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The Union Ministry of Education on Monday released an implementation plan for school education to achieve the goals and objectives laid down by the new National Education Policy 2020. It stated that the department has already initiated implementation of the NEP by undertaking a few activities in accordance with the recommendations of the policy. One of the most salient features includes the signing of an MoU between Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) and NCERT to develop an Indian Sign Language Dictionary for school education. This will ensure the availability of textbooks and other educational material for hearing-impaired children in sign language in all schools across the country.

The NEP entails that students acquire skills at a young age for effective development and thus it is essential to provide them with the suitable educational material as per their learning requirements. Until now, hearing-impaired children studied through the verbal or written medium in schools. With the MoU signed, these kids will now be able to study through a single medium Indian Sign Language which will, in turn, enhance their vocabulary at a tender age and capabilities to understand concepts better.

The Ministry's release also stated that as a part of the Central Board of Secondary Education's examination reforms, the board is set to "introduce an improvement examination from the year 2021 and will also introduce English and Sanskrit in two levels from the session 2021-22 (it already offers Mathematics and Hindi at two levels). Competency-based questions have been introduced in the Board exams for Class X and XII in a phased manner, increasing by 10 per cent every year." The CBSE board was already offering two levels of Mathematics and Hindi one comparatively easy and one advanced to reduce the stress levels of students. READ ALSO:Pokhriyal reviews work done under NEP 2020, recommends task force for proper implementation The release also spoke on E-learning being expanded through the DIKSHA platform. "DIKSHA provides access to a large number of curriculum-linked e-content through several solutions such as QR coded energised textbooks (ETBs), courses for teachers, quizzes etc. Till date, DIKSHA houses over 3600 QR coded textbooks (tagged with e-content) from 29 states, 1.44 lakh e contents and more than 300 courses," it read.

Since the policy has been designed for the next two decades, various recommendations stated in it have different timelines for implementation. This is why the policy would be implemented in a phased manner, the ministry said while announcing the next course of action regarding the NEP 2020 in its release.

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Textbooks in Indian Sign Language, CBSE to bring in two levels for English and Sanskrit, as part of NEP - EdexLive