Context: Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the the new National Education Policy with an aim to introduce several changes in the Indian education system - from the school to college level.

Key points of the new education policy 2020

• The government today approved landmark reforms to school and college education to prepare Indian students for a 21st century world where critical thinking will determine the future of nations.
• The new policy replaces 10+2 curricular structure with 5+3+3+4 system corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years, respectively.
• “NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3 pc (2018) to 50 pc by 2035 and at least 3.5 crore new seats will be added to higher education institutions

Greater Flexibility

• 5+3+3+4 school curriculum to replace 10+2 system
• Formal schooling for kids aged 3 to 6; foundational stage (3-8 year olds) to have play-based learning
• Preparatory stage (8-11 years) will see experiential learning
• Middle stage (11-14 years) to see subject-oriented learning
• Secondary stage (14-18 year olds) will have no separation of streams
• Coding and vocational courses from Class VI
• National Research Foundation on lines of US National Science Foundation
• Single regulator for higher institutions; multiple entry, exit options in degree courses
• MPhil discontinued; low-stakes board exams
• Common entrance exams for varsities, colleges
• Regional language medium of instruction up to Class V
• e-courses in 8 languages
• Public investment to be raised from 4.43 to 6 pc GDP

In Brief

At Primary and Secondary level in Schools

Early childhood care and education curriculum (ECCEC)

• The planning and implementation of early childhood care and education curriculum (ECCEC) will be carried out jointly by the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs.

Preparatory class Balavatika for children below the age of 5

• Prior to the age of 5 every child will move to a “Preparatory Class” or “Balavatika” (that is, before Class 1), which has an ECCE-qualified teacher.

School complexes to be used for adult education courses after school hours

• Use of schools/ school complexes beyond school hours and public library spaces for adult education courses which will be ICT-equipped when possible and for other community engagement and enrichment activities

More focus on vocational studies in school- level

• Every child to learn at least one vocation and exposed to several more.
• Sampling of important vocational crafts, such as carpentry, electric work, metal work, gardening, pottery making, etc., as decided by States and local communities during Grades 6-8.
• By 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education
• A 10-day bagless period sometime during Grades 6-8 to intern with local vocational experts such as carpenters, gardeners, potters, artists, etc.
• Similar internship opportunities to learn vocational subjects to students throughout Grades 6-12, including holiday periods.

Various new provisions for children with disabilities

• 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, assistive devices, appropriate technology-based tools and other support mechanisms tailored to suit their needs. 
• 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. Free school infrastructure can be used as Samajik Chetna Kendras

Three language learned by children will be the choice of state, regions and students

• The three-language 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.

Medium of instruction will be the local/ regional language 

• 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.

Indian Sign Language to be standardised across the country

• Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardized across the country, and National and State curriculum materials developed, for use by students with hearing impairment

No hard separation of streams for students

• Students will be given increased flexibility and choice of subjects to study, particularly in secondary school - including subjects in physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills
• There will be no hard separation among ‘curricular’, ‘extracurricular’, or ‘co-curricular’, among ‘arts’, ‘humanities’, and ‘sciences’, or between ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ streams.

Experiential learning in all stages

• Experiential learning will include hands-on learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated education, story-telling-based pedagogy, among others, as standard pedagogy . Classroom transactions will shift, towards competency-based learning and education

Curriculum content to be reduced

• Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, and make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.

NIOS, open schools to offer courses for grades 3,5 and 8

• NIOS and State Open Schools will also offer A, B and C levels that are equivalent to Grades 3, 5, and 8 of the formal school system; secondary education programs that are equivalent to Grades 10 and 12; vocational education courses/programs; and adult literacy and life-enrichment programs.

Nutrition and health cards, regular health check-ups for school students

• The nutrition and health (including mental health) of children will be addressed, through healthy meals and regular health check-ups, and health cards will be issued to monitor the same.

National Mission on Foundation Literacy and Numeracy to be set up by MHRD

• A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on priority.

Tech- based option for adult learning through apps, TV channels etc

• Quality technology-based options for adult learning such as apps, online courses/modules, satellite-based TV channels, online books, and ICT-equipped libraries and Adult Education Centres, etc. will be developed.

