National Education Policy 2020

On July 29, 2020, India’s Union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020), which establishes the goals for the country’s future education system. The 1986 National Policy on Education has been replaced with the current policy. The policy offers a complete framework for basic education all the way up to higher education, as well as for vocational training, and it does so in both rural and urban areas of India. A comprehensive overhaul of India’s educational system is one of the goals of this effort, which aims to accomplish this by the year 2040. The administration confirmed shortly after the policy’s announcement that no one will be forced to study any particular language, and that the medium of teaching will not be changed from English to any regional language. It is the responsibility of individual states, institutions, and schools to determine how to put the NEP’s language policy into practice. The policy is intended to be both comprehensive and advisory in nature. In India, one of the subjects on the Concurrent List is Education..

Institutional restructuring and reconsolidation:

NEP 2020 aims to abolish higher education fragmentation by transforming universities and colleges into major multidisciplinary universities and colleges with a student population of 3,000 or more. The goal is to create vibrant communities of scholars and peers, break down harmful silos, enable students to become well-rounded across disciplines (including artistic, creative, and analytical subjects, as well as sports), develop active research communities across disciplines (including cross-disciplinary approaches), and increase material and human resource efficiency across higher education. As a result, it is advocated that the higher education system include multidisciplinary institutions of higher learning that offer undergraduate and graduate programmes as well as high-quality teaching, research, and community participation. All higher education institutions will strive to become major multidisciplinary institutions that provide programmes in a variety of disciplines and fields, either directly or through higher education institution clusters. All higher education institutions (both current and future) are to transform into research-intensive universities, teaching universities, and autonomous degree-granting schools, according to the vision. Aside from teaching and research, all higher education institutions will have additional critical tasks that will be fulfilled through proper resources and structures. Supporting the development of other higher education institutions, community participation and service, contribution to diverse fields of practice, faculty development for the higher education system, and support for the school education system are some of these.

High-quality liberal education:

Liberal education has the dynamic ability to mould the next generation of leaders who are loyal to the country and willing to strive for its growth without sacrificing their right to express their own opinions. Liberal Arts education appears to be a good development from the perspective of multiple stakeholders: students want it, the market wants it, Society adores sensitive people, and the country requires them as key contributors in democracy and as a future leadership pipeline.

Flexible curricular structure:

This policy proposes that the current 10+2 school education structure be replaced with a new one. 5+3+3+4 pedagogical and curricular restructuring (ages 3-18) . Currently, children aged 3-6 are not covered by the 10+2 system because Class 1 begins at that age. A strong foundation of Early Childhood Care and Education in the new 5+3+3+4 framework (ECCE). It also includes children as young as three years old, with the goal of fostering improved overall learning, development, and behaviour.

Other changes:

NEP 2020 has given legislative clearance to a slew of new educational institutes, organisations, and initiatives. These are some of them:

• The Prime Minister of India chairs the National Education Commission.
• Academic Bank of Credit is a digital store of credits that can be used to help students resume their education by allowing them to use credits for further education.
• To improve research and innovation, the National Research Foundation was established.
• Special Education Zones, which will focus on the education of underrepresented groups in underserved areas. Gender Inclusion Fund, which helps the country educate female and transgender children. 
• The Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation, as well as the National Institute/Institutes for Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, are proposed in the policy. The National Mentoring Mission, the National Book Promotion Policy, and the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy are among the other bodies proposed.

Conclusion:

The new strategy intends to universalize education from pre-school to secondary school by 2030, with a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 100 percent. The NEP 2020 will reintegrate 2 crore out-of-school children into the mainstream through the open schooling system.