DA Editorial Desk | Dhruba Deka
This week Agartala is hosting a two-day Education Conclave at Pragna Bhawan, on 13 and 14 October. It is organised by the Vidya Bharati Shiksha Samity Tripura together with MBB University, and Governor N. Indrasena Reddy is the chief guest. The gathering will review how far the National Education Policy 2020 has been put into practice in the state and discuss a five-year roadmap that looks ahead to 2030. Its recommendations are to be placed before the School Education and Higher Education departments. It is a modest-sounding event, but the question it takes up is among the most important any state can ask: what do we want our schools and colleges to deliver, and how will we know when they have?
The National Education Policy was announced in 2020 with an ambitious agenda. It speaks of a new school structure, early childhood education, a stronger focus on reading and arithmetic in the early grades, flexibility in the choice of subjects, more attention to vocational skills, teaching in the mother tongue where possible, and a more multidisciplinary approach in higher education. Education is a subject on which the Centre and the states share responsibility, so the policy’s progress depends heavily on decisions taken in state capitals. A conclave that brings together educators, administrators and academics to take stock of Tripura’s own experience is therefore a sensible idea.
Tripura has a particular story to tell. It is a small state with a diverse population, where Bengali and Kokborok are widely spoken, and where schools range from busy town campuses to modest buildings in hill and border areas.
Language is one example. The policy encourages the use of the home language or mother tongue in the early years, because children generally learn best in a language they understand. For Kokborok-speaking children, this is a matter of both learning and identity, and it is a subject that deserves patient, practical discussion. The best answers will come from teachers and parents who live with the results.
A second area is the foundation of learning. Few things matter more than whether a child can read with understanding and handle basic numbers by the end of primary school. Everything that follows rests on that base. A five-year roadmap would do well to set simple, measurable goals for the early years, to explain how progress will be checked, and to say how teachers will be supported when children fall behind. Clear goals help everyone, because they allow parents, schools and officials to talk about the same thing.
Teachers are the third. No policy succeeds without them, and none should be asked to carry new expectations without new support. Training, fair postings, manageable workloads and opportunities to learn from colleagues all shape what happens in a classroom. The conclave may usefully ask what teachers themselves need in order to carry out the reforms, and give them a voice in the conversation.
Higher education deserves equal attention. The policy encourages colleges and universities to offer broader choices, to connect classroom learning with practical skills, and to strengthen research. The presence of MBB University as a co-host suggests that the higher education community is ready to engage. For students in Tripura, the practical test is whether a degree here leads to meaningful work, further study, or the confidence to start something of their own.
It is also fair to say that some questions around any large reform are open. Educationists in India hold a range of views on the pace and design of the policy, on how its goals should be financed, and on how much freedom institutions should have. Healthy discussion welcomes these views. A roadmap is stronger when it has been tested against different perspectives.
Finally, a plan is only as useful as its follow-through. The decision to submit the conclave’s report to the two education departments is welcome, since it gives the discussion a destination. The next step is for the departments to share how they respond, publicly and in plain language, so that families and teachers can see which ideas were taken up and which were set aside, and why. Regular reviews, perhaps once a year, would let the state adjust its course as experience grows.
The young people of Tripura are the reason for all of this. They will enter a world of changing jobs and fast-moving technology, and they will need both strong basics and the ability to keep learning. The conclave is a chance to plan for that future with care, patience and an open mind. We wish the organisers and all participants a very productive and useful two days, and we hope that the final roadmap that emerges is realistic, inclusive and shared widely, so that the whole state can take part in building it.