National Education Policy 2020

What is National Education Policy 2020?

• The National Education Policy 2020 seeks to change education at the secondary and postsecondary levels to position India as a global leader in knowledge.
• On July 29, 2020, the Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, adopted the National Education Policy 2020. In 1986, the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE) was superseded by this policy.
• This strategy, based on the fundamental tenets of accessibility, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability, aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030.
• The National Education Policy (NEP) seeks to make school and college education more holistic, flexible, and multidisciplinary, suited to the demands of the twenty-first century, and focused on bringing out the individual talents of each student to transform India into a thriving knowledge society and global knowledge superpower.

Highlights of National Education Policy, 2020

• New Policy aims for Universalization of Education from preschool to secondary level with 100 % GER in school education by 2030.
• NEP 2020 will bring 2 crore out-of-school children back into the mainstream.
• New 5+3+3+4 school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/ Pre-schooling.
• Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, and vocational streams in schools; Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with Internships.
• Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional language.
• Assessment reforms with a 360-degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes.
• GER in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035; 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
• Higher Education curriculum to have Flexibility of Subjects.
• Multiple Entries / Exit to be allowed with appropriate certification.
• Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate the Transfer of Credits.
• National Research Foundation to be established to foster a strong research culture.
• Light but Tight Regulation of Higher Education, single regulator with four separate verticals for different functions.
• Affiliation System to be phased out in 15 years with graded autonomy to colleges.
• NEP 2020 advocates increased use of technology with equity; National Educational Technology Forum to be created.
• NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.
• New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and HEs; the National Institute for Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up.

National Education Policy 2020: School Education

Ensuring Universal Access at all levels of school education

• Ensuring equitable access to education at all levels—from preschool to secondary—is a key component of NEP 2020.
• Some of the suggested methods for accomplishing this include providing infrastructure support, creating innovative education centres to reintegrate dropouts into the mainstream, tracking students and their learning levels, providing multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non-formal education modes, partnering with schools to employ counsellors or trained social workers, offering open learning for classes 3,5 and 8 through NIOS and State Open Schools, secondary education programmes equivalent to Grades 10 and 12, adult literacy courses, and life-enrichment programmes.
• Under NEP 2020, almost 2 crore out-of-school children will be reintegrated into the community.

Early Childhood Care & Education with New Curricular and Pedagogical Structure

• The 10+2 school curriculum structure will be replaced with a 5+3+3+4 curriculum framework, which will emphasise Early Childhood Care and Education and correspond to the ages of 3–8, 8–11, 11–14, and 14–18 years, respectively.
• This will include the hitherto unrecognised age range of 3-6 years in the school curriculum, which is widely acknowledged as a critical period for a child’s mental development.
• Three years of Anganwadi/preschooling will be included in the twelve-year schooling duration under the new system.
• For children under the age of eight, NCERT will create the National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE).
• ECCE will be provided through a much enlarged and reinforced network of establishments, such as pre-schools and anganwadis, whose staff members and teachers will be trained in the curriculum and pedagogy of ECCE.
• The Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs will collaborate in the planning and execution of ECCE.

Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

• A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD is required by NEP 2020, which acknowledges these skills as an urgent and essential precondition to learning.
• To achieve universal basic literacy and numeracy in all primary schools for all students by grade 3 by 2025, states must create an implementation plan.
• There must be a National Book Promotion Policy developed.

Reforms in school curricula and pedagogy

• The goal of school curricula and pedagogy is to support students’ overall development by giving them the important 21st-century skills, reducing the amount of content covered in the curriculum to emphasise critical thinking and vital learning, and placing more of an emphasis on experiential learning.
• There will be more options and flexibility for students to choose from. The arts and sciences, extracurricular and curricular activities, and academic and vocational streams will not be strictly divided.
• Internships will be a part of the sixth-grade vocational education programme in schools.
• The NCERT will create the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE 2020–21), a brand-new, all-inclusive framework.

Multilingualism and the power of language

• Mother tongue, local language, or regional language has been prioritised by the policy as the medium of teaching at least through Grade 5, but ideally through Grade 8 and beyond.
• Sanskrit should be made available to students at all educational levels, including in the three-language formula, and at all levels of higher education.
• There will also be possibilities for other traditional Indian languages and literature.
• No student will be forced to speak a language.

Assessment Reforms

• According to NEP 2020, formative rather than summative evaluation will become the norm.
• Formative assessment is more competency-based, fosters learning and growth, and evaluates higher-order abilities including conceptual clarity, analysis, and critical thinking.
•  In Grades 3, 5, and 8, all pupils will sit for exams administered by the relevant authorities.
• The 10th and 12th grade board exams will remain in place, but they will be revised with an emphasis on holistic development.
• As a body responsible for creating standards, a new National Assessment Centre called PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) will be established.

Equitable and Inclusive Education

• The goal of NEP 2020 is to guarantee that no kid is denied the chance to study and succeed due to their background or place of birth. Gender, sociocultural, and regional identities, as well as disabilities, are among the Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SDGs) that will receive particular attention. This includes creating Special Education Zones for underprivileged areas and populations, as well as a Gender Inclusion Fund.
• From the foundational stage to higher education, children with disabilities will be able to fully participate in the regular educational process with the help of teachers who have received cross-disability training, resource centers, accommodations, assistive devices, appropriate technology-based tools, and other support mechanisms that are customised to meet their needs.
• Establishing “Bal Bhavans” as a unique daytime boarding school and taking part in play, profession, and art-related activities will be encouraged for every state and district. Samajik Chetna Kendras can be established using free school facilities.

