Lok Sabha Question No. 6 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-04
Subject: Reforms in School Education and Higher Education by NEP 2020
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Chandra Sekhar Sahu

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 6 ANSWERED ON 04.12.2023

## Reforms in School Education and Higher Education by NEP 2020

## *6. SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposes various reforms in school education as well as higher education including technical education in the country, especially in Maharashtra;
- (b) if so, the details of the action taken/activities proposed for implementation of above reforms in school education as well as higher education;
- (c) whether the All India Survey on Higher Education was conducted before the preparation of New National Education Policy 2020;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and whether the survey has given complete picture of higher education in the country;
- (e) if not, the steps taken by the Government to focus on the NEP without having a complete picture of higher education in the country; and
- (f)  the  extent  to  which  the  NEP  2020  is  able  to  make  reforms  in  the  higher  education  including technical education?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (f):  A statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  to  (f)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  6  FOR  REPLY  ON  04.12.2023  ASKED  BY  SHRI  RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE AND SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU, HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT  REGARDING  REFORMS  IN  SCHOOL  EDUCATION  AND  HIGHER EDUCATION BY NEP 2020

(a)  &  (b):  National  Education  Policy  2020  (NEP  2020)  provides  for  several  reforms  in  school education  as  well  as  higher  education  including  technical  education  and  prescribes  a  number  of action  points/activities  for  its  implementation  in  the  entire  country.  The  Government  has  taken several  initiatives  in  the  education  sector  such  as  PM  SHRI  (PM  Schools  for  Rising  India)  for upgradation  of  schools;  National  Initiative  for  Proficiency  in  Reading  with  Understanding  and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) for ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3; Vidya-Pravesh-Guidelines for Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module; PM e-VIDYA to unify all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable coherent multi-mode access to education,  DIKSHA  (Digital  Infrastructure  for  Knowledge  Sharing)  as  One  Nation  One  Digital Platform having e-Books and e-Contents, launch of National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF FS) and Jadui Pitara for play-based learning teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3 to 8 years; NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers'  Holistic  Advancement)  1.0,  2.0  and  3.0  Integrated  Teacher  Training  Programme  for different stages of school education for Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals and other stakeholders in Educational Management; National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) for creating a unifying national digital infrastructure to energise and catalyse the education ecosystem, implementation of a scheme  'New  India  Literacy  Programme  or  ULLAS'  targeting  all  non-literates  age  15  years  and above, etc.

Similarly, in Higher Education, various initiatives / reforms have been carried out such as National Credit Framework (NCrF); National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF); guidelines  /  regulations  like  Curriculum  and  Credit  Framework  for  Undergraduate  Programme; Multiple Entry and Exit in Academic Programme; transforming Higher Education Institution (HEIs) into  multi-disciplinary  Institutions;  pursuing  two  Academic  Programme  simultaneously;  Academic Bank  of  Credit;  revised  regulation  of  ODL  /  Online  Education;    permitting  upto  40%  credits  of courses  using  SWAYAM  platform;  regulations  on  Academic  Collaboration  between  Indian  & foreign  HEIs  to  offer  Twinning,  Joint  Degree  and  Dual  Degree  Programme;  regulations  on conferment of Autonomous Status to colleges; guidelines for admission & supernumerary seats for students  from  abroad  in  UG  &  PG  in  Indian  HEIs,  regulations  on  Minimum  Standards  and procedures  for  award  of  Ph.D.  degree;  regulation  on  Setting  up  and  Operation  of  Campuses  of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India; offering of courses, translation of course material / books and entrance examinations such as JEE,  NEET, CUET in Indian languages;. For enhancing industry-academic  collaboration  and  entrepreneurship  initiatives  like  guidelines  on  Professor  of Practice to enable HEIs to work with industry experts; guidelines for HEIs to offer apprenticeship / internship  embedded  degree  programme;  guidelines  on  establishment  of  R&D  in  HEIs;  industry aligned courses by HEIs to meet industry demand. For promotion of Indian Knowledge, Guidelines for Training/Orientation of Faculty on Indian Knowledge System (IKS), Empanelment of Artists/Artisans-in-Residence in Higher Educational Institutions, Introduction of courses based on Indian  heritage  and  culture,  Incorporating  Indian  Knowledge  in  Higher  Education  Curricula  have been issued.

