The new educational policy approved by Union Cabinet will transform the school and higher education of India. The Indian Government has taken a major step in changing the 34 years old educational policy in India. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been introduced to bring up major changes in the thirty decades-old National Policy of Education (NPE) 1986 system in India. The new education policy by NEP is more aligned to match up with the 21st-century requirements. The main objective of NEP 2020 is to transform the Indian educational system into an active knowledge hub for both schools and colleges to bring out unique capabilities from every student.
Key Feature Of The New Educational Policy of India
- 10+2 Board Exam Reformation
As per the National Educational Policy, Board exams will not be the main focus of school education. The structure of the board exam will be redesigned to reduce the stress among students. The objective of the board exam will be to test the conceptual knowledge application abilities of the students. Students will have the privilege to choose their subjects for board exams depending on their interests. Students will be able to seat for board exams twice in their due course of schooling, one main exam, and another for improvement if required.
- School Structure Reformation
The 10+2 curriculum will be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 structure that will cover students of age group 3-18 years. This means there will be 5 years of the foundation program starting from primary to grades 1,2. The second will be three years of the Preparatory stage of students from Grades 3,4,5. The third will be three years of the Upper Primary stage involving students from Grade 6, 7, 8. The fourth one will be four years of the higher secondary stage from Grades 9, 10, 11 & 12.
- Subject Division For Secondary Education Removed
There will be no division of subjects like Science, Arts, and Commerce for higher secondary students. Students are free to choose their own subjects that will also include subjects like art and crafts, physical education, and vocational skills. If someone is taking Science as major he/she can take music as minor all based on student’s preference.
- All Graduation Degree for 4 Years
Any graduation degree irrespective of their title will be of 4 years. But there will be flexibility for the students to choose their preferred subject for higher studies and also on the duration of the course. Students after completing 1 year of the course will get a vocational certification. Students completing 2 years will get diploma certification and Bachelor’s degree will be given for students completing 3 years of the course. Students completing 4th year will have an option to get Research accreditation if he/she completes research work in his/her 4 years of graduation course.
- Basic Learning Program for Early Childhood Care
The new basic learning program will be introduced by the government for parents to teach the toddlers till the age of 3 and also for preschool to teach in a way that works on the brain development of the kids till the age of 6. Special emphasis will be made to work on early childhood education and care to complete the National mission on Foundational Literacy.
- Nation’s Tradition, Culture, and Language Should Remain Focused
The school education program must include the contents of Indian culture, tradition, and values. High-quality modules will be developed to teach Indian Sign Languages. Minumum three languages need to be learned by students and the choices will be dependent on State, region, and of the student himself. Out of three minimum, 2 languages will be native to India.
- Curriculum Content Reduced and More Focussed on Innovative Studies
The National Education Policy aims to reduce its educational curriculum to its core needs and will be more focused on innovation, idea, application, problem-solving based learnings. This will help students to build their skills based on a more holistic, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based approach. Training on coding will be introduced from Grade 6 itself.
- India To Emerge as a Prime Center of Global Education
The National Education Policy 2020 aims to promote Indian education as a global study destination providing premium quality education at affordable costs. An International Students Office at each establishment for receiving foreign students will be set up. Universities with high performance will be promoted to set up campuses in other countries across the globe. Selected top universities from around the world will be facilitated to operate in India.
- Facilitating National Research Foundation Program
A National Research Foundation (NRS) will be formed to impart ambitious funding and proper guidance for prominent research works across all disciplines. NRS will promote research programs at academic institutions and universities that would encourage young students to take part in research work through proper guidance by renowned research scholars of the country.
- National Apex Body For Education- Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog
Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog or National Education commission will be set up, commanded by Prime Minister of India who will be responsible for evaluating, revising, developing, implementing the education system in the country. Even states are allowed to form their own state-level bodies to closely monitor the progress of state level education system, these bodies will be named as Rajya Shiksha Aayog or State Education Commission.
- Focus On Vocational Studies at School Level
The new educational policy will put more focus on vocational level training to students of Grades 6-8. Students will be exposed to vocational training on crafting, art, electric work, metalwork, pottery, handicrafts making, gardening, etc. Every student will be exposed to a variety of such pieces of training and will have to acquire at least one vocational training proficiently. A 10-day bagless program will also be introduced to make the students more involved with these skills. There will be also internship opportunities for students of Grade 6-12 to learn the skills set for such activities.
- Free Boarding Facility Program For JNV and NCC introduced in Secondary levels
Students having socio-economical backlogs will have the privilege to be enrolled for the free boarding facility of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. The government will encourage to start of NCC wings in secondary and higher secondary levels under the Ministry of Defence also including the schools in tribal dominating areas.
- Dedicated Unit For E-Learning Programs
A dedicated unit will be set up to develop and promote the digital infrastructure, digital engagement, and digital content to build up the e-learning system in India across all grades. This should be a prime focus area of development considering the current pandemic situation, which should not hinder or block the education progress.
- 4- Year B.Ed Degree For Teaching
A new comprehensive framework will be formulated for the teachers to follow the teaching curriculum. Moreover, by 2030, the minimum degree of qualification for teaching will be 4 years of B.Ed Degree program. Stringent action will be taken against substandard stand-alone Teachers who will not follow the guidelines.
- GDP Boost in Indian Education System
Earlier the GDP for education in India was 1.7 % which has now been increased to 6% as per the New Educational Policy (NEP) 2020.
- MPhil Discontinued and Single Regulatory Body to Govern The Higher Education
The NEP also stated there would be a single regulator for all higher education institutions and MPhil would be discontinued from the degree program.
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