National Education Policy 2020

Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, aimed at bringing many changes in the Indian education system - from school to college level.

The NEP is a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the country. The need for policy was first realized in 1964, when Congress MP Siddheshwar Prasad criticized the then government for lack of a vision and philosophy for education. In the same year, a 17-member Education Commission headed by UGC Chairman DS Kothari was formed to draft a national and coordinated policy on education. Based on the suggestions of this commission, the Parliament passed the first education policy in 1968.

 NEP 2020 aims to make India a "global knowledge superpower". The Cabinet has also approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Education. The NEP has approved by the Cabinet which is only the third major reform of the education structure in India since independence. The first two education policies were introduced in 1968 and 1986.

 

The new NEP usually arrives every few decades. This NEP has been applied 3 times in India. The first came under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi respectively in 1968 and the second in 1986; The 1986 NEP was amended in 1992 when PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister. The third is the NEP released during the prime ministership of Narendra Modi.

School Education

• Universalization of education from preschool to secondary level with 100% gross enrollment ratio "Gross Enrolment Ratio" (GER) in school education by 2030.

•  Bringing 2 crore school children back to the mainstream through an open schooling system.

 

•  The current 10 + 2 system is to be replaced by a new 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 curricular structure, aged 3–8, 8–11, 11–14, and 14–18, respectively.

 

 

• This will bring the unplanned age group of 3-6 years under the school curriculum, which has been globally recognized as a critical stage for the development of a child's mental faculties.

• It will have 3 years of Anganwadi / pre schooling along with 12 years of schooling.

 

• All students were allowed to take the exam twice, to make the class 10 and 12 board exams easier, to test core competencies rather than memorized facts.

 

• The school administration has been replaced with a new accreditation framework and independent authority, which will regulate both public and private schools.

 

• Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extra-curricular, vocational streams in schools.

• Vocational Education will now start from class 6 with Internship.

 

• Teaching at least grade 5 in mother tongue / regional language. No language will be imposed on any student.

 

• Evaluation improvement with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking student progress to achieve learning output

 

• A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) 2021, by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), in consultation with the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Will be made

• By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching is 4-year integrated B.Ed. Degree.

 

Higher Education

• Gross Enrolment Ratio in Higher Education will be increased to 50% by 2035. In addition, 3.5 crore seats will be added to higher education.

 

• The current gross enrolment ratio (Gross Enrolment Ratio, GER) in higher education is 26.3%.

 

• The overall undergraduate education with a flexible curriculum can be 3 or 4 years old with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.

 

• M.Phil courses will be discontinued and all courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level will now be interdisciplinary.

 

• Academic Bank of Credit should be established to facilitate transfer of credit.

 

• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERU), IIT, IIM, will be established as the best multi-disciplinary education model of global standards in the country.

 

• The National Research Foundation will act as an apex body to foster a strong research culture and build research capacity for higher education.

 

• The Higher Education Commission of India, Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single body for all higher education except medical and legal education. Public (public) and private higher education institutions are regulated (governed), The same criteria for accreditation and academic standards will be governed by the same set of criteria. In addition, HECI will have four independent departments.1. National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation. 

2. General Education Council (GEC) for standard setting. 

3. Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding. 

4. National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation. 

 

• Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a mechanism has to be put in place to provide graded autonomy to colleges.

 

• Over time, each college is expected to grow into an autonomous degree-granting college or a constituent college of a university.

 

Other Changes

• An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), to provide a platform for free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration. Will be built.

 

• National Assessment Center - 'PARAKH' has been created to assess the students.

• It also paves the way for foreign universities to establish campuses in India.

• It lays emphasis on the establishment of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Areas for disadvantaged areas and groups.

 

• National Institute for Pali, Persian (Prakrit) and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation will be established.

 

• It aims to bring public investment in the education sector to 6% of GDP at the earliest.

 

• Currently, India spends around 4.6% of its total GDP on education.

 

Education In India

 

Constitutional provisions:

• Part IV of the Indian Constitution, Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of the Directive Principles of State Policy Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), provides for state-funded and equal and accessible education. 

The 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976 shifted education from the state to the concurrent list.

 

• Education policies by the central government provide a broad direction and state governments are expected to follow it. But this is not mandatory, for example, Tamil Nadu does not follow the three-language formula laid down by the First Education Policy in 1968.

 

The 86th amendment in 2002 made education an enforceable right under Article 21-A.

 

Related Laws:

• The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 aims to provide primary education to all children between the ages of 6 to 14 and to implement education as a fundamental right.

It also mandates 25% reservation for the disadvantaged sections of the society where the disadvantaged groups are.

Government Initiatives:

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Navodaya Vidyalaya (NVS schools), Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV schools) and use of IT in education are the result of 1986 NEP.

This is a progressive change towards the scientific approach towards education. This structure will help in completing the stages of cognitive development of the child as well as social and physical awareness capacity. If it is implemented in its true terms, this structure can bring India on par with the world's leading countries.

 

 

 

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