National Education Policy 2020
The National Education Policy 2020 which was approved by the Union Cabinet of India on 29 July 2020 outlines the vision of India’s new education system. The new policy replaces the previous National Policy on Education, 1986. The policy is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India. The policy aims to transform India's education system by 2040.
Shortly after the release of the policy, the government clarified that no one will be forced to study any particular language and that the medium of instruction will not be shifted from English to any regional language. The language policy in NEP is a broad guideline and advisory in nature; and that it was up to the states, institutions and schools to decide the implementation. Education in India is a concurrent list subject.
Background
The NEP 2020 replaces the National Policy on Education of 1986. Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections contained the creation of a new education policy. In January 2015, a committee under former Cabinet Secretary T. S. R. Subramanian started the consultation process for the New Education Policy. Based on the committee report, in June 2017, the draft NEP was submitted in 2019 by a panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan. The Draft New Education Policy 2019, was later released by Ministry of Human Resource Development, followed by a number of public consultations. The Draft NEP was 484 pages. The Ministry of Education undertook a rigorous consultation process in formulating the draft policy - "Over two lakh suggestions from 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, 6,600 blocks, 6,000 urban local bodies, 676 districts were received."Vision
The vision of the National Education Policy is:Provisions
The NEP 2020 paves for numerous changes in India's education policy. It aims to increase state expenditure on education from around 4% to 6% of their GDP as soon as possible.The changes and objectives are:
Languages
The policy raises the importance of mother tongue and regional languages; medium of instruction until class 5 and preferably beyond should be in these languages. Sanskrit and foreign languages will also be given emphasis. The policy also states that no language will be imposed on the students.Shortly after the release of the policy, the government clarified that the language policy in NEP is a broad guideline; and that it was up to the states, institutions and schools to decide the implementation. A more detailed language strategy would be released in the National Curriculum Framework in 2021. Note was also made that there were already institutions which had implemented this language policy 60 years ago such as Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. Both the Education Policy of 1986 and the Right to Education Act, 2009 promoted usage of the mother tongue too as an advisory guideline.
School education
- The "10 + 2" structure will be replaced with "5+3+3+4".
- Instead of exams being held every academic year, school students will only answer three exams, in classes 3, 5 and 8.
- Board exams will be continued to be held for classes 10 and 12 but will be re-designed. Standards for this will be established by the an assessment body PARAKH. To make them easier, these exams would be conducted twice a year, with students being offered upto two attempts. The exam itself would have two parts, namely the objective and the descriptive.
- This policy aims at reducing the curriculum load of students and allowing them to be more "inter-disciplinary" and "multi-lingual". One example given was "If a student wants to pursue fashion studies with physics, or if one wants to learn bakery with chemistry, they'll be allowed to do so." Report cards will be "holistic", offering information about the student's skills.
- Coding will be introduced from class 6 and experiential learning will be adopted
- The Midday Meal Scheme will be extended to include breakfasts. More focus will be given to students' health, particularly mental health, through the deployment of counsellors and social workers.
Higher education
- It proposes a multi-disciplinary bachelors degree in an undergraduate programme with multiple exit options.
- MPhil courses are to be discontinued to align degree education with how it is in Western models.
- A Higher Education Council of India will be set up to regulate higher education. The Council's goal will be to increase gross enrollment ratio. The HECI will have three verticals: National Higher Education Regulatory Council, to regulate higher education, including teacher education, while excluding medical and legal education; the National Accreditation Council, a "meta-accrediting body"; and the Higher Education Grants Council, for funding and financing of universities and colleges. This will replace the existing National Council for Teacher Education, All India Council for Technical Education and the University Grants Commission.
- The National Testing Agency will now be given the additional responsibility of conducting entrance examinations for admissions to universities across the country, in addition to the JEE Main and NEET.
- The policy proposes that higher education institutes like the IITs make changes with regard to the diversity of learning.
- The policy proposes to internationalize education in India. Foreign universities can now set up campuses in India.
- The fees of both private and public universities will be fixed.
Teacher education
Other changes
Under NEP 2020, numerous new educational institutes, bodies and concepts have been given legislative permission to be formed. This includes:- National Education Commission, headed by the Prime Minister of India
- Academic Bank of Credit, a digital storage of credits earned to help resume education by utilising credits for further education
- National Research Foundation, to improve research and innovation
- Special Education Zones, to focus on the education of underrepresented group in disadvantaged regions
- Gender Inclusion Fund, for assisting the nation in the education of female and transgender children
- National Educational Technology Forum, a platform to facilitate exchange of ideas on technology usage to improve learning
Reception
, chairperson of the National Education Policy drafting panel, commented "No language is being imposed. Multi-lingual flexibility is still the basis for the new NEP 2020". IIT Delhi director V. Ramgopal Rao supported the new policy and tweeted that the "NEP proposes path breaking steps which will impact higher education in a significant way". He compared the new education policy with the Morrill Land-Grant Acts of United States and called it a "Morril Moment" for India. The IIT Kanpur Director Abhay Karandikar said that the "NEP is an important milestone with far-reaching impact". The chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, M. Jagadesh Kumar, as well as the vice-chancellor of JNU called the policy a "positive step forward" while Najma Akhtar, the vice-chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia, called the policy "ground-breaking". Former Delhi University vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh, said "the policy lays down the road map pretty nicely". Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the decision but stated his concerns about the implementation of the new policy.Dhiraj Kumar Nite from Ambedkar University Delhi stated that the removal of the MPhil course was not in harmony with the principles of the NEP, since multiple exit points were offered at the undergraduate level but those interested in a PhD would have no quick exit point, which the MPhil provided. The JNU Students' Union and Delhi University Teachers' Association criticised the government for approving the policy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in India, stating that they had opposed the policy since its draft stage. Kumkum Roy of the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, stated that the subjects on the studies of Gender Studies, Media, Environment and Development, Culture, Dalit, Discrimination and Exclusion, and Media have not been mentioned for development. In the study of the Constitution, Fundamental Rights have been left out.
The Draft NEP of 2019 was criticized for multiple reasons. A social media campaign protested over the inclusion of Hindi in schools in the south Indian states. The Students' Federation of India stated that it threatened the federal character of the educational structure, commercialised education and undermined independent research activity. Madhu Prasad of Frontline pointed out how the draft's "merit-based" college admissions criteria did not take into account reservations and the caste-based discrimination and oppression faced by many in the country.