National Education Policy is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. Here are some important highlights of NEP 2020.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the National Education Policy 2020 today, making way for large scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors.
This is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.
Built on the foundational pillars of access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability, NEP is aligned to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making both school and college education more holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary.
New Education Policy 2020: Important highlights
School Education
1. Universal access at all levels of school education
NEP 2020 emphasizes on ensuring universal access to school education at all levels- preschool to secondary.
Infrastructure support, innovative education centres to bring back dropouts into the mainstream, tracking of students and their learning levels, facilitating multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non-formal education modes, open learning for classes 3,5 and 8 through NIOS and State Open Schools, secondary education programs equivalent to Grades 10 and 12, vocational courses, adult literacy and life-enrichment programs are some of the proposed ways for achieving this.
About 2 crores out of school children will be brought back into the mainstream under NEP 2020.
2. Early Childhood Care and Education
With an emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education, the 10+2 structure of school curricular will be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years.
This will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under the school curriculum. The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/pre-schooling.
NCERT will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8.
The planning and implementation of ECCE will be carried out jointly by the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs.
3. Attaining foundational literacy and numeracy
Recognising foundational literacy and numeracy as an urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning, NEP 2020 calls for setting up of a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD.
States will prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools for all learners by grade 3 by 2025.
4. Reforms in school curricular and pedagogy
The school curricular and pedagogy will aim for the holistic development of learners by equipping them with the key 21st-century skills, reduction in curricular content, and a greater focus on experiential learning.
Students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects. There will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, curricular and extra-curricular activities, vocational and academic streams.
Vocational education will start in schools from the 6th grade and will include internships.
5. Multilingualism and the power of language
New Education Policy has emphasised on mother tongue/local language/regional language as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond.
Sanskrit will be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an option for students. Other classical languages and works of literature of India will also be available as options.
No language will be imposed on any student. Students to participate in a fun project/activity on 'The Languages of India,' sometime in Grades 6-8, such as, under the 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' initiative.
Several foreign languages will also be offered at the secondary level. Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardized across the country.
6. Assessment reforms
NEP 2020 envisages a shift from summative assessment to regular and formative assessment, which promotes learning and development, and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity.
Board exams for grades 10 and 12 will be continued, but redesigned with holistic development as the aim.
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), will be set up as a standard-setting body.
7. Equitable and inclusive education
NEP 2020 aims to ensure that no child loses any opportunity to learn and excel because of the circumstances of birth or background.
Special emphasis will be given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SDGs). This includes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund and also Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.
Children with disabilities will be enabled to fully participate in the regular schooling process from the foundational stage to higher education, with support of educators with cross-disability training, resource centres, accommodations, appropriate technology-based tools, and other support mechanisms.
Every state/district will be encouraged to establish 'Bal Bhavans' as a special daytime boarding school, to participate in art-related, career-related, and play-related activities.
8. Robust teacher recruitment and career path
Teachers will be recruited through robust, transparent processes. Promotions will be merit-based, with a mechanism for multi-source periodic performance appraisals and available progression paths to become educational administrators or teacher educators.
A common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education by 2022, in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers and expert organizations from across levels and regions.
Higher Education
1. Increase GER to 50% by 2035
NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035.
3.5 crore new seats will be added to Higher education institutions.
2. Holistic multidisciplinary education
The policy envisages broad-based, multi-disciplinary, holistic undergraduate education with flexible curricular, creative combinations of subjects, and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
For example, certificate after 1 year, advanced diploma after 2 years, bachelor's degree after 3 years and bachelor's with research after 4 years.
An Academic Bank of Credit is to be established for digitally storing academic credits earned from different HEIs so that these can be transferred and counted towards final degree earned.
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.
3. Regulation
Higher Education Commission of India(HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education.
HECI will function through faceless intervention through technology and will have powers to penalise HEIs not conforming to norms and standards.
Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and academic standards.
4. Motivated, energised, and capable faculty
NEP makes recommendations for motivating, energising, and building capacity of faculty through clearly defined, independent, transparent recruitment, freedom to design curricular/pedagogy, movement into institutional leadership.
Faculty not delivering on basic norms will be held accountable.
5. Teacher education
By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated BEd degree. Stringent action will be taken against substandard stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).
6. Mentoring mission
A National Mission for Mentoring will be established, with a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty - including those with the ability to teach in Indian languages - who would be willing to provide short and long-term mentoring/professional support to university/college teachers.
7. Financial support for students
Efforts will be made to incentivize the merit of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and other SEDGs.
The National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to support, foster, and track the progress of students receiving scholarships.
8. Online education and digital education
A comprehensive set of recommendations for promoting online education consequent to the recent rise in epidemics and pandemics in order to ensure preparedness with alternative modes of quality education has been covered.
A dedicated unit for the purpose of orchestrating the building of digital infrastructure, digital content, and capacity building will be created in the MHRD to look after the e-education needs of both school and higher education.
9. Technology in education
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.
10. Promotion of Indian languages
To ensure the preservation, growth, and vibrancy of all Indian languages, NEP recommends setting an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI), National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, strengthening of Sanskrit and all language departments in HEIs, and use mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction in more HEI programmes.
11. Professional education
Stand-alone technical universities, health science universities, legal and agricultural universities etc will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions.
12. Adult education
NEP aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy.
13. Financing education
The Centre and the states will work together to increase the public investment in education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.
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 "Highlights of New Education Policy 2020 (Image source: twitter.com/PrakashJavdekar)")
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