Lok Sabha Question No. 19 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-14
Subject: New Education Policy
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Shobha Karandlaje, Ajay (Teni) Misra, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Bhola Singh, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Annpurna Devi, Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Jagdambika Pal, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed, Sukanta Majumdar, Parvatagouda Chandanagouda Gaddigoudar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 19 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.09.2020

## New Education Policy

KUMARI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE:

SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI:

SHRI ANNASAHEB SHANKAR JOLLE:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI P.C. GADDIGOUDAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION  be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  approved  the  New  Education  Policy  and  if  so,  the  special features of the New Education Policy;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  has  discussed  about  the  New  Education  Policy  with  all  the  State Government and if so, whether certain State Government have expressed their unwillingness in its implementation;
- (c) if so, the reaction of the Government thereon;
- (d) whether in the NEP 2020 focus there is more on vocational studies in schools and if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  infrastructure  is  ready  to  adopt  the  said  transformation  and  if  so,  the  details thereof along with the major reforms started by the Government in recent years; and
- (f) whether the NEP 2020 makes no mention of the crippling lack of funds for Higher  Education Sector and if so, the Government reaction thereto?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

- (a):  Ministry  of  Education  has  announced  the  National  Education  Policy  2020  (NEP  2020)  on 29.07.2020 which has been made available at Ministry of Education's website at  https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload\_files/mhrd/files/NEP\_Final\_English\_0.pdf.  The  special features of NEP 2020 includes :-
- (i) Ensuring Universal Access at All Levels of schooling from pre-primary school to Grade 12;
- (ii) Ensuring quality early childhood care and education for all children between 3-6 years;
- (iii) New Curricular and Pedagogical Structure (5+3+3+4);
- (iv) No hard  separations  between  arts  and  sciences,  between  curricular  and  extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams;
- (v) Establishing National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy;

(vi) Emphasis on promoting multilingualism and Indian languages; The medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language.

(vii) Assessment reforms - Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired;

(viii) Setting  up  of  a  new  National  Assessment  Centre,  PARAKH  (Performance  Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development);

(ix) Equitable and inclusive education - Special emphasis given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SEDGs);

(x) A separate Gender Inclusion fund and Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups;

(xi) Robust and transparent processes for recruitment of teachers and merit based performance;

(xii) Ensuring availability of all resources through school complexes and clusters;

- (xiii) Setting up of State School Standards Authority (SSSA);
- (xiv) Exposure of vocational education  in school and higher education system;
- (xv) Increasing GER in higher education to 50%;
- (xvi) Holistic Multidisciplinary Education with multiple entry/exit options;
- (xvii) NTA to offer Common Entrance Exam for Admission to HEIs;
- (xviii) Establishment of Academic Bank of Credit;
- (xix) Setting up of Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities(MERUs);
- (xx) Setting up of National Research Foundation(NRF);
- (xxi) 'Light but Tight' regulation;

(xxii) Single  overarching  umbrella  body  for  promotion  of  higher  education  sector  including teacher education and excluding medical and legal education- the Higher Education Commission of  India  (HECI)-with  independent  bodies  for  standard  setting-  the  General  Education  Council; funding-Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC);  accreditationNational Accreditation Council (NAC); and regulation- National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC);

(xxiii) Expansion of open and distance learning to increase GER.

(xxiv) Internationalization of Education

(xxv) Professional  Education  will  be  an  integral  part  of  the  higher  education  system.  Standalone  technical  universities,  health  science  universities,  legal  and  agricultural  universities,  or institutions in these or other fields, will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions.

(xxvi) Teacher  Education  -  4-year  integrated  stage-specific,  subject-  specific  Bachelor  of Education

(xxvii) Establishing a National Mission for Mentoring.

(xxviii)Creation of an autonomous body,the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment,  planning,  administration.  Appropriate  integration  of  technology  into  all  levels  of education.

(xxix) Achieving 100% youth and adult literacy.

(xxx) Multiple mechanisms with checks and balances will combat and stop the commercialization of higher education.

(xxxi) All education institutions will be held to similar standards of audit and disclosure as a 'not for profit' entity.

(xxxii) The  Centre  and  the  States  will  work  together  to  increase  the  public  investment  in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

(xxxiii) Strengthening of the Central Advisory Board of Education to ensure coordination to bring overall focus on quality education.

(xxxiv) Ministry of Education: In order to bring the focus back on education and learning, it may be desirable to re-designate MHRD as the Ministry of Education (MoE).

(b)  and  (c):  The  NEP  2020  has  been  finalised  after  detailed  consultation  process  with  all stakeholders including State/UT Governments. This Ministry has communicated to all States/UT Governments for implementation of NEP 2020 in letter and spirit. Ministry of Education is also organising 'Shikshak Parv' from 8 th September to 25 th September, 2020 to deliberate on various themes  and  implementation  of  NEP  2020  aimed  at  eliciting  suggestions.    Ministry  has  also organised  a  Conference  of  Governors  on  'Role  of  National  Education  Policy  in  Transforming Higher  Education'.  In  the  conference,  Governors  and  Lt.  Governors  of  State  and  Union Territories, Education Minister of State and UTs, Vice Chancellors of State Universities and other dignitaries  participated.    There  has  been  wide  publicity  with  a  positive  and  overwhelming response from stakeholders on NEP 2020.

(d) NEP 2020 recognizes that the vocational education is perceived to be inferior to mainstream education.  Hence,  this  policy  aims  to  overcome  the  social  status  hierarchy  associated  with vocational education and requires integration of vocational education programmes into mainstream education in all education institutions in a phased manner. Towards this, secondary schools will also collaborate with ITIs, polytechnics, local industry, etc. Skill labs will also be set up and created in the schools in a hub and spoke model which will allow other schools to use the facility.

(e)  Improving  the  quality  of  education  across  all  levels  from  primary  to  university  level  is  a continuous  and  ongoing  process.  Several  initiatives  are  currently  being  undertaken  in  this direction.  The  Samagra  Shiksha,  an  integral  scheme  for  School  Education  as  a  Centrally Sponsored  Scheme  is  being  implemented  and  aims  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable  quality education at all levels of school education. It envisages the 'school' as a continuum from preschool, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels. In higher education also, various schemes, namely, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), Scheme for promotion of  Academic  and  Research  Collaboration  (SPARC),  Global  Initiative  for  Academics  Network (GIAN),  Impacting  Research,  Innovation  &  Technology  (IMPRINT),  Technical  Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP), Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), National Digital Library, campus connect programme, Uchhatar Avishkar Abhiyan,  Unnat  Bharat  Abhiyan,  Impactful  Research  in  Social  Sciences  (IMPRESS),  Atal Ranking  of  Institutions  on  Innovation  Achievements  (ARIIA),  National  Institutional  Ranking Framework (NIRF) are being implemented to improve the quality of higher education. A number of  initiatives  are  also  undertaken  by  UGC  and  AICTE  for  quality  improvement  in  higher  and technical education.

(f) NEP 2020 unequivocally endorses and envisions a substantial increase in public investment in education by both the Central government and all State Governments. The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

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