Lok Sabha Question No. 302 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-02
Subject: Implementation of New Education Policy, 2020
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri P V Midhun Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 302 ANSWERED ON 02.02.2026

## Implementation of New Education Policy, 2020

302. Shri P V Midhun Reddy:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  the  current  status  of  implementation  of  New  Education  Policy,  2020  (NEP,  2020)  in  the country;

(b) the challenges faced in the implementation of NEP, 2020, particularly in rural areas;

(c) whether it is true that there is opposition to adoption of the NEP 2020, with concerns over increasing Government interference in the autonomy of educational institutions;

(d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to engage with stakeholders and address their concerns regarding the implementation of NEP, 2020?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a):    After  announcement  of  National  Education  Policy  2020  (NEP  2020),  a  number  of transformative changes have taken place both in school and higher education for its implementation.

In School Education, a series of significant initiatives have been undertaken in line with the vision of NEP 2020 such as:-

Samagra Shiksha, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from preschool  to  class  12  aims  for  improving  school  effectiveness  measured  in  terms  of  equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes. The structure has been modified from 10+2 to 5+3+3+4 corresponding to Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary stages. The scheme is in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4) and has been fully aligned with the recommendation of the National