Variable models for board exams - annual, semester, modular exams

• Boards may over time also develop further viable models of Board Exams, such as - annual/semester/modular Board Exams; offering all subjects beginning with mathematics, at two levels; two parts exams or objective type and descriptive type.

NTA to offer common entrance exam

• The National Testing Agency (NTA) will offer a high-quality common aptitude test, as well as specialized common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year for university entrance exams.
• 360 degree holistic report card for students
• Students will get 360 degree holistic report card, which will not only inform about the marks obtained by them in subjects, but also their skills and other important points.

Importance of board exam to be reduced, exam can be conducted twice a year

• In order to reduce the importance and stress of board exam, exam will be conducted in two parts: Objective and descriptive. Exam can be conducted twice a year. Board exam should promote knowledge application rather than rote learning.

Coding to be taught from class 6 onwards

• Students of class 6 and onwards will be taught coding in schools as a part of 21st century skills, school education.

National Curricular and pedagogical framework to be developed by NCERT

• A National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 will be developed by NCERT.

PARAKH: 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.

Free boarding facilities in JNV

• Free boarding facilities will be built - matching the standard of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas particularly for students who from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds

Pre- school section in Kendriya Vidyalayas

• Pre-school sections covering at least one year of early childhood care and education will be added to Kendriya Vidyalayas and other primary schools around the nation, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

Dedicated unit for digital and online learning.

• 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. 
• 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 whenever and wherever traditional and in-person modes of education are not possible, has been covered.

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. 
• Education sector to get 6% of GDP, earlier it was 1.7%.

National Committee for integration of vocation Education -Lok Vidya

• Lok Vidya’, i.e., important vocational knowledge developed in India, will be made accessible to students. The education ministry, would constitute a National Committee for the Integration of Vocational Education (NCIVE).

At Higher Education Institutes level

Vocational courses through online mode will also be made available.

• National Scholarship portal for SC, ST, OBC, SEDGs students to be expanded
• 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. 
• Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer larger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their students.

NCC wings in secondary and higher secondary schools

• Under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, State Governments may encourage opening NCC wings in their secondary and higher secondary schools, including those located in tribal dominated areas

HECI- Common regulatory body for entire higher education

• Higher Education Commission of India(HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body the for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. 
• HECI to have four independent verticals: They are namely National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC ) for standard setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding, and National Accreditation Council( NAC) for accreditation.

E-content in regional language

• There will e- content in regional language apart from English and Hindi and these E courses to be in eight major languages not just English and Hindi.

Financial Autonomy to be given to 45K affiliated colleges

• There are over 45,000 affiliated colleges in our country. Under Graded Autonomy, Academic, Administrative & Financial Autonomy will be given to colleges, on the basis of the status of their accreditation.

Multiple entry and exit programme

• Under this, Students need not stick to the traditional three-year or four-year degree programmes 
• Under the NEP, a student can decide whether to complete the full-year programme for entry and exit.
• If one year is completed, a student can get a certificate. If the student completes two years, a diploma would be provided. 
• If the three-year or four-year programme is completed, then the degree will be awarded.
• After a four year degree programme, a student can directly do a year of Masters degree and then proceed for the Phd programmes. 
• The M.Phil programme will therefore be discontinued.
• Credits can be taken through multi-disciplinary education approach. Students can take major or minor programmes. The credit earned in a minor course can be transferred to the degree programme.

Best universities to set up campuses in other countries

• High performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries. Selected universities like those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.

International Students Office at each institution hosting foreign students

• New Education Policy 2020 aims at promotion India as a global study destination providing premium education at affordable costs. An International Students Office at each institution hosting foreign students will be set up.

All higher education institute to become multidisciplinary institutions

• By 2040, all higher education institutions (HEIs) shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students

One large multidisciplinary institution in or near every district by 2030

• NEP aims at setting up at least one large multidisciplinary institution in or near every district by the year 2030.

At Teacher Academic Reform level

Minimum qualification for teaching - 4 year integrated B.Ed degree

• A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT. 
• By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree .
• Stringent action will be taken against substandard stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).
• Subjects such as physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills, in addition to science, humanities, and mathematics, will be incorporated throughout the school curriculum.
• Each of the four stages of school education, may consider moving towards a semester or any other system that allows the inclusion of shorter modules.

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.

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