School Governance

• Schools can be arranged into clusters or complexes, which will serve as the fundamental unit of government and guarantee the provision of all resources, such as academic libraries, infrastructure, and a robust community of professional teachers.
• Setting Standards and Accrediting Schools: NEP 2020 envisions distinct, well-defined systems for operations, regulation, policymaking, and academic affairs.
•  Each state or territory will establish its own State School Standards Authority (SSSA). The SSSA’s requirements for transparent public self-disclosure of all fundamental regulatory data will be heavily utilised for public oversight and accountability.
• After consulting with all relevant parties, the SCERT will create the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF).

National educational policy higher education

• The Higher Education sector is envisioned in a very positive light by the New Education Policy.
• By 2035, raise GER to 50%
• The objective of NEP 2020 is to raise the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035 in higher education, which includes vocational education.
• Higher education establishments will receive an additional 3.5 billion seats.

Holistic Multidisciplinary Education

• Broad-based, multidisciplinary, comprehensive undergraduate education is what the policy envisions, complete with flexible curricula, inventive topic combinations, integrated vocational education, and many entry and exit points with relevant certification.
•  Undergraduate study can last three or four years, with several ways to graduate and the necessary certifications earned throughout that time. For instance, a one-year certificate, two-year advanced diploma, three-year bachelor’s degree, and four-year bachelor’s degree with research.
• To allow academic credits from other HEIs to be transferred and applied towards a final degree, an Academic Bank of Credit will be created and digitally stored.
• To be established as national models of the best interdisciplinary education of international standards, interdisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs) will be on par with IITs and IIMs.
• As the premier organisation for developing a robust research culture and expanding research capabilities throughout higher education, the National Research Foundation will be established.

Regulation

• Except for medical and legal education, the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) would function as a single, comprehensive umbrella organisation for all higher education.
•  The General Education Council (GEC) will create standards, the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) will provide funds, and the National Accreditation Council (NAC) will certify institutions. These four separate bodies will comprise the Higher Education Coordinating Council (HECI).
• HECI will operate through technology-enabled faceless intervention and will have the authority to penalise HEIs that do not adhere to standards and norms. The same set of guidelines will apply to both public and private higher education institutions in terms of accreditation, regulation, and academic requirements.

Rationalized Institutional Architecture

• Institutions of higher learning will grow into expansive, dynamic, multidisciplinary centers with sample resources that offer top-notch instruction, cutting-edge research, and community service.
•  A wide range of institutions, including autonomous degree-granting colleges, teaching-intensive universities, and research-intensive universities, will be permitted within the concept of a university.
• College affiliation will be phased out over 15 years, and a step-by-step process for giving institutions varying degrees of autonomy will be developed.
• It is intended that each college will eventually grow into a constituent college of a university or an autonomous institution that grants degrees.

Motivated, Energized, and Capable Faculty

• NEP offers suggestions for inspiring, energising, and developing faculty capacity through independence in recruiting, flexibility to choose curriculum and pedagogy, rewards for excellence, and advancement into leadership positions within the institution.
• Faculty who fail to uphold fundamental standards will be held responsible.

Teacher Education

• With input from NCERT, the NCTE will develop the new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, or NCFTE 2021.
• By 2030, a four-year integrated B.Ed. degree will be the required minimum degree for teaching.
• There will be severe consequences for poor quality independent Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).

Mentoring Mission

• With a significant pool of exceptional senior/retired faculty members, including those who can teach in Indian languages, a National Mission for Mentoring will be developed.
•  These faculty members will be willing to offer university/college teachers both short-term and long-term mentoring and professional support.

Financial support for students

• There will be an effort to reward the merit of pupils who fall under the SC, ST, OBC, and other SEDG categories.
• The purpose of the extended National Scholarship Portal is to monitor, assist, and track the academic achievement of students who are awarded scholarships.
•  It will be encouraged for private higher education institutions to provide more scholarships and free ships to their students.

Open and Distance Learning

• This will be developed to be a major factor in raising GER. There will be steps made to make sure it is on par with the best-in-class programs, including credit-based recognition of MOOCs, financing for research, enhanced student services, and the creation of online courses and digital libraries.

Online Education and Digital Education:

• The recent surge in pandemics and epidemics has prompted a thorough set of recommendations for promoting online education to ensure preparedness with alternate, high-quality educational options anytime and wherever traditional, in-person modes of instruction are not feasible.
• The MHRD will establish a specialised unit to manage the development of digital material, digital infrastructure, and capacity building to meet the demands of both higher education and K–12 e-learning.

Technology in education

• The National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), an independent organisation, will be established to offer a forum for the open discussion of technology-enhanced teaching, learning, planning, and administration.
• All educational levels shall have appropriate technology integrated to promote teacher professional development, enhance educational access for underprivileged groups, and simplify educational planning, administration, and management.

Promotion of Indian languages

• NEP recommends strengthening Sanskrit and all language departments in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), establishing an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI), National Institute (or Institutes) for Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, and using mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction in more HEI programs to ensure the preservation, growth, and vibrancy of all Indian languages.
• Internationalisation of education will be made easier by teacher and student mobility as well as institutional partnerships, which will let highly regarded universities establish campuses in our nation.

Professional Education

• The higher education system will include all professional education as a fundamental component.
• Technical universities that operate independently, as well as universities in the health sciences, law, agriculture, and other fields, want to develop into multidisciplinary establishments.

Adult Education

The policy aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy.

Financing Education

In order to raise public investment in the education sector to 6% of GDP as soon as possible, the Centre and the States will collaborate.