NEP 2020: New Education Policy to revamp the Educational System in India

The Union Human Resource Development Minister (Ministry of HRD), Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’(Dr RP Nishank) has released the New Education Policy or NEP for School Education with policies for schools and Higher Education for colleges, Universities and other higher Institutes.

“Education Is Not Filling The Mind With A Lot Of Facts. Education Is The Manifestation Of The Perfection Already In Man.”

                          - Swami Vivekananda.

            Vision:

The vision of the National Education Policy is: 

NEP-2020 envisions an India-centric education system that contributes directly to transforming our nation sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society by providing high-quality education to all.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development will be renamed as Ministry of Education.

 Source: Times of India, IndiaTimes.com

Features of the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP-2020):

School Education:

-> What actually is 5+3+3+4? How it is differs from 10+2 System?

New pedagogical and curricular structure of school education (5+3+3+4): 3 years in Anganwadi/pre school and 12 years in school. For children of 3 to 6 years: Access to free, safe, high quality ECCE at Anganwadis /Pre school/ Balvatika. (ECCE: Early Childhood, Care & Education) Foundational Learning Curriculum for age group of 3-8 divided in two parts: 

1. From age 3-6 in ECCE

2. Prior to the age of 5 every child will move to a “Preparatory Class” or “Balvatika” (that is, before Class 1). 

Age 6 to 8, Grade 1-2: Foundational Stage. 

Age 8-11, Grades 3-5: Preparatory Stage, play, discovery, and activity based and interactive classroom learning. 

Age 11-14, Grade 6-8: Middle Stage, experiential learning in the Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. 

Age 14-18, Grade 9-12: Secondary Stage, multidisciplinary study, greater critical thinking, flexibility and student choice of subjects. Medium of instruction upto grade 5, and preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be home language/ mother tongue/ local language. Beginning with Mathematics, all subjects to be offered at 2 levels. School students will have 10 bag-less days during which they are taught a vocation of their choice (informal internship).

Board Exams and School Exams

School Exams will be held only for 3 levels – Classes 3, 5 and 8. Assessment will shift to a formative style which encourages higher-order thinking skills, critical thinking and conceptual clarity. Board Exams to continue but these will be designed for holistic development. A new national assessment centre PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) will be established. Board exams will have less stakes.

All students will be allowed to take Board Exams on up to two occasions during anygiven school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired. Higher Education and College Entrance Exams

National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct a common college entrance exam twice a year. This will be implemented from the 2022 session.

University Exams

Bachelor’s degree will be of 4 years with exit options as follows.

• Exit after 1 year: Certificate

• Exit after 2 years: Diploma

Mid term drop outs will be given the option to complete the degree after a break. Bachelor’s programmes will be multidisciplinary in nature and there will be no rigid separation between Arts and Sciences. Indian arts, languages and culture will be promoted at all levels.

M.Phil (Master of Philosophy) degree will be discontinued.

By 2040, all higher education institutions like IITs will become multidisciplinary. There will be greater inclusion of Arts and Humanities subjects for science students and vice-versa. Selected universities from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India. 

The system of Affiliated colleges will be phased out in 15 years and colleges will be given greater Autonomy(Autonomous Status) and power to grant degrees by Institutions. The Deemed University status will end.

References / External links:

(Draft), National Education Policy 2020 (2020)

Ministry of Education, Dr. RP 'Nishank'

Penned by: 

G Yeshwanth from Hyderabad.

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