Lok Sabha Question No. 211 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-22
Subject: Uniform Education at School Level
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 211 ANSWERED ON 22/07/2024

## Uniform Education at School Level

## † 211.   SHRI BHAUSAHEB RAJARAM WAKCHAURE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  proposes  to  be  taken  any  steps  to  provide  uniform education to all children by nationalizing school level education upto class 12th;

- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details on the progress made in this regard so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

(SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (c): The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was announced on 29 th July, 2020. It is the first  education  policy  of  the  21st  century  and  founded  on  the  five  guiding  pillars  of  Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. NEP 2020 envisions a massive transformation in  school  education  through-  'an  education  system  rooted  in  Indian  ethos  that  contributes directly  to  transforming  India,  that  is  Bharat,  sustainably  into  an  equitable  and  vibrant knowledge society, by providing high quality education to all, thereby  making  India  a  global knowledge superpower.' The salient features of NEP 2020 in the context of School Education are as follows:

- 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. Setting up of a new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development);
- viii. Equitable and inclusive education -Special emphasis given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs);
- ix. A  separate  Gender  Inclusion  fund  and  Special  Education  Zones  for  disadvantaged regions and groups;
- x. Robust and transparent processes for recruitment of teachers and merit-based performance;
- xi. Integration of Vocational Education programs into mainstream education;
- xii. Ensuring availability of all resources through school complexes and clusters;
- xiii. Setting up of State School Standards Authority (SSSA).

NEP 2020 envisages that the extant 10+2 structure in school education be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18. Accordingly, the curricular and pedagogical structure and the curricular framework for school education shall be guided by a 5+3+3+4 design, consisting of the Foundational Stage (3 years of Anganwadi/preschool + 2 years in primary school in Grades 1-2; both together covering ages 3-8), Preparatory Stage (Grades 3-5, covering ages 8-11), Middle Stage (Grades 6-8, covering ages 11-14), and Secondary Stage (Grades 9-12 in two phases, i.e., 9 and 10 in the first  and 11 and 12 in the second, covering ages 14-18).

Additionally, the National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage and National Curriculum Framework for School Education has been launched by the Department of School Education and Literacy. These are the first ever integrated Curriculum Frameworks for children between  ages  3-18  in  India  and  it  is  a  direct  outcome  of  the  5+3+3+4  'curricular  and pedagogical' structure that NEP 2020 has come out with for School Education. Based on these National Curriculum Frameworks, textbooks for classes 1,2, 3 and 6 have also been prepared.

Further, Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and major responsibility of implementation of NEP 2020 following prescribed norms and standards falls under the domain of  the  States  and  UT  Governments.  Therefore,  the  implementation  of  the  Policy  requires multiple  initiatives  and  actions,  which  are  being  taken  up  in  a  synchronized  and  systematic manner,  by  multiple  bodies  including  Ministry  of  Education,  State/UT  Governments,  State Departments of Education, Boards, the regulatory bodies of school education, NCERT, SCERTs and schools.

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