National Education Policy 2020: An Overview

Profile of the Author: Abhishek Tanwar is a student of Law Centre- I, Faculty of Law, Delhi University.

Introduction

Since the last three decades, the National Education Policy is awaited and is now, finally prepared and drafted by the Government of India. The most important and historical step has been taken by The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, by introducing the National Education Policy, 2020. The education system demands development and boost to prepare itself for future challenges according to the needs of the 21st century. The National Education Policy replaced the 34-year-old 2nd National Policy of Education, 1986, which was introduced by former Prime Minister of India, Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

National Education Policy, 2020

A committee of nine members was formed under the chairmanship of Dr K. Kasturirangan (former ISRO chief). They drafted the National Education Policy in 2019 which was later passed as the New National Education Policy 2020. The policies were not prepared in days or months and any policy’s effectiveness depends on its implementation. This requires quality research, initiative and action, taken by various official and non-official governmental bodies. In this Policy, the actions and strategy will be led by various bodies including MHRD, CABE, Union and State Governments, education-related Ministries, State Departments of Education, Boards, NTA, the regulatory bodies of school and higher education, NCERT, SCERTs, schools, and HEI. A complete plan has been framed to implement the policy in a planned and systematic manner.

The main aim of this policy is to make India 21st century ready and shape the school and college education system to make them more flexible in order to bring out the best from every student of country.

Three most important changes in the NEP 2020

• HRD Ministry now renamed as Ministry of Education.
• GDP investment in education to increase from 1.7% to 6%.
• Focusing on the gross enrolment ratio, which will be increased to 50% by 2035.

Changes in School Education

The new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure instead of 10+2 has four development stages:

1st- Foundational:-3 years (Anganwadi/ Pre-school/ Balvatika) (Age 3 to 6) | (Age 6 to 8) (Class 1 and 2)

2nd- Preparatory:-3 years (Class 3 to 5) (Age 8 to 11 years)

3rd- Middle:- 3 years (Class 6 to 8) (Age 11 to 14 years)

4th- Secondary:- 4 years (Class 9 to 12) (Age 14 to 18)

The three-language formula

The new National Education Policy introduces the three-language formula, which mandates all students to learn three languages in school. One out of these languages shall be a native language.

Curriculum content has also been reduced to enhance essential learning and critical thinking. Teaching and learning will be more practical. The children will be taught in their native language/ mother-tongue till 5th class by all private and public schools. The schools are also instructed to start teaching coding to students from class 6th. The report cards of students cannot be made on the basis of marks of students but on the basis of skill and capabilities (i.e academic+practical+curricular+co-curricular).

Changes in Higher Education

The strict division on the basis on streams like Humanities, Commerce and Science has been changed. Now, in higher secondary education, students can opt for the subjects of their choice and not on the basis of the stream.

Admission criteria for higher education will be such that, after 12th standard, The National Testing Agency will conduct a single entrance exam for the admission in higher educational institutes in the country.

The UG and PG courses will become more flexible by adding multiple exits and entry points, which means if a student chooses to exit from the degree at any point during the course of the period, they have an option to return and start where they left. One more thing added in the UG courses is an option to include certificate after one year, advanced diploma after two years and Bachelors degree after 3 years. Sanskrit and other classical languages will also be offered on every education level.

In order to increase diverse education, Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities at the levels of IITs and IIMs will also be set up by the government.

Teacher`s Education

The minimum qualification for teachers will be 4 years integrated B.Ed degree. A new and comprehensive national curriculum framework for teacher education, NCFTE, will be formulated by NCTE and NCERT.

Conclusion

The new education policy is introduced to make the education level world-class and to make it 21st century ready. Also, it will give a boost to the educational sector which shall make India more reliable on their human resource and increase GDP of the country. More education leads to an increase in more talent which shall further the aim to achieve 100% youth literacy rate by 2030.

Disclaimer: This article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our Terms of use or write to us in case of any concerns.

FAQs

Q. What are the divisions under HECI, as mentioned under NEP 2020?

Ans. Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will have four independent verticals 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.

References

[1] www.mhrd.gov.in