Why in News?

• Speaking at an event to mark the third anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP), Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi pitched for education in the mother tongue.
• He said that through the NEP, the country has started leaving behind the inferiority complex generated after portraying the country’s rich languages as “backward”. 

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About NEP 2020 (Major features of the policy, Challenges to implementation)
• News Summary

About National Education Policy (NEP) 2020:

• The National Education Policy, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2020, outlines the vision of India’s new education system.
• The committee that drafted the NEP 2020 was headed by Shri K Kasturirangan.
• NEP 2020 focuses on five pillars: Affordability, Accessibility, Quality, Equity, and Accountability – to ensure continual learning.
• The new policy replaces the previous National Policy on Education, 1986 and forms a comprehensive framework to transform both elementary and higher education in India by 2040.
• This is the 3^rd such education policy since India’s independence.
• The earlier two were launched in 1968 & 1986.
• There is much emphasis upon multi-disciplinarity, digital literacy, written communication, problem-solving, logical reasoning, and vocational exposure in the document.

Major Features of the NEP 2020:

• Schooling to begin from the age of 3 years –
• The revised policy expands the age group of mandatory schooling from 6-14 years to 3-18 years.
• This new system will include 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre-schooling.
• The existing 10+2 structure of school curriculum will be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
• Mother tongue as medium of instruction –
• The NEP has directed focus on students’ mother tongue as the medium of instruction even as it sticks to the ‘three language formula’ but also mandates that no language would be imposed on anyone.
• Under the ‘three language formula’, the students must learn two Indian languages, with English not to be considered as one.
• It also says that the freedom to choose the two Indian languages should be left to the states, regions or students.
• The policy indicates that the medium of instruction till at least Grade 5, but preferably up till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the mother tongue/local language/ regional language in both public and private schools.
• Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) –
• The HECI will be now a single overarching umbrella body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education.
• The same set of norms for regulation, accreditation, and academic standards, to be applied to both public and private higher education institutions.
• The Government aims to phase out the affiliation of colleges in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
• Separation between subject streams to be blurred –
• As per NEP 2020, the rigid separations between subjects' stream will be done away with.
• Students will have the liberty to choose subjects they would like to study across streams.
• Vocational education to be introduced in schools from Class 6 and will include internships as well.
• Return of the FYUP Programme and No More Dropouts –
• The duration of the undergraduate degree will be either 3 or 4 years.
• Students will also be given multiple exit options within this period.
• Colleges will have to grant –
• a certificate to a student if they would like to leave after completing 1 year in a discipline or field including vocational and professional areas,
• a diploma after 2 years of study, or
• a Bachelor’s degree after completing a three-year programme.
• An Academic Bank of Credit will be established by the Government for digitally storing academic credits earned from different Higher Educational Institutions so that these can be transferred and counted towards the final degree earned.

Challenges for the Implementation of the NEP: 

• The NEP only provides a broad direction and is not mandatory to follow. Karnataka, in 2021, became the first state to implement NEP 2020.
• Since education is a concurrent subject (both the Centre and the state governments can make laws on it), the reforms proposed can only be implemented collaboratively by the Centre and the states.
• The Central government plans to set up subject-wise committees with members from relevant ministries at both the central and state levels to develop implementation plans for each aspect of the NEP.
• Sufficient funding is also crucial; the 1968 NEP was hamstrung by a shortage of funds.

News Summary:

• Citing the example of Europe, Mr. Modi said education in the mother tongue will do justice to the young population in the country.
• The Prime Minister said many developed nations of the world have an edge owing to their local language.
• He said even though India has an array of established languages, they were presented as a sign of backwardness, and those who could not speak English were neglected and their talents were not recognized.