GS4 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Role of Ethics in CNP, NEP | UPSC Mains: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude PDF Download

(A) Discuss the role of ethics and values in enhancing the following three major components of Comprehensive National Power (CNP) viz. human capital, soft power (culture and policies) and social harmony. (UPSC MAINS GS4)

• Peace is a fundamental pre-condition for human development. There has been a view that human development will lead to peace. But the weight of historical evidence confirms that it is the state of peace and an assured sense of security that allows human development to be effectively nurtured and sustained. A nation’s strength lies in its harnessing a wide spectrum of its resources — from natural resources to human resources to its economic and military potential. 
• CNP is a realistic broad-based assessment of a nation’s power and its ability to influence global issues as a significant ‘player’ — this involves positive participation in multilateral diplomatic activities, big power diplomacy and crucial constructive role in key international and regional affairs. Coupled with soft power that would emanate as a result of consolidation of CNP, the nation would be in a position to immunise itself from any adverse impact of globalisation. 
• Comprehensive national power is a critical constituent for building and conducting international relations. And while moral force is an integral component, the spectrum of total national power goes far beyond it. National comprehensive power is necessary if the country is to ensure an environment of peace in which to pursue human development unhindered by negative impulses. Unsurprisingly, India’s rise in the twenty-first century has drawn attention of the scholars worldwide. 
• Global-watchers remain perplexed as to how India would behave when it amasses sufficient power to decisively influence world-affairs, particularly when few regard India as a rising superpower. And here role of ethics and value become most crucial to shape the overall policy of a country in this context.

Topics Covered - Role of Values

(B) “Education is not an injunction, it is an effective and pervasive tool for all-round development of an individual and social transformation”. Examine the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP, 2020) in light of the above statement.

• The main purpose of education is to educate individuals within society, to prepare and qualify them for work in the economy as well as to integrate people into society and to teach values and morals of society. Education in society prepares youngsters for adulthood so that they may form the next generation of leaders. Education is essential for the overall development of an individual and helps them in socializing in an effective manner.
• So, the delivery of the education system should have sustainable and positive impacts on children for their multidirectional development. For the delivery of effective education, the role of the education system and its policies comes in. In India, the education system was also grappled with multiple deficiencies. And it is after almost three decades, a revolutionary change was brought to the Indian Education system by the formulation of National Education Policy 2020.
• It aims for an Indian education system that focuses directly on transforming our nation sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all. The current education policy proposes a number of ways for the overall development of individuals by making space for critical thinking. It emphasizes more holistic, inquiry, and discussion-based learning. It gives equal importance to co-curricular activities such as arts, sports, vocational skills, etc.
• It emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to learning rather than subject or stream-based learning. This would help in prospering the dimensions of developmental stages of students and will help in developing a practical approach towards life and future. The new education policy aims at producing an engaged, productive, inclusive, and plural society. It brings more inclusiveness by lowering down the enrollment age from 6 years to 3 years.
• It will help in bringing the children from a weaker socio-economic background into the ambit of preschool learning. The provision of imparting primary education in vernacular language is also going to impact and ease the education for children. An entire section is also dedicated to the education of girls, transgender and children with special needs, Dalits, and victims of trafficking. This inclusiveness is surely going to prove a breakthrough in terms of the socialization of the issues of marginal societies and neglected sections of societies.
• It will certainly dovetail the gaps in the existing education system to bring more innovation and inclusivity in society and individuals. By bringing down the dropouts by doing the provision of certificates, diplomas, and degrees for higher education, the new education policy is certainly going to prove a potential policy in terms of the overall development of society. Though, it lags on some parameters, for example, teachers’ training program and certain clauses of the education delivery system.
• NEP 2020 lays out an encouragingly hopeful vision for the future if successive governments can stay true to it. However, for it to be a truly national vision, it would be appropriate for it to be discussed and adopted by Parliament in the manner that the National Policy on Education 1986 was, which allowed it to stand the test of time. Without parliamentary approval, any such policy remains an executive decision that runs the risk of being arbitrarily overturned by a future government.

Topics Covered - New Education Policy, 2020