National Policy on Education (NEP) 2020 – 1st Anniversary
The Prime Minister addressed the academic community on the occasion of the first anniversary of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The National Education Policy, 1986 has been replaced by the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
It is to be noted that the policy of the year 1968 was replaced by the policy of 1986.
Key Features of NEP 2020:
For Schools:
- From 10+2 to 5+3+3+4: One of the sweeping reforms is the transition from the decades-old 10+2 format to 5+3+3+4 structure. The policy aims at transforming the pedagogical structure from the existing 10 years + 2 years to a more inclusive transition from foundational to the secondary stage.
- Multidisciplinary: Flexibility to choose subjects in all faculties; All subjects will be presented at two levels of proficiency.
- Flexibility in Board Exam System: Board exams can become modular (objective and subjective) to test aptitudes only, and will be conducted twice a year.
- Multilingual: Continuing the three-language policy with preference to the local language as the medium of instruction up to class VIII.
- Bag-less Days: School students will have 10 ‘bag-less days’ in a year, during which they will be exposed to the profession of their choice (i.e., informal internship).
For Universities:
- University Examinations like Scholarly Assessment Test (SAT): The National Testing Agency will conduct Common Aptitude Test twice a year.
- 4-Year Undergraduate: Preference will be given to 4-year multidisciplinary undergraduate program; Credit will be given to mid-term dropouts with the option to complete the degree after a break.
- No affiliation: The colleges will be given graded autonomy of awarding degrees over the next 15 years. The affiliation with universities will be terminated, thus giving them the status of deemed university.
- Fee Limit: It is proposed to set a fee limit to be charged by private institutions of higher education.
- Global exposure: Global leading universities will be admitted to India. Top Indian institutions will be encouraged to expand globally.
Education will be universalized from pre-school to secondary level with 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
GER in higher education will be increased to 50 percent by the year 2035. The medium of instruction will be the mother tongue up to class V.
Initiatives taken in the field of education:
The ‘Academic Bank of Credits’ (ABC) has been started to provide various entry and exit opportunities to the students in higher education.
Vidya Pravesh: A three-month module has been started for the students of Grade-I to prepare for going to school. It is based on the play-school system.
Indian Sign Language will be introduced as a subject at the secondary level.
NISHTHA 2.0 (NISHTHA 2.0): An integrated program of teacher training designed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The SAFAL (Structured Assessment for Analysing Learning levels) has been set up. It will be a competency based assessment framework for grades 3, 5 and 8 in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools.
The National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) has been created to strengthen the digital infrastructure for education.
National Platform for Educational Technology has been created to promote the use of technology.
The first years of the engineering program will be initiated in 5 Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali).
Source – PIB
