National Education Policy 2020
By: Egyaan Innovate
Tags: National Education, National Education Policy, Students, Teachers, Education

Education Policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each Individual. The pursuit of knowledge (Jnan), wisdom (Pragya), and truth (Satya) was always considered in Indian thought and philosophy as the highest human goal. The implementation of previous policies on education has focused largely on issues of access and equity. The unfinished agenda of the National Policy on Education 1986, modified in 1992 (NPE 1986/92), is appropriately dealt with in this Policy. A major development since the last Policy of 1986/92 has been the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 which laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education. Source- (NEP 2020)

The new education policy has something different from the last policies. We’ll discuss the top 6 keys of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

National Education Policies 2020 Highlights

- Easy Entry at all Levels of School Education

The focus of the NEP 2020 is on universal access to school education at all levels–preschool to secondary. Provisions such as infrastructure support, innovative education centers to bring back dropouts into the mainstream, tracking of students and their learning levels, and many more are included in the new NEP. Vocational courses, adult literacy, and life enrichment programs are some of the other provisions of the policy. The policy facilitates multiple pathways to learning that involves both formal and non-formal education modes.

- Schooling to begin from the age of 3 years

The existing 10+2 structure of the school 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. The new system will include 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi or pre-schooling. The new policy expands the age group of mandatory schooling from 6–14 years to 3–18 years.

- Mother tongue to be used as the medium of instruction

The National education policy 2020 is directly focusing on students’ mother tongue as the medium of instruction. The policy has included the use of regional languages as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5. Focusing on the world’s oldest language Sanskrit or Devbhasha, NEP has included that Sanskrit will be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an option for students.

- Single Overarching Body of Higher Education

The Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will now set up a single overarching body for entire higher education, except 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.

- Online and Digital Education

For digital infrastructure building, digital content, and capacity building, a dedicated unit will be created in the HRD ministry. The unit will complement the digital learning needs of both schools as well as higher education.

The Return of the FYUP Programme and No More Dropouts Students will 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 program. The duration of the undergraduate degree will be either 3 or 4 years. 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.

Source: https://www.e-gyaan.com/blog/top-6-keys-of-national-education-policy-2020