The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was announced on July 29, 2020, and proposes various reforms in school education as well as higher education, including technical education. The salient features of NEP 2020 are formulated based on the foundational pillars of Access, Quality, Equity, Affordability, and Accountability. The key features of NEP 2020 are:
School Education
- Universal access to school education at all levels
- New 5+3+3+4 school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/ Pre-schooling
- Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, and vocational streams in schools
- Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with Internships
- Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional language
- Shift from summative assessment to regular and formative assessment, which is more competency-based, promotes learning and development, and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity
- All students will take school examinations in Grades 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority
- Special emphasis will be given to Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs)
Higher Education
- Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education to be increased to 50% by 2035
- Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs) to be set up
- National Research Foundation (NRF) to be created to fund competitive, peer-reviewed grant proposals of all types and across all disciplines
- Accreditation system developed by the National Accreditation Council (NAC) to provide a complementary check on the system
- Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education with multiple entry/exit options
- Light but Tight regulation
- Recognition, identification, and fostering of the unique capabilities of each student
- Emphasis on research and innovation
- Gender Inclusion Fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups
- Multilingualism in both schools and higher education
NEP 2020 aims to increase the GER to 100% in preschool to secondary level by 2030.
