A Study on National Education Policy 2020 Concerning Career Opportunities

Education is the key to achieve overall development and acquire human potential, developing an equitable and just society, and promoting development. Providing universally quality education which is a pivotal element in success, leadership on the global stage in terms of economic growth, social justice, equality, scientific advancement, cultural preservation, and national integration. Indeed, with the quickly changing employment landscape and global ecosystem, it is becoming increasingly critical that students not only learn but, more importantly, learn how to learn. Education, thus, must move towards less content and more towards critical thinking and problemsolving approach. The pedagogy of NEP-2020 must make students evolve with experiential, holistic, integrated, inquiry-driven, discovery oriented, learner-centered, discussion-based, and flexible, and of course, enjoyable. The world is undergoing rapid change in the knowledge scape. Today’s education should not offer a mere degree, but should be capable of imparting skills, technical knowledge, job-oriented training and should bring employment to the degree holders. It is to wish that the new education system should bring career opportunities to the students by imparting quality education with a universal approach and learner-centric pedagogy. In this context, this paper focuses on the new education policy w.r.t. its scope towards career opportunities in the coming era in achieving full employment.


Introduction
Education is not a new phenomenon in the human race on earth. The man started learning and also "earning while learning" since time immemorial. Nature itself is the first "guru" or "teacher" to us. Though the nomenclature is not known to the early man, "what he was doing" is called "a job or a profession or an occupation," he was futuristic and job oriented and productive in all his activities.
Though the work he was doing may not be smart or scientific in a way, he was always on the job. The question of unemployment or unproductive doesn't raise. With the changes in the culture, civilization, and life style of human beings, we started realizing the significance of education. We realized that, for a proper job to earn, the man felt the necessity of education.
In the olden days, during the kings' regime, Gurukulas are encouraged, wherein education they mean, all-round development. The students were taught all the works like gardening, cooking, carpentry, hunting, fishing, and all other works, making them overall capable.
With the advent of commerce, trade, business, and industrialization, there is a paradigm shift in employment.

Review of Literature National Education Policy (1966)
In India, Social Work Education was commenced in the year 1936, with the establishment of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. In the post-independence reforms, education was given prominence. In the year 1966, the first education policy was announced. This was aimed at "Radical Restructuring" and aimed at equal education opportunities to achieve complete education with national integration. This policy aimed at promoting the significance of education among the Indians; primary education, secondary education are given priority, and the establishment of schools in both rural and urban areas.

National Education Policy (1986)
The National Education Policy of 1986 aimed at promoting minority education, education for women equality, education of SC, ST, and backward sections, and emphasis was more given towards equal education opportunities and education to all sections of the society. This new education policy has given the highest priority in solving the problem of school dropouts and adopt an array of meticulously formulated strategies based on microplanning and applied at the grass-root levels of all over the country. A national mission was launched for the achievement of this NEP in 1986.
Based on the literature review of education policy of 1966 and 1986, it is observed that the NEP of 1966 emphasized equal education to all, and the NEP of 1986 gave prominence to women education and promoting minorities education, and reducing dropouts from the schools. The new education policy envisaged the relevance of a practical approach to making students job oriented. The curriculum includes a multidisciplinary approach varied courses aiming towards the overall development of students.

Statement of the Problem
The millennium is globally progressed and technologically advanced. To stand on par with the changes taking place, the education policy should be practical. The study is focused on the NEP 2020 highlights and the career opportunities that can be envisaged from the factors emphasized by the new NEP.

Objectives of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem, the following objectives are taken for the study: 1. To enumerate the highlights of NEP 2020. 2. To analyze views of academicians and educationists on the career opportunities that are emphasized by the NEP 2020.

Research Methodology
The study is descriptive, and the analysis is made based on views collected on 5-point Likert Scale. The primary data is collected by giving questionnaires to the respondents, and secondary data is collected from the Government draft on NEP 2020 and officially published data. The sample size is taken as 100. Eighty-nine respondents gave their views on the issue. The convenience sampling method is used. Mean and S.D. is used under descriptive statistics, and ANOVA (one-way classification) is used for analytical statistics.

Scope of the Study
The study is focused on the career opportunities providing in the NEP 2020 based on the high lights emphasized.
Data Analysis -based on views of respondents (89) using Likert's Scale 1. Of 89 respondents, 76% strongly agree that the new education policy will improve and sustain quality in our educational institutions. 21% are neutral on this statement while the remaining 3% did not agree with the statement.
2. Out of 89 respondents, 64% agree that the new education policy brings complete literacy by 2050, followed by 29% are neutral on this, while the remaining 7% did not agree with the statement.
3. Of 89 respondents, 81% opined strongly that the NEP 2020 should be implemented at the earliest to bring qualitative changes in the courses at university/college and school levels. 19% are neutral on this statement.
4. Out of 89 respondents, 56% only agreed that the NEP 2020 would bring profound changes in the employment requirement criteria of companies. 36% are neutral on this, while 8% did not agree with the statement.
5. Out of 89 respondents, 82% respondents strongly agree that the NEP 2020 emphasizes the promotion of vocation courses such as electrical works, carpentry, plumbing, interior decors, while 10% are neutral on this and 8% did not agree with the statement.
6. Of 89 respondents, 84% strongly agree that the NEP will expand career opportunities through a multidisciplinary approach and bucket system of selecting subjects by the students. 10% are neutral on this, while 6% did not agree with the statement.
Testing of Hypothesis -using ANOVA (One-way classification) Student-centric learning is challenging for the educational institutions as it must train and mold them to suit the market demand 3.0111 3.087 Hypothesis is accepted Key Findings of the Study 1. The deviation between academicians and educationists is more; this shows that the educationists should share their thoughts on NEP to bring various highlights. 2. Complete literacy is associated with many factors such as family background, the financial position of the family, interest among the students, qualitative curriculum, and so on. 3. Delay in implementing NEP 2020 will make the students forego opportunities associated with their course duration, and the market requirements may change day to day. 4. The multidisciplinary approach is going to change the recruitment requirements of many companies in India. 5. Vocational courses are going to gain momentum in the new NEP 2020. 6. This new NEP will expand career opportunities through a multidisciplinary approach and bucket system of selecting subjects by the students. 7. Many of the objectives of NEP 1992 and NEP of 2020 match, only the implementation in the yester years is not done. 8. This multidisciplinary approach is not a new phenomenon; it is started by META University of New Delhi many years back. 9. The course curriculum should be productive to yield a good career opportunity to form students on its completion. 10. The curriculum should be designed to suit the needs of the students and meeting market requirements. 11. The NEP 2020 is a challenging task as it more emphasized student-centric learning.

Conclusion
Implementing high-quality education can open a vast array of possibilities in employment, business, entrepreneurship, and teaching fields. NEP 2020 can uplift both individuals and communities out of the cycles of disadvantage. The students can opt for varied subjects in the courses across and can gain diversified knowledge, which enables them to choose a career productively. Vocational courses have opened the doors of self-employment, meeting the needs of the community and society. A special emphasis is given to SDGs as SDG 4 is w.r.t "Education" and education can make other SDGs achieve by 2030, as laid down in the policy. This new policy focused on music, arts, and instruments, which will pave the way for new career opportunities for talented or aspiring towards these courses.
Technological innovation in education can bring new opportunities to the students who desire to excel in software jobs and hardware as both are two sides of a coin for the IT industry.
Hence, let's hope that the NEP 2020 will bring full-fledged career opportunities to aspiring students who want to attain holistic development through a multidisciplinary approach.