NEP- 2020 aims at teaching employability skills

“Change is the only thing that is constant”. How right was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus when he uttered these words! However, don’t we as a nation ignore this cardinal principle in so many walks of life? We thrive on systems that are outdated, laws that are redundant, and sometimes mindsets that are needed like a hole in the head!
Let us take the example of the Indian Post Office Act,of 1898 which gives the Government the sole privilege of conveying letters from one place to another! As per this law, each and every one of us becomes a defaulter the very moment we take out our mobile phones to connect via e-mail, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Facebook! In the same flow, giving the children theorems, formulas, and definitions to memorize and fetch it up in the exams and then crack an entrance and interview to land up in a standard, handed-down profession is allthere is to today’s education system. This might be what was envisioned in the initial days when India was thickly into the Industrial Revolution, and rightly so,because manpower was all there was, Artificial Intelligence being unheard of.
However, we have seen many blue moons since then, and it is time to move on. In today’s world where Alexa can switch on your fan and a car with GPS will take you where you want without touching the steering wheel,a youngster will definitely think beyond,and when he realizes that his mind has been trained to think, act,work and earn within certain set boundaries, his reaction might not be a kind one. We do not want to leave our children frustrated and exasperated with what we gave them packaged as education. We want them to beglad, envisioned, and empowered with the skill set they carry from their school and college, like the weapons of a Goddess, to vanquish all the boundaries that limit them and thwart their creativity. Won’t you want thatfor your child? Put in simple words, if our education system is just giving the child rote knowledge (required for standard professions), Artificial Intelligence will easily be able to take over the children’s skill set in the near future. That might leave them jobless and aimless.
Readiness for the future is the call of the hour. Knowing how to apply the theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom is of utmost importance. The child must have the adaptability to compete in the everevolving job market where a particular form of employment might be here today and gone tomorrow, like the Kodak photographic film. The children must develop flexibility and resilience to defeat machines in their own game, and the best way to do it is to prepare them as Entrepreneurs of the future who know how to create that new business, or that new profession, and generate long-term economic usefulness for the country. Let them not seek employment in the already created design, but envision and construct a new vocation, a new line of work unheard of, and be a pioneer. 
After all, the creators of Ola cabs, Alibaba, Twitter, Zoom, Amazon, are people who not only refused to toe the traditional line but had the type of mental strength and intelligence to visualize, create, and market concepts unheard and unthought-of. They brought about a circumgyration that must be kept in motion by revolutionizing the job industry and work culture to suit a dynamic 21st Century Bharat.
The NEP 2020 says:Each and every child of school-going age must have ACCESS to education which must be AFFORDABLE.. Both formal and informal modes of education are being pitched, through Open Schooling.Fairness and inclusion of children in education regardless of gender and background on the principle of EQUITY has been envisioned The QUALITY of the education so imparted will be visible in the future, in the productivity and sustainability the youngsters achieve in their livelihood.
This, along with the introduction of Counsellors and social workers into the schooling system also brings the ACCOUNTABILITY of the system into the picture.The NEP 2020 smartly focuses on core literacy and numeracy and introduces Computer and coding classes. It also aims at teaching employability skills to children between classes 3 to 12. The curriculum will be revamped and the methodology of teaching will be reviewed so that the children get the most out of the prime years of education.Once critical thinking skills are fuelled in the children, imagination, and innovation will soon follow. 
This holistic approach to education takes every child’s needs and talent into account. It is bound to bear fruit in the future by creating a workforce that thinks, modifies, creates, and wins. The future is here - Unstoppable, Invincible,Incredible. Armed with augmented reality, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence... pulsating with new energy and purpose, raring to go, and take the nation to dizzy heights with it. That’s NEP 2020 for you!

(Writer is Delhi based)