(c)  to  (e):  Ministry  of  Education  conducts  an  annual  web-based  All  India  Survey  on  Higher Education  (AISHE)  since  2010-11  to  portray  the  status  of  higher  education  in  the  country.  The survey  aims  to  cover  all  the  Institutions  in  the  country  engaged  in  imparting  of  higher  education. Data  is  being  collected  on  several  parameters  such  as  teachers,  student  enrolment,  programmes, examination results, education finance, infrastructure. Indicators of educational development such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, etc. are useful in  making  informed  policy  decisions  and  research  for  development  of  education  sector.  As  far  as NEP 2020 is concerned, the Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Dr. K. Kasturirangan for framing the draft National Education Policy had analysed and examined a humungous volume of suggestions, inputs, reports including reference of AISHE 2015-16 and 2016-17.

(f):  Since announcement of NEP 2020, several positive impacts have been witnessed in the higher and  technical  education  system.    Academic  Bank  of  Credit  (ABC)  which  provides  a  platform  to National  Credit  Framework  (NCrF)  and  National  Higher  Education  Qualification  Framework  for broad-based multi-disciplinary / inter-disciplinary, holistic education with flexible curricula, creative combination  of subjects, multiple pathways, establishing equivalence, facilitate national and international mobility etc. is operational and being used extensively in Universities and HEIs. So far 1655 Universities/INIs/HEIs are onboarded on ABC portal & 2.62 Crore students are registered. To ensure access to high quality education with equity and inclusion courses are being offered in Indian Languages; entrance exams such as JEE, NEET, CUET are conducted in 13 Indian languages; 100 books for UG students on various subjects launched in 12 Indian Languages.  In order to promote digital learning by leveraging technology, at present, 95 HEIs are offering 1149 ODL programmes and  66  Higher  Educational  Institutions  are  offering  371  online  programmes.  More  than  19  lakh students are availing these facilities. To promote multi-disciplinary education and provide flexibility around 295 Universities have adopted SWAYAM regulation permitting learners to avail upto 40% credit Courses from SWAYAM platform. Around 9 lakh students are getting certified on SWAYAM every  year.  In  order  to  enable  HEIs  to  work  with  industry  experts  in  developing  courses  and curriculum to meet the industry and societal needs, guidelines on Professor of Practice have been issued. More than 100 HEIs are offering Apprenticeship / Internship embedded Degree Programme. Technology enabled Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) based Solutions for Governance of HEIs starting  from  admission  to  grant  of  Degree  -  Smarter  Automation  Engine  for  Universities (SAMARTH) is being extensively used by around 2700 Universities & HEIs covering 32 States / UTs.  7  State  Higher  Education  Departments  are  also  onboarded.  MoUs  have  been  signed  with leading  companies  such  as  Cisco/IBM/Meta/Adobe/Microsoft/Salesforce  to  create  industry-aligned courses. Courses have also been started by HEIs to meet the industry demand. Single Unified online portal  has  been  set  for  internship  and  around  10560  HEIs  and  71883  industries  are  registered  on portal.    At  present,  around  7550  Institutions'  Innovation  Councils  have  been  set  up.  Around  104 HEIs  are  funded  for  Idea  Development,  Evaluation  and  Application  Labs  (IDEA).  To  promote internationalization, campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar- Tanzania and IIT Delhi in Abu Dhabi have been set up. Promotion of Indian Knowledge by way of several initiatives aims to include knowledge of ancient India, its contributions to modern India in its successes and addressing challenges, with a clear sense of India's future aspirations in the field of education, health, environment etc.  Currently several initiatives have  been taken, like setting up of 53  IKS centres to catalyze original research, education and dissemination of IKS, 88 research projects like inter-disciplinary research projects like ancient metallurgy, ancient town planning and water resource management, ancient rasayanshastra etc. and adoption of IKS into curriculum.

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