New Education Policy 2020 All Points

A new education policy 2020 is a game-changer for the Indian economy.

Points

• Ensuring Universal Access at All Levels of schooling from pre-primary school to Grade 12.

• New Curricular and Pedagogical Structure (5+3+3+4).

• NCERT will develop a National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of eight. 

• No hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extracurricular activities, between vocational and academic streams;

• NEP 2020 calls for the setting up of a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by the Education Ministry. States will prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools for all learners to buy grade 3 by 2025. 

• A National Book Promotion Policy is to be formulated. 

• All students will take school examinations in Grades 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority. Board exams for Grades 10 and 12 will be continued, but redesigned with holistic development as the aim. 

• A new National Assessment Centre, PAREKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), will be set up as a standard-setting body. 

• Ensuring availability of all resources through school complexes and clusters;

• Equitable and inclusive education - Special emphasis is given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SEDGs);

• NEP emphasizes on setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund and also Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.

• Every state/district will be encouraged to establish ''Bal Bhavans'' as a special daytime boarding school, to participate in art-related, career-related, and play-related activities. Free school infrastructure can be used as Samajik Chetna Kendras. 

• A common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education by 2022, in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers, and expert organizations from across levels and regions. 

• Robust and transparent processes for recruitment of teachers and merit-based performance;

• States/UTs will set up independent State School Standards Authority (SSSA). The SCERT will develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) through consultations with all stakeholders. 

• NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3 percent in 2018 to 50 percent by 2035 and aims to add 3.5 crore new seats to higher education institutions.

• The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in the Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest,

• Expansion of open and distance learning to increase GER.

• Exposure of vocational education  in school and higher education system;

• Multiple mechanisms with checks and balances will combat and stop the commercialization of higher education,

• NTA to offer Common Entrance Exam for Admission to HEIs;

• An Academic Bank of Credit is to be established for digitally storing academic credits earned from different HEIs so that these can be transferred and counted towards the final degree earned. 

• 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. 

• Holistic Multidisciplinary Education with multiple entry/exit options;

• The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education. 

• The single overarching umbrella body for the promotion of higher education sector including teacher education and excluding medical and legal education- the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI)-with independent bodies for standard-setting- the General Education Council; funding-Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC); accreditation- National Accreditation Council (NAC); and regulation- National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC);

• Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and academic standards.

• Strengthening of the Central Advisory Board of Education to ensure coordination to bring overall focus on quality education,

• Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.

• A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT. 

• By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree. 

• Stringent action will be taken against substandard stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs). 

• A National Mission for Mentoring will be established, with a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty who would be willing to provide short and long-term mentoring/professional support to university/college teachers. 

• The National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to track the progress of students receiving scholarships.

• Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer larger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their students. 

• Measures such as online courses and digital repositories, funding for research, improved student services, credit-based recognition of MOOCs, etc., will be taken to ensure distance learning is at par with the highest quality in-class programs. 

• A comprehensive set of recommendations for promoting online education consequent to the recent rise in epidemics and pandemics to ensure preparedness with alternative modes of quality education whenever and wherever traditional modes of education are not possible has been covered.

• A dedicated unit for the purpose of orchestrating the building of digital infrastructure, digital content, and capacity building will be created in the HRD ministry to look after the e-education needs of both school and higher education. 

• Ministry of Education: In order to bring the focus back on education and learning, it may be desirable to re-designate MHRD as the Ministry of Education (MoE).

• Creation of an autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration. Appropriate integration of technology into all levels of education,

• NEP recommends setting an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI), National Institute (or Institutes) for Pali, Persian, and Prakrit, strengthening of Sanskrit and all language departments in HEIs, and using mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction in more HEI programs. 

• The medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother-tongue/local language/regional language.

• Assessment reforms - Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired;

• Internationalization of education will be facilitated through both institutional collaborations and student and faculty mobility and allowing entry of top world-ranked universities to open campuses in India. 

• Professional Education will be an integral part of the higher education system. Stand-alone technical universities, health science universities, legal and agricultural universities, or institutions in these or other fields, will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions.

• All education institutions will be held to similar standards of audit and disclosure as a ‘not forprofit’ entity,

• The policy aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy.