What is the National Education Policy 2020?

The government issued the new National Education Policy 2020 which contains the guidelines for the development of the education system in India. A new National Education Policy is framed in almost every ten years. There had been three NEPs till date. The first policy came during the tenure of Mrs. Indra Gandhi in the year 1968 and the second one came in the year 1986 under Mr. Rajiv Gandhi’s Prime Ministership.

The Purpose of National Education Policy 2020

The National Education Policy 2020 was drafted with the sole aim of making India a global knowledge superpower. It aims at reforming the education system from schools to college levels. However, its implementation depends on further regulations by the center and the state.

School Education

• It aims at globalization of education from pre-school to secondary school.
• The gross enrollment ratio shall rise upto 100% by the year 2030.
• The 10+2 system of education will be replaced by the 5+3+3+4 structure.
• The board exams for class 10 and 12 will be conducted to check the core competencies of the students where they will be allowed to take the exam twice.
• Vocational education shall begin from class 6 onwards.
• Students upto class 5th shall be taught in their mother tongue.
• An integrated 4 year B.Ed degree shall be the compulsory qualification for teaching by 2030.

Higher Education

• The gross enrollment ratio shall rise upto 50% by the year 2035.
• All the undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D level courses shall be interdisciplinary.
• The M.Phil courses shall be discontinued.
• All the colleges shall develop into an autonomous degree giving organization or a college affiliated by some University.

New Education Policy and Online Education

The COVID-19 crisis turned the attention of the authorities to the digitization of the education system in India. It has proposed to provide a proper digital infrastructure and bridge the digital gap within the country.

Most of the teachers are more or less unaware of any technical knowledge. NEP 2020 aims at training the teachers for online teaching. It aims at setting up virtual labs in all the schools across the country. Access of education to the physically and mentally challenged groups by using divyang friendly education software is an incredible vision for the disadvantaged group. Proper online testing strategies shall also be developed. Now this gives a true meaning to the “right to education”.

A pilot version of common entrance test shall be introduced by the National Testing Agency that will be used in the admissions to all the central universities in the country by next year. The academic bank of credits is being established to enable monetary transactions. However, a lot of legal challenges lie in enforcing most of the proposals.

An improvement in the education system of our country was one of the major visions of our former President and the so called “Missile Man” Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The National Education Policy 2020 is a ray of hope towards the fulfillment of his vision.

It is a progression towards a more technical and scientific approach to education. The authorized structure will help in instilling creativity and rationalization among the students. The introduction of e-learning will be a great help during the crisis like situation and will save time and money of the students. The National Education Policy 2020 will transform the education system in India such that our education policies shall be recognized globally.