From Tradition to Innovation: West Bengal's Pathbreaking Education Reforms

The West Bengal Education Department has notified a new State Education Policy (SEP) which maintains the existing pattern of school education. The education department had issued a notification on September 9 proposing to continue the state's 5+4+2+2 school structure.

"Whereas, the State Government is considering the need to reform its existing education system in the State of West Bengal from pre-primary to higher education level, so as to ensure standard of higher education to all students, with special focus on the marginalized, underprivileged. And underrepresented groups,” the notice said.

"And WHEREAS, the State Government has constituted an expert committee comprising eminent academicians for this purpose," the notification said.The West Bengal government set up a committee in April 2022 comprising distinguished educationists – Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, Sugata Bose, Suranjan Das – to guide the state on its response to the National Education Policy, which was approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July. , 2020, replacing the 34-year-old National Policy on Education.

The committee submitted its findings to the West Bengal Education Department earlier this year."The said committee, after due deliberation and consultation with the stakeholders... submitted its recommendations... The State Government finalized the draft State Education Policy, 2023 based on the recommendations of the expert committee... The State Cabinet has approved. State Education Policy, 2023 in its meeting on August 7...Therefore, in view of all the above, the State Education Policy, 2023 is hereby notified as annexed to this notification with immediate effect,” the notice read.

An education department official said that the SEP has instructed to continue the 5+4+2+2 pattern for school education."The policy has been specified starting from one year of pre-primary, with four years of primary up to class IV, two years of secondary and two years of higher secondary," he told MEdia 

"The only change in the existing structure is that the first two years of education at an anganwadi center is comprised of one year of pre-primary, followed by one year of pre-primary. But the rest of the structure of primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary will remain the same," he said.At the higher education level, classes 11 and 12, semester-level examinations are specified over two semesters "to ease the gradual transition from school to university... with a combination of multiple-choice questions and descriptive questions".About the three language formula, he said "it will be introduced for students of classes 5 to 8 depending on the availability of infrastructure."

While the mother tongue as the first language will be the medium of instruction (Bengali in Bengali medium schools, Nepali in Nepali medium, Hindi in Hindi medium schools) which will also be determined by the linguistic and ethnic profile of the area, the second language will depend on the student's preferences (including English for local medium). Any other language should be.The third language “can be any other language chosen by the student, apart from the first and second languages.

At the primary level, the policy suggested that Bengali may be introduced as a subject from Class 1 to students of other mediums of education.The state has already devised a 4+1 formula for higher education where UG honors courses are designed for four years instead of three and PG courses for one year instead of two.Expert committee member Awek Majumdar told PTI, "We are happy that all our recommendations have been accepted by the government. For rationally structuring the school education sector and its smooth transition to the higher education level. We hope our recommendations will help our students. National and Global level to be equal with their counterparts."