New Education Policy 2020

Need For The New Policy

The Union cabinet recently approved the National Education Policy, 2020, which is a seminal moment
that sets out the path for education in the country for the next 20 years. In the three decades since the
last National Education Policy 1986/1992 was formulated, the social, political and economic environment
in India and the world has changed significantly. The economy has opened up, social structures have
changed, there is increased participation in political, social and economic processes. New global
challenges have emerged, while rapid advances in technology present both opportunities and challenges
to human well-being.

India has made progress — education is now recognised as a fundamental right, access to
education at different stages has increased dramatically and important curricular reforms have been
made. However, equity and quality of education still remain challenges. While, the country has some
world class institutions, it still struggles to create similarly effective learning opportunities. NEP, 2020 is
a response to these changes and challenges. It is also a response to the unfinished education agenda
set by the two previous education policies of 1968 and1986/1992. In doing so, it changes the name of
the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Education.

Based on two committee reports (TSR Subramanian Committee in 2016 and the K Kasturirangan
Committee) and extensive nationwide consultations, NEP 2020 seeks to address the entire gamut of
education from preschool to doctoral studies, and from professional degrees to vocational training.

Various Provisions Of The Policy

A. School Structure

In a significant shift from the 1986 policy, which pushed for a 10+2 structure of school education, the
new NEP proposes a 5+3+3+4 design corresponding to the age groups 3-8 years (foundational
stage), 8-11 (preparatory), 11-14 (middle), and 14-18 (secondary).

This brings early childhood education (also known as pre-school education for children of ages 3 to
5) under the ambit of formal schooling and proposes the extension of the Right to Education (RTE)
to all children up to the age of 18.

B. New Learning Framework

A new curricular framework is to be introduced, including the pre-school and anganwadi years. The school
curriculum overhaul will come in the shape of a new National Curricular Framework for School

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 Education (or NCFSE 2020-21), which will be undertaken by the National Council of Educational
Research and Training (NCERT).

A National Mission on Foundational Literacy

and Numeracy will ensure basic skills at the
Class 3 level by 2025.

Students will begin classes on coding as well

as vocational activities from Class 6
onwards. Indian knowledge systems,
including tribal and indigenous knowledge,
will be incorporated into the curriculum in an
accurate and scientific manner.

Further, the policy advocates the

introduction of contemporary subjects such as artificial intelligence, design thinking, holistic health
and organic living.

C. Medium of Instruction

Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and
beyond, will be the home language/ mother tongue/ local language/ regional language.

Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible.
This will be followed by both public and private schools.

Following widespread protests, the reference to Hindi and English in the draft NEP regarding the
three-language formula has been dropped from the final policy document. The three languages
learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and of the students, so long as at least two
of the three languages are native to India.

D. Reforms in Examination

The new policy talks about moving away from high-stakes examinations towards more continuous
and comprehensive evaluation.

It aims to reform Board exams, through a reduction in the syllabus to retain core essentials” and a
thrust on experiential learning and critical thinking. The focus will be on testing concepts and
knowledge application.

All students will be allowed to take Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school
year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired.

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 There will be an aptitude test on the lines of SAT in the US for entrance into colleges and Board
results alone will no longer determine admission.

To be overseen by the National Testing Agency (NTA), these tests will serve as a common entrance
exam across the country with universities free to add other criteria. However, universities can choose
to disregard NTA assessments altogether and continue with their own entrance exams

E. Higher Education Institutions

The new policy marks a significant shift in the format of undergraduate education with the introduction
of the four-year multidisciplinary Bachelor’s programme, with exit options.

While the traditional three-year BA, B.Sc, and B.Voc degrees will continue, under the four-year
programme, students can exit after one year with a certificate, after two years with a diploma,
and after three years with a Bachelor’s degree.

The 4-year multidisciplinary Bachelor’s programme, however, shall be the preferred option since it
allows the opportunity to experience the full range of holistic and multidisciplinary education.

The four-year programme may also lead to a degree with Research if the student completes a
rigorous research project in their major area(s) of study.

To enroll for a Ph.D, a Master’s degree or a 4-year Bachelor’s degree with Research shall be required.
The M.Phil programme shall be discontinued.

In a first of its kind proposal, an Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) shall be established which would
digitally store the academic credits earned from various recognised HEIs and will also make it easier
to transfer between institutions.

NEP calls for a transparent mechanism for fixing fees with an upper limit, for different types of
institutions depending on their accreditation. This will empower private HEIs to set fees for their
programmes independently, though within the laid out norms and the broad applicable regulatory
mechanism.

