New Delhi: A single regulator for higher education institutions, multiple entry and exit options in degree courses, discontinuation of MPhil programmes, low stakes board exams, common entrance exams for universities are among the highlights of the new National Education Policy (NEP) approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The policy, which was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992, had not been revised since then.
The Cabinet also approved changing the name of the HRD Ministry to Education Ministry.
“NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3 percent (2018) to 50 percent by 2035. At least 3.5 crore new seats will be added to higher education institutions,” HRD Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare said at a press briefing.
“The policy envisages broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate education with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification. Under Graduate education can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period,” he said.
Among the key reforms in the policy are a single regulator for all higher education institutions except for legal and medical colleges, common entrance exam for admissions to universities and colleges to be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and common norms to be in place for private and public higher education institutions under the Central government’s new Education Policy.
“Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges. Over a period of time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an autonomous degree-granting college, or a constituent college of a university,” Khare said.
Elaborating on the reforms in school education, HRD Secretary Anita Karwal said, “Board exams will be low stake. The focus will be on testing concepts and knowledge application. Home language, mother tongue or regional language to be medium of instruction up to class 5.”
She further said “school curriculum will be reduced to core concepts and there will be integration of vocational education from class 6”.
The new education policy was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto ahead of the 2014 general election.
In May 2016, a ‘Committee for Evolution of the New Education Policy’ under the chairmanship of TSR Subramanian, former cabinet secretary, submitted its report. Based on this, the Ministry prepared a document called ‘Some Inputs for the Draft National Education Policy, 2016′.
Then, a panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new NEP to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ when he took charge last year.
The draft was then put in the public domain to seek feedback from various stakeholders and over two lakh suggestions were received by the HRD Ministry about the same.
NEP reduces school curriculum to core concepts
New Delhi: Making board exams easy, reduction of curriculum to core concepts, replacement of 10+2 structure of school curricula with a 5+3+3+4 structure and medium of instruction up to class 5 in mother tongue or regional language, are among the many school education reforms outlined in the new National Education Policy (NEP).
The NEP was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
Elaborating on the reforms, School Education Secretary Anita Karwal said at a briefing, “Board exams for classes 10 and 12 will be continued, but will be reformed to eliminate the need for taking coaching classes”.
She further said, “Board exams will be redesigned to encourage holistic development and will also be made easier by testing core capacities and competencies. All students will be allowed to take board exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired. All students will take school examinations in classes 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority”.
A per the new policy, the 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced with a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to age groups 3-8, 8-11, 11-14 and 14-18 years respectively.
“This will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child. The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of anganwadi and pre-schooling,” she said
The new system will cover four stages — Foundational Stage (three years of anganwadi or pre-school followed by classes 1-2), Preparatory Stage (classes 3-5), Middle Stage (classes 6-8) and Secondary Stage (classes 9-12).
“Students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects so that they choose their own paths according to their talents and interests. There will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams.
“The objective is to give equal emphasis on all subjects — science, social sciences, art, languages, sports, mathematics — with integration of vocational and academic streams in school,” Karwal said.
The NEP has laid emphasis on promoting multilingualism so that children know and learn about the rich and vast array of languages of their country.
“The medium of instruction until at least class 5, but preferably till class 8 and beyond, will be the home language, mother tongue, local language and regional language.
“Sanskrit will be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula. Foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level,” Karwal said.
The states and UTs will be required to set up independent State School Standards Authority (SSSA).
“Transparent public self-disclosure of all the basic regulatory information, as laid down by the SSSA, will be used extensively for public oversight and accountability. The SCERT will develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) through consultations with all stakeholders,” she added.
States will prepare their own curricula and prepare textbooks incorporating state flavour and material. The availability of textbooks in all regional languages will be a top priority. Reducing the weight of school bags and textbooks will also be ensured by suitable changes in curriculum load.
