New India Manifesto –  Chapter 8: National Education and Extracurricular Interconnectivity System (NEEIS)

Introduction

The major problem of the Indian education system is the excessive importance placed by schools, teachers and parents on academic grades and entrance examinations. Children are preparing for various competitive examinations for their entire academic life. Arts, sports and other life skills are totally ignored as it is considered a waste of time. Most parents channel students to the academic arena for grades as they believe it is how their children can succeed in life and get a job.

Most schools and colleges ignore sports. Most schools and colleges do not have a sports day. The sports activities are scattered as students play football and cricket in an unorganised manner, which is the only sporting activity in most schools. Hijacking sports periods in time table by other subject tutors is common in schools.

Existing educational institutions that specialise sports have inept sports coaching, provide low-nutrition food, lack sports rehab facilities, limited availability of sports scholarships, and lower success in sports also leads to dropout.

Innovations in different subjects are also not appropriately nurtured at nascent stages, crushing their skills and dreams. As a result, successful science innovations are currently limited to prestigious institutions like IIT. Moreover, most schools do not promote science and engineering fairs as it will affect the academic schedule.

There is no system for the differently abled at all that gives hope to them. Patriarchal societies in India do not allow girl students to travel long distances to nurture their sports, science and art dreams. Even if some girls can overcome these challenges, they are let down by the inefficient system.

National Education and Extracurricular Interconnectivity System

NEEIS aims to provide an all-in-one solution at the lowest investment for creating Nobel laureates, Olympians, artists, scientists, social scientists and many more. NEEIS promotes co-curricular activities and extracurricular activities at the same time with a centralised system.

The first step is to select a location in every district in India that can host multiple students and the public at the same time. The facility should have residential facilities, labs, sports grounds, and indoor and outdoor facilities. The facility is supposed to handle at least 1000 people in a day. Building something like this all over India in different districts requires at least 50,000 crores. It is a considerable burden, and instead of doing that, the best alternative to do it without spending a significant amount is to convert Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya’s into NEEIS.

Why Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Conversion is the Best Choice?

Talented students from different locations in a district are studying in Navodaya schools. The student capacity of 661 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya is less than three lakhs. Only a few students from the 14 crores+ student population of the same group are currently getting the opportunity to advance academically via JNVs. The new system is aimed at helping 35 crore school and college students of all age groups and the rest of the Indian population on multiple fronts, from academics to sports. Since JNV students hail from different sub-districts within a district and from different locations within a subdistrict, the existing students can be easily accommodated in schools nearby their homes. Every JNV has a residential facility, sports facility and classrooms and a campus in a large area, which cannot be seen in many private and public schools.

NEEIS Software and Working Model

The software will be built with online and offline facilities, which can be synced when the computer is online. The following are the functions of NEEIS and the software.

NEEIS will organise different types of school fairs and ensure they are organised without fail. The software will ensure data collection of social science fairs, science fairs, arts fairs and other fairs organised within schools with image and video proof. If direct inspection is required, NEEIS will send staff to monitor the compliance of schools and colleges directly.

The software will also ensure the data collection of various sports organised in schools, including indoor and outdoor sports. Each sport’s school and college teams will be shared with the software and monitored by the district block of NEEIS, i.e. converted JNV. In addition, the video and image proof of sports activities will be collected to ensure that each school and college complies with the norms of the sport.

The software will make a direct registration system available to students and the public. So, if a student or a public member feels they have a particular skill set that can be utilised for a specific sport, they can visit the district block directly. If selected directly, they will be funded scholarships for furthering their sporting abilities. So, for example, if a person can run 100m within a particular time record or a cricket bowler who can consistently bowl 140+ km/h, such talents can be directly identified via this district block. The person’s age does not matter, and people of any age can access this facility.

The district block will function as a middleman to cater for the public’s scientific curiosities and other skills. It is difficult to notice if a commoner comes up with an invention as the information is scattered and too localised. The district block will provide a platform for such ideas to be seen nationally. It will play a role in helping patent the concept and also helping to find investors to help proceed with their innovation. The district facility will be a direct walk-in facility, and there is no restriction for anyone based on age, gender or other factors. The software will be used to popularise these findings. Ideas for start-ups can find pitching ground at these places as the district block of NEEIS will function as the intermediary.

District-level competitions of various sports will be organised at the district blocks, and all schools, irrespective of their boards (ICSE, CBSE State Board, matriculation etc.), will participate together. Once an individual is selected at the district level, it is the responsibility of the blocks to assist them in enhancing their sporting career.

District-level social science fairs, mathematics fairs, science fairs, art fairs and other fairs will be organised at various district blocks. In addition, scholarships and other forms of assistance will nurture the selected students from the district level. Since the district blocks have sports grounds and residential facilities, it will be easy to organise large-scale events. Furthermore, state- and national-level fairs will be arranged at the NEEIS facility and monitored by the NEEIS authority.

NCC, NSS, and environmental volunteers can organise district-level camps at this facility. In addition, Police Cadets recruited from students and Student Disaster Response Force for the school level (9th standard to 12th standard) and college level (first year to final year) can organise camps at district blocks to serve the community.

Life coaching sections for teaching faculty and students can be organised at district facilities. Moreover, essential topics such as sex education and menstrual education, which are not adequately covered by the current educational system, can be introduced using district blocks as bridge facilities that facilitate these.

Skill development programmes for students, teachers and community members can be organised at the facility.

The current faculty of JNV need to be retained. However, they must evaluate and monitor the activities organised at NEEIS under a new role.

A mini server will be installed with videos of all events stored offline and online at district NEEIS. This ensures no bias or discrimination in schools, colleges, or NEEIS district blocks towards a religion, caste or gender.

Lab facilities and equipment are available for hire within the facility. Students who independently pursue research without a guide can use these facilities.

NEEIS will monitor the elections in schools and colleges, ensuring the institutions’ compliance.

NEEIS Accommodating Capacity

NEEIS has an already established infrastructure as part of JNV schools and can accommodate 700 students and the public in one day. The facility can be expanded and modified to cater to 1000+ students daily. It means one district facility can support 4 lakh people every year. When all 661 JNVs are converted, it can cater to 27 crore people yearly. It is the capacity of all the facilities combined.

Income Prospects

By organising canteens and food parks inside the facility, the parents of students and public entrants can provide an income-earning prospect for the facility.

Lab facilities and equipment are available for hire within the facility. Students who independently pursue research without a guide can use these facilities.

Private companies can hire these places for camps and other residential activities. They can also organise competitions at these places.

Self-Innovation Learning System tier-based exams can be organised at this place. The residential facility and exam halls can fetch a significant amount for NEEIS.

Funding

The central and state governments should share funds and responsibility for organising fairs and events.

Place for Hope

The NEEIS should be built as a place for hope, not a government office. A person who visits and leaves the place should feel happy and proud of that place. The social interaction of members working at the district level NEEIS should be trained to be pleasant and appealing to the public.

Employment

1 lakh+ people will get direct employment in all NEEIS district blocks. In addition, contract and self-employment jobs, such as food stores for at least 3 lakh people, can be generated inside the National Education and Extracurricular Interconnectivity System facility.

Special Note: This is the eighth chapter of the book New India Manifesto by Blessen T. Sam. The concepts introduced in this book are unique, and referencing the book and the author is appreciated. Purchase a print copy of the book from Amazon or Flipkart.