National Education Policy, 2020
Why in News
Recently,
the Union Cabinet has approved the new National Education Policy (NEP),
2020 with an aim to introduce several changes in the Indian education
system - from the school to college level.
§ The NEP 2020 aims at
making “India a global knowledge superpower”.
§ The Cabinet has also
approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource
Development to the Ministry of Education.
§ The NEP cleared by the
Cabinet is only the third major revamp of the framework of education in
India since independence.
o The two earlier
education policies were brought in 1968 and 1986.
Key Points
§ School Education:
o Universalization of education
from preschool to secondary level with 100% Gross
Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
o To bring 2 crore out of
school children back into the mainstream through an open schooling
system.
o The current 10+2
system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular
structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years
respectively.
·
It
will bring the uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school
curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage
for development of mental faculties of a child.
·
It
will also have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre
schooling.
o Class 10 and 12 board
examinations to be made easier, to test core competencies rather than
memorised facts, with all students allowed to take the exam twice.
o School governance is set to change,
with a new accreditation framework and an independent authority to
regulate both public and private schools.
o Emphasis on Foundational
Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams,
extracurricular, vocational streams in schools.
o Vocational Education to start from Class
6 with Internships.
o Teaching up to at least
Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/regional language. No
language will be imposed on any student.
o Assessment reforms
with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student
Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes
o A new and
comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education
(NCFTE) 2021, will be formulated by the National Council for
Teacher Education (NCTE) in consultation with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
·
By
2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated
B.Ed. degree.
§ Higher Education:
o Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education
to be raised to 50% by 2035. Also, 3.5 crore seats to
be added in higher education.
·
The current Gross
Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 26.3%.
o Holistic Undergraduate
education with a flexible curriculum can be of 3 or 4 years with
multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this
period.
o M.Phil courses will be discontinued and
all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level will now be
interdisciplinary.
o Academic Bank of Credits to be established
to facilitate Transfer of Credits.
o 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.
o The National
Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for
fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across
higher education.
o Higher Education
Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single umbrella body for
the entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. Public
and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same
set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
Also, HECI will be having 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,
·
National
Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation.
o Affiliation of colleges is to be phased
out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism to be established for
granting graded autonomy to colleges.
·
Over
a period of time, every college is expected to develop into either an
autonomous degree-granting College, or a constituent college of a university.
§ Other Changes:
o 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.
o National Assessment
Centre- 'PARAKH' has been created to assess the students.
o It also paves the way for foreign
universities to set up campuses in India.
o It emphasizes setting up
of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for
disadvantaged regions and groups.
o National Institute
for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation
and Interpretation to be set up.
o It also aims to increase the
public investment in the Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at
the earliest.
o Currently, India spends
around 4.6 % of its total GDP on education.
Education
In India
§ Constitutional
Provisions:
o Part IV of Indian
Constitution, Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of Directive
Principles of State Policy (DPSP), has a provision for state-funded as
well as equitable and accessible education.
o The 42nd Amendment to the
Constitution in 1976 moved
education from the State to the Concurrent List.
·
The
education policies by the Central government provides a broad direction and
state governments are expected to follow it. But it is not mandatory, for
instance Tamil Nadu does not follow the three-language formula prescribed by
the first education policy in 1968.
o The 86th Amendment in 2002 made education an
enforceable right under Article 21-A.
§ Related Laws:
o Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009 aims to
provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and
enforces education as a Fundamental Right.
·
It
also mandates 25% reservation for disadvantaged sections of
the society where disadvantaged groups
§ Government Initiatives:
o Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVS schools),
Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV schools) and use of IT in education are a result of the
NEP of 1986.
Way Forward
§ A New Education Policy
aims to facilitate an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach, which
takes into consideration field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder
feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices.
§ It is a progressive shift
towards a more scientific approach to education. The prescribed structure will
help to cater the ability of the child – stages of cognitive development as
well as social and physical awareness. If implemented in its true
vision, the new structure can bring India at par with the leading
countries of the world.
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