Indian Education System wears New Cape with NEP 2020, to Offer the Most Global Education

“Cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given approval to a new education policy for the 21^st century. It is important, as for 34 years there were no changes in the education policy,” said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. Indeed National Education Policy (NEP) seems to be a breakthrough in the education system of India that remained untouched for decades. The major highlights of the new NEP isn’t one but a host of such reforms which will take the Indian education system at par with the global standards.

NEP 2020 introduces the 5+3+3+4 structure of school education, which aims at transforming circular and pedagogical structure from the existing 10+2 years to a more inclusive foundational to secondary state transition. This will correspond to age groups 3-8, 8-11, 11-14 and 14-18 years respectively. This will not only replace the old rules but will also restructure school and higher education to make more flexible with an integrated approach. The other salient features of the NEP 2020 are that the 10+2 board structure is dropped; upto 5 preschool, 6 to 8 mid school, 8 to 11 high school, and 12 onwards graduation. Any degree course is limited to four years, while students can opt for vocational courses sixth standard onwards. Providing more power to students, students from class eight to 11^th can now choose subjects while all graduation courses will now have major and minor subjects, while MPhil has been discontinued.

Yet another bold step by the government is that it has merged UGC and AICTE and hence all higher education will be governed by only one authority. Students and universities usually struggled with different grading, but NEP makes it imperative for all universities – government, private, open, deemed, vocational and others – to have same grading and other rules. Even for teachers, the government will set up new Teacher Training board for all kinds of teachers in the country, which no state can change. Every college will have same level of accreditation, and based on its ratings, colleges will get autonomous rights and funds.

The government will also create new basic learning program for parents to teach children upto three years in home and for preschool too. It also emphasizes on learning in mother tongue till class 5, and activity-based learning below class 2. The subjects will be introduced between classes 3 to 5 while coding and internship will start from class 6 and multi-disciplinary, flexible choice of subjects in classes 9 to 12. NEP 2020 also opens up multiple doors for entry and exist for the students in any course. It will also bring in credit system for graduation and for each year student will get some credits which they can utilize if they take break in course and resume it again to finish it.

Even the school exams will be conducted twice a year – semester wise and the subjects will be reduced to core knowledge of the subject only. NEP also makes mandatory for schools/colleges/universities to focus more on student practical and application knowledge. Giving more power to students, if they complete only one year of their graduation, they will be given basic certificate, for two years diploma certificate and if they complete the full course, they will get degree certificates. This will ensure that unlike the current times, no year of the student will be wasted if s/he takes a break in middle of the course. Also, all the graduation course feed of all universities will be governed by single authority with capping on each course. These changes in the board structure, which seek to make the exams a test of ‘core competencies’, will be implemented from the 2021 academic session, while the new university entrance test will be implemented for college admissions in the 2022 academic session.

Apart from these, there are several other reforms that will transpire the Indian education system to a whole new one. Academia and industry leaders have poured in their thoughts on NEP 2020. Below are some of them:

Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Founder at SAI International Education Group and Advisor (Rank of Minister of State), Govt. of Odisha

“The much-awaited New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, has got the Cabinet approval today. The document is based on foundational pillars of access, affordability, equity, quality and accountability. With the flexibility for the choice of subject across streams it is aimed at building skills in their subjects of interest. The three language early foundational based learning will improve focus on Indian Classical Languages. Each State is proposed to have a State School Regulatory Authority to monitor the School education.”

Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur

“We welcome the move made by The Cabinet to rename the HRD ministry to the Education ministry as the role of the department is to further and provide education. Allowing global institutes to set up campuses in India is also a positive move as it will increase competition because it will open up our education system and it will also help sustain high talent in the country as students don’t have to move out to pursue education. Changing the pedagogical structure from a 10+2 system to a 5+3+3+4 system is in line with international educational standards. Due to the small structure of our IIMs and IITs, despite having ample talent, they were unable to figure in top 100 institutes of the world. Allowing technical institutes to become multi-disciplinary will help IIMs and IITs to start other departments like medical etc and make their size bigger and allow them to admit more students. This will enable them to compete with the elite institutes of the world and become at par with them in the coming years. Diversification makes education more complete and helps increase intellectual outcome. Overall, the changes have been made according to the global system of education. This will also help attract foreign students to India and help the economy as well.”

