National Education Policy (NEP 2020)

National Education Policy (NEP 2020) & after that

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 marks a transformative milestone in India’s journey towards building a holistic, inclusive, and future-ready education system. Introduced by the Ministry of Education in July 2020, this comprehensive policy replaces the National Policy on Education of 1986, aiming to address the evolving needs of the 21st century. Rooted in the principles of access, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability, NEP 2020 envisions transforming India into a global knowledge superpower by fostering critical thinking, creativity, and multidisciplinary learning. This section explores the key features of NEP 2020, its historical context, major recommendations, implementation strategies, and the challenges and opportunities it presents for revolutionizing education in India.

It has been a practice to have Commissions and Committees established on education even by the British well before the independence details of which is presented below. The earliest Charles Wood Despatch was commissioned in 1854 and the last, The Sargent Plan was commissioned just before the independence in the year 1944.

Since the independence in 1947, the Government of India sponsored a variety of programmes concerning education in both the rural and urban areas and commissioned a number of commissions and committees over a period of time details of which is presented below:

• University Education Commission (1948–1949)
• Secondary Education Commission (1952–1953)
• University Grants Commission and
• Kothari Commission (1964–66)

Based on the recommendations of these Commissions, a number of new establishments, such as Indian Institutes of Education (IITs), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and host of other institutions were established. Based on the Kothari Commission, the then Prime Minister of India, announced the first National Policy on Education in the year 1968 which had emphasis on restructuring. Fulfilling the compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 as specified in the Constitution of India, three language formula in secondary education, expenditure on education to increase to six percent of the GDP were the other far reaching recommendations of Kothari Commission. Details of the subsequent policy formation is presented below:

In addition to Commissions and Committees, a number of centrally sponsored schemes were also launched by the federal governments from time to time which are listed below:

• Restructuring and Reorganization of Teacher Education (1987).
• Operation Blackboard (1987–98) aimed to improve teachers and physical resources in primary schools.
• Minimum Levels of Learning (1991) specifying achievement at various stages and revision of textbooks
• District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) (1993) with emphasis on decentralized planning and management and school effectiveness.
• National Programme for Nutritional Support to Primary Education (1995): Noon Meal Scheme with a provision to provide a cooked meal every day for all children in Classes 1–5 of all government, government-aided and local body schools.
• The movement to Educate for All (2000) aimed to achieve universal primary education by 2010 through micro-planning and school-mapping exercises, bridging gender and social gaps through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Programme.
• Fundamental Right (2001) involved the provision of free and compulsory education, declared to be a basic right for children aged between 6 and 14 years which subsequently enactment of Right to Education in 2009.