education in schools.

Will you redesign the arts course right from the primary section?

Yes. Unfortunately, arts was ignored in our school education since decades. Be it painting, or sculpture or music or fine arts – hardly one or two lectures per week are allotted in the school time-table. Now, the curriculum and a method of teaching will be redesigned from the foundation level. It will be strongly rooted in the local context, in terms of culture, traditions, heritage, customs, languages, philosophies and geography. We are trying to ensure that education is maximally relatable, relevant, interesting and effective for our students. In primary school, students will be introduced to their local and folk art. Step by step, they will go to the world of art.

Will there be more focus on arts to bring it at par with other subjects?


Yes, but the idea is quite bigger. ‘Art in Education’ is an expanding field. It’s a process of learning through experiences. Students will improve their learning ability of other subjects while learning arts in schools. We are focused to create new artistes. As per the new policy, a student can opt for a specialization in art-related subjects right from class VIII. This is the most important phase of life. If someone takes one art as a specialization at the age of say 14 then he will definitely learn it effectively in the next ten years. Even if the student joins an engineering college in the future, the study of this specialization subject will continue. Imagine an engineer learning music right from class 8 and along with his BE course getting marks for music too. It’s a great collaboration. Arts won’t be just a pastime for our new generation, but a focused learning and a means to achieve something concrete. It will be a stress buster in their studies.

What will be the special features of arts education?

There will be four stages. The foundation stage will be of 3 to 8 years. There will be assessment but only evaluation of students during this stage. They will have flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based and activity-based learning. For students between 8 to 11 years, it will be a preparatory stage. The focus will be on developing social capabilities, sensitivity, logical thinking and problem solving. The middle stage will be for the 11 to 14 age group. They will be taught teamwork and cooperation. The fourth stage will be a secondary stage for the 14 to 18 age group. Emphasis will be given on physical and motor development, cognitive, socio-economical, ethical and cultural development.

It seems that the new policy will focus not only on learning skills but the overall development of students.

Studies show that children exposed to arts education throughout childhood show greater social, cultural, emotional and cognitive development. Art functions as a concept, as a suggestion. It is informative and communicative. It has esthetic, heuristic (a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently) and hedonistic (pleasure giving) functions. Art sharpens personality and teachers how to work as a team. We are trying to achieve some measured improvement through art such as greater self-confidence, communicative skills, cultural awareness and sensitivity. Of course, general achievements like creativity, and overall academic success would be always there.

When will the new education policy be implemented in schools?

As a focus group, we are submitting a master plan for next 20 years soon. The next task will be to decide the syllabus. We have already decided that students will start with their local art and then will be introduced gradually to the world art. It would be easy for them to get along with the new policy. The pandemic years have already delayed the implementation of the new policy. By 2023, I hope, we could start it nationally.