Sumeet Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, LEAD School

The New Education Policy has introduced pathbreaking reforms. Few points that stand out:

1. Recognising the importance of Early Childhood Education with its 5+3+3+4 formula - some of us working in ECCE for the last 12 years couldn't be happier!

2. The move towards flexible entry and exit and breaking down the barriers between Arts, Commerce and Science. This will herald a new era of cross-disciplinary learning.

3. One that is problematic is the insistence of mother tongue till Class 5. This is against the principle of choice. Parents should choose the medium they want their children to learn in.

Dr. Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, Shahani Group

“The New Education Policy should have been implemented years ago to enable India's education system to catch up with that of other fast-developing nations in Asia. The focus on light government regulation, multidisciplinary institutions and creating equivalence of vocational and academic streams are welcome, but these have been a part of other countries' education models for years. It would have been good to have some more innovative ideas implemented like recognition of pathway/twinning programs with foreign universities, permission for for-profit firms to set up schools & colleges, allowing corporate CSR funding for primary research in universities and allowing universities to offer online degrees to outside their geographical jurisdiction. As education is a state subject, it is important for the central government to create a mechanism to ensure each state implements these new policies effectively.”

Col. (Retd.) Gopal Karunakaran, CEO, Shiv Nadar School

“We congratulate the Government for formulating a forward-looking, inclusive policy that will go a long way towards creating an equitable and vibrant knowledge society. It signals the Government’s intent to implement sweeping reforms in the education system. The stated aim to provide foundational literacy and numeracy skills to all Indians in the next five years is laudable and will help India shed the stigma of illiteracy. The policy has many positive aspects, such as free and compulsory education for students, reintegrating school dropouts into the education system and the emphasis on mother tongue, classical languages and physical skills. All this was long-overdue. 

Shiv Nadar School has, since its inception, promoted experiential learning, skill development and research and technology based education which is at the core of the new education policy.  It is quite futuristic as it commits to making online learning and virtual classrooms accessible to every student in regional languages. By coopting the States to co-create curriculum and setting up a National Education Commission headed by the Prime Minister, the policy has laid a transformational foundation for the education system. The key is in execution, and we look forward to its implementation.”

Dr Jitin Chadha, Founder & Director, Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF)

“The approval of a new education policy, after over three decades, is certainly a welcome development. Given the centrality of education in nation-building, we certainly think this will help focus efforts in future. The Draft NEP released by the government earlier talked about various reforms in Indian higher education, and we firmly believe that in higher education, none are as important as providing impetus and a seamless path to forging effective collaborations between Indian institutions and their global counterparts. This will enable us to create the highest possible quality of human capital, which will be a necessary and key differentiator in the post-COVID world where labour markets will become flatter than ever before.”

Ramananda SG, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Pearson India

“The National Education policy has certainly made bold and historic reforms towards the quality of education and improving student learning outcomes. It is not only designed to directly address the gaps which were prevalent earlier but also recognises the importance of EdTech as a medium. The announcement regarding 6% public investment of the GDP in education sector will provide a much needed boost to the quality and scope of education in the country. In a bid to ramp up digital and education becoming multilingual, the accessibility will increase across the country as institutes will introduce multi-disciplinary platforms. Integration of creative combinations of subjects, specialised learning, character development, blended learning, inter disciplinary methods, and flexible curriculums will help strengthen emotional intelligence, critical thinking and problem solving skills of students making headway for a bright future in the 21st century. In higher ed, multiple exit options in degree courses will give a boost to vocational qualifications and practical knowledge which is the need of the hour with changing times globally. While there are many aspects still to retrospect, the charter is truly a testimony of quality consultation and deep thinking, hence unlocking the construction of a new nation.”

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