Lok Sabha Question No. 63 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-19
Subject: New Education Policy
Ministry: Education
Asked by: V. Kalanidhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 63 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 TH  JULY, 2021

## New Education Policy

## 63. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

Will the Minister of  EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the features of New Education Policy;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  National  Education  Policy  2020,  unfortunately, does not seem to even acknowledge what the constitution mandates for all its children;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  NEP  goes  against  the  existing  constitutional mandate  of  the  RTE  and  does  not  mention  the  reservation  system  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government is aware that the NEP may cater to the children of elite and well settled families in society and it may not suit the rural poor children and if so, the reasons therefore?

## A N S W E R MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) :  National  Education  Policy,2020  paves  way  for  transformational  reforms  in  school  and  higher education systems in the country. The salient features of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 are :-

- I. Universalization  of  Education  from  pre-school  to  secondary  level  with  100  %  GER  in school education by 2030.
- II. New  5+3+3+4  school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/pre-schooling.
- III. Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no hard separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in school, exposure to vocational education to start from Class 6 with Internships.
- IV. Assessment  reforms  with  360  degree  Holistic  Progress  Card  and  tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes. A National Assessment Centre, PARAKH(Performance  Assessment,  Review,  and  Analysis  of  Knowledge  for  Holistic Development), to be set-up as a standard-setting body for transforming Assessment.
- V. Setting-up  of  State  School  Standards  Authority  (SSSA)  to  establish  a  minimal  set  of standards  based  on  basic  parameters  (namely,  safety,  security,  basic infrastructure, number of teachers across subjects and grades, financial probity, and sound processes of governance), which shall be followed by all schools.
- VI. Teacher  education  to  move  into  a  multi-disciplinary  environment  and  four  year  B.ED integrated to become a minimum degree qualification for school teachers by 2030.
- VII. Achieving 100% youth and Adult literacy.
- VIII. The Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and HEs; Wherever possible, 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; National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be setup.
- IX. GER in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035.
- X. Higher Education curriculum to have Flexibility of Subjects.
- XI. Multiple Entry / Exit, and transfer of credit through an Academic Bank of Credits.
- XII. National Research Foundation to be established to foster a strong research culture.
- XIII. Light but  Tight Regulation of Higher education,  single  regulator  with four  separate verticals for different functions- the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
- XIV. A stage-wise mechanism for granting graded autonomy to colleges, through a transparent system of graded accreditation, will be established.
- XV. Increased use of technology with equity; National Educational Technology Forum to be created.
- XVI. Setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups.

(b) to (d) : The purpose of the New Education Policy is to develop good human beings capable of rational thought  and  action,  possessing  compassion  and  empathy,  courage  and  resilience,  scientific  temper  and creative imagination, with sound ethical moorings and values. It aims at producing engaged, productive, and  contributing  citizens  for  building  an  equitable,  inclusive,  and  plural  society  as  envisaged  by  our Constitution.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, represents the consequential legislation to Article 21-A inserted in the Constitution of India through the Constitution (86th Amendment) Act,  2002.  The  RTE  Act,  2009  provides  every  child  of  the  age  of  6-14  years,  the  right  to  free  and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till the completion of his or her  elementary education. The definition of children belonging to disadvantaged and weaker section group as mandated in section 2 (d) and 2(e) of the RTE Act has not been changed by the NEP, 2020.

The NEP, 2020 envisages bridging the social category gaps in access, participation, and learning outcomes of children belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/OBCs/CWSN (Children with special needs) to be one of the major goals of all education sector development programmes.

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