National Education Policy
Overview
- Introduction
- Purpose
- Fundamental Principle
- School Education
- Higher Education
- Other Changes
- Role of Government Departments
Introduction
- National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century.
- Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 intending to introduce several changes in the Indian education system – from the school to college level.
- The Cabinet has also approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Education.
- The NEP cleared by the Cabinet is only the third major revamp of the framework of education in India since independence.
- The two earlier education policies were brought in 1968 and 1986.
Purpose
- The NEP 2020 aims at making “India a global knowledge superpower”.
- The new education policy must help recruit the very best and brightest to enter the teaching profession at all levels.
- The new education policy must help re-establish teachers, at all levels, as the most respected and essential members of our society.
- It must provide to all students, irrespective of their place of residence, a quality education system, with particular focus on historically marginalized, disadvantaged, and underrepresented groups. Education is a great leveler and is the best tool for achieving economic and social mobility, inclusion, and equality.
Fundamental Principle
- Recognizing, identifying, and fostering the unique capabilities of each student
- Flexibility, so that learners can choose their learning trajectories and programs
- No hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular
- Activities, between vocational and academic streams
- Emphasis on conceptual understanding
- Creativity and critical thinking to encourage logical decision-making and innovation
- Promoting multilingualism and the power of language
- Focus on regular formative assessment for learning
- Extensive use of technology in teaching and learning
- Teachers and faculty as the heart of the learning process – their recruitment, continuous, professional development, positive working environments, and service conditions
- Continuous review of progress
School Education
New Structure of School Education
| Age Group | Class | Stage |
| (3-6) | Pre-School | Foundational |
| (6-8) | Class 1 & 2 | Foundational |
| (8-11) | Class 3 to 5 | Preparatory |
| (11-14) | Class 6 to 8 | Middle |
| (14-18) | Class 9 to 12 | Secondary |
- The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
- It will bring the uncovered age group of 3-6 years under the school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for the development of mental faculties of a child.
- It will also have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre-schooling.
- Class 10 and 12 board examinations to be made easier, to test core competencies rather than memorized facts, with all students allowed to take the exam twice.
- School governance is set to change, with a new accreditation framework and an independent authority to regulate both public and private schools.
- Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with Internships.
- Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/regional language. No language will be imposed on any student.
- Assessment reforms with 360-degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes
- A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) 2021, will be formulated by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in consultation with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
- By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.
Higher Education
- Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50% by 2035. Also, 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
- The current Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 26.3%.
- Holistic Undergraduate education with a flexible curriculum can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.
- Phil courses will be discontinued and all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level will now be interdisciplinary.
- Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits.
- Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
- The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
- Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single umbrella body for the entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and academic standards. Also, HECI will be having four independent verticals namely,
- National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation,
- General Education Council (GEC) for standard-setting,
- Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,
- National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation.
- Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
- Over some time, every college is expected to develop into either an autonomous degree-granting College or a constituent college of a university.
Other Changes
- An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration.
- National Assessment Centre- ‘PARAKH’ has been created to assess the students.
- It also paves the way for foreign universities to set up campuses in India.
- It emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions, and groups.
- National Institute for Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up.
- It also aims to increase the public investment in the Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.
- Currently, India spends around 4.6 % of its total GDP on education.
Role of Government Departments
- State Department- look after Policy Making
- Directorate of Education- look after Operations
- SCERT- look after academics
- State School Standard Authority – set a minimum common standard for online self-disclosure by all public and private schools
- Strengthening the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) for developing, articulating, evaluating, and revising the vision of education continuously.
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