EDITORIAL 1: Five years of NEP: Taking stock of the transition
Context
It is five years since the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — the country’s third such policy since Independence — was cleared by the Union Cabinet.
What has worked
- The NEP promised a sweeping reset of both school and higher education. Some of that vision has made its way into classrooms.
- But a lot remains on paper, slowed by state-Centre frictions, or held up by institutional delays.
- School curriculum is changing, slowly: The 10+2 system has been replaced with a new structure — foundational (pre-primary to class 2), preparatory (classes 3-5), middle (6-8), and secondary (9-12).
- In 2023, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) laid out the learning outcomes and competencies for each stage.
- The NEP aims to make pre-primary learning universal by 2030.
- Delhi, Karnataka, and Kerala will soon enforce the minimum age of six for class 1 entry. 2023-24 data show a fall in class 1 enrolments to 1.87 crore from the 2.16 crore of previous year, likely due to this age cutoff.
- About 73% of those enrolled had attended some form of preschool. The big hurdles are better training for Anganwadi workers, and improving infrastructure and teaching quality in early education centres.
- National focus for foundational skills: NIPUN Bharat, launched in 2021, seeks to ensure every child can read and do basic math by the end of class 3.
- Credit-based flexibility starts to take shape: The NEP suggested the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC).
- This, and a National Credit Framework (NCrF) have been developed. UGC rules published in 2021 allowed students to earn and store credits digitally, even across institutions, making it possible to move between courses or exit and re-enter.
- The system allows students to earn a certificate after one year, a diploma after two, or complete a four-year multidisciplinary degree.
- The NCrF brings similar flexibility to school students, where learning hours (including skill-based ones) translate into credits. CBSE invited schools to be part of an NCrF pilot last year.
- Common test for college entry: The Common University Entrance Test (CUET), introduced in 2022, is now a key route to undergraduate admissions.
- Indian campuses abroad and vice versa: IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, and IIM Ahmedabad have set up international campuses in Zanzibar, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai respectively.
- University of Southampton recently opened in India, after two other foreign universities at GIFT City, Gujarat.
What’s in progress
- Changes in board exams: The NEP envisages less high-stakes board exams. Starting 2026, CBSE plans to allow class 10 students to sit for board exams twice a year. Karnataka has experimented with this; other boards are waiting to see how it plays out.
- Holistic report cards, so far on paper: PARAKH, a unit under NCERT, has developed progress cards that go beyond marks, and include peer and self-assessment. But some school boards are yet to make the shift.
- Slow progress for four-year UG degrees: Central universities are rolling out NEP’s idea of four-year undergraduate degrees with multiple exit options, and Kerala has followed.
- Mother tongue in classrooms: NEP encourages the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction till at least class 5. CBSE has asked schools to begin this from pre-primary to class 2, with classes 3-5 retaining the option of staying or switching. NCERT is working on textbooks in more Indian languages.
What’s stuck and why
- Three-language formula remains a sticking point: NEP proposes three languages in school, at least two of them Indian. But Tamil Nadu, which follows a Tamil-English model, sees this as an attempt to impose Hindi.
- Teacher education overhaul hasn’t happened: The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, due in 2021, is yet to be released.
- UGC’s proposed successor delayed: A 2018 draft bill proposed scrapping the UGC Act and replacing it with an umbrella Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
- No breakfast in schools yet: NEP recommends breakfast along with midday meals. But in 2021, the Finance Ministry rejected the Education Ministry’s proposal to add breakfast for pre-primary and elementary classes.
- Policy divide between Centre and states: Some states have pushed back against key NEP provisions. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal have refused to sign MoUs with the Centre to set up PM-SHRI schools, citing clauses that require full adoption of NEP.
- Tamil Nadu opposes both the three-language formula and four-year UG structure. Kerala and Tamil Nadu argue that since education is on the Concurrent List, the Centre cannot mandate these changes unilaterally.
- The Centre has withheld Samagra Shiksha funds from these states, saying the money is tied to NEP-linked reforms.
Conclusion
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2024 is a big step for India’s education. It builds on the 2020 policy, focusing on access, equity, and quality. It changes school structures and emphasizes skills.