The Department of School Education & Literacy has declared the celebration period of Shiksha Saptah a week for the celebration of education reforms from July 22, 2024, to July 28, 2024. Through this, it shall try to bring out and further the goals set up by NEP 2020, so more collaboration and impactful education-based changes come about between students, educators, and all affiliated stakeholders.

It will also involve the events, workshops, seminars, and activities of Shiksha Saptah, or “Education Week,” across schools and other educational institutions in the nation. Informed by knowledge and learning, these activities will empower students, teachers, and school administrators to realize that education and literacy are very important for shaping the future of the nation.

The NEP 2020 is a landmark policy brought out with the mission of transforming the Indian education system into one which is holistic, flexible, multi-disciplinary, relevant to the 21st century, and driven by individual unique capabilities. It lays emphasis on experiential learning, critical thinking, and creativity and shuns rote learning and examination-oriented education.

During Shiksha Saptah, interactive sessions will be conducted in schools, where students will have a chance to meet educational leaders, policymakers, and other innovators. Many of these sessions will bring out the real practical implications of NEP 2020 reforms concerning technology integration in classrooms, vocational training, and life skills education. Added to this will be the focus areas under the policy, such as early childhood care and education, foundational literacy and numeracy, universalization of education from preschool to secondary level.

Under the NEP, teachers and school heads will participate in professional development programs to enhance their teaching methodologies and administrative competence at schools. These include updated pedagogical skills, efficient classroom management, and digital tools to design interactive and engaging learning environments.

Communities, too, would actively participate in Shiksha Saptah. Participation of local organisations, grievances from local bodies and parental participation would be encouraged. All this would be for creating an enabling environment so that the responsibility of education gets transformed into a community-driven movement. Community leaders and volunteers will participate in literacy drives, book donation drives, and also engage in awareness programmes as part of sensitising the need to educate and learn throughout life.

The week will also see the launch of several new initiatives and resources on education that were developed based on the framework of NEP 2020: digital libraries, online learning platforms, and resource centers that allow access to quality educational material for students and teachers. Special attention in this regard will be paid to marginalized communities so that bridging of educational gaps becomes possible.

The Department of School Education & Literacy strongly believes that Shiksha Saptah will act as a catalyst in bringing about excellence and innovation in education. The initiative provides a platform for creating a vision of the future of education in India inclusive, equitable, and empowering all by engaging multiple stakeholders in the process. The week-long celebration is not only one of recognition of the progress made so far, but it is also a stage-setting of continued advancements in the education sector.

In other words, Shiksha Saptah is going to be a week of transformation that further cements the truly standing base of the NEP 2020 and looks toward a more educated and literate society. A collective effort in this week will lay the basic foundation for sustained development in education, ensuring every child in India has access to quality education and a chance to thrive