F. Multidisciplinary Institutions

The policy proposes the phasing out of all institutions offering single streams (such as technical
education) over time.

All universities and colleges must aim to become multidisciplinary by 2040. Even engineering
institutions, such as IITs, will be expected to move towards more holistic and multidisciplinary
education with more arts and humanities.

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 Students of arts and humanities will aim to learn more science and all will make an effort to incorporate
more vocational subjects and soft skills.

G. Foreign Universities

Paving the way for foreign universities to set up campuses in India, the new policy states that the
world’s top 100 universities will be facilitated to operate in the country through a new law.

Such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content
norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.

H. Increase In Gross Enrolment Ratio

The NEP emphasises universal access to schools, and aims to bring two crore out-of-school children
back into the educational mainstream.

It also aims to double the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education, including vocational education,
from 26.3% in 2018 to 50% by 2035, with an additional 3.5 crore new seats.

To achieve this, the National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to support, foster, and track the
progress of students receiving scholarships.

Teacher Development

The policy emphasises rigorous teacher preparation through four-year teacher education programmes,
continuous teacher professional development, positive working environment and enabling service
conditions for teachers.

J. Include Disadvantaged Groups

The policy brings focus on socially and economically disadvantaged groups, which include gender,
socio-cultural, and geographical identities besides disabilities.

Regions with large chunk of educationally-disadvantaged groups will be declared Special Education
Zones.

The Centre will also set up a ‘Gender-Inclusion Fund’ to build the country’s capacity to provide
equitable quality education to all girls and transgender students.

The fund will be available to States to implement priorities determined by the Central government
critical for assisting female and transgender children in gaining access to education (such as the
provisions of sanitation and toilets, bicycles, conditional cash transfers, etc).

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K. Governance

The NEP also paves the way for a single overarching regulator for higher education, which will replace the
University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The single regulator, called the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), will have four
independent verticals to carry out the functions of regulation, funding, accreditation, and setting
standards for learning outcomes.

The college affiliation system is being phased out over the next 15 years, so that every college develops
into either an autonomous degree-granting institution, or a constituent college of a university. In course of
time, colleges will not need to seek affiliations but award degrees themselves.

Implementation Of The Policy

The government has set a target of 2040 to implement the entire policy. However, the policy only
provides a broad direction and is not mandatory to follow.

Since education is a concurrent subject (both the Centre and the state governments can make laws on
it), the reforms proposed can only be implemented collaboratively by the Centre and the states.

The government plans to set up subject-wise committees with members from relevant ministries at
both the central and state levels to develop implementation plans for each aspect of the NEP.

The plans will list out actions to be taken by multiple bodies, including the HRD Ministry, state
Education Departments, school Boards, NCERT, Central Advisory Board of Education and National
Testing Agency, among others. Planning will be followed by a yearly joint review of progress against
targets set.

Issues And Challenges

In a federal system, any educational reform can be implemented only with support from the States,
and the Centre has a difficult task of building a consensus on many ambitious plans.

The implementation requires enormous resources and an ambitious target of public spending at 6%
of GDP has been set. However, the allocation seems unlikely, due to the current tax-to-GDP ratio
and competing claims on the national exchequer of healthcare, national security and other key
sectors.

Placing the burden of pre-primary education on the overstretched, under-funded and under-
equipped anganwadis may also lead to disastrous results.

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 Further, the goal of 50% enrolment ratio in higher education and 100% in secondary school education,
could be tough to achieve, since it is currently only 25.8% in higher education & 68% in Class 9.

Moreover, there are various proposals which require legal changes and may face legislative hurdles
in implementation.

Analysis

The New Education Policy, for the most part, provides a forward-looking framework for transforming
Indian education. It acknowledges the 21st century need for mobility, flexibility, alternate pathways to
learning, and self-actualisation.

It recognizes education as a public good. This has important implications for public policy in planning,
providing, and financing education. It also has important implications for the state’s approach towards
private education.

By delivering on its promise of providing greater flexibility and skills to students and greater autonomy
to educational institutions, it could prove a game changer.

It signals the new normal in education with its focus on critical thinking, experiential learning,
interactive classrooms, integrated pedagogy and competency-based education.

Inclusive digital education features as a component throughout all reform areas, powering India’s
journey towards the fourth industrial revolution.

Through a robust education system, leveraging the full potential of its demographic dividend, India
can take a giant leap towards establishing itself as a knowledge superpower.

As with every policy, the real test of NEP will be translating it to action. Backed by quick and effective
implementation in sync with its spirit, NEP could shape the lives of the future generations. If the
government does little else but implement most of the recommendations on school education and
empower India’s school children, the future will belong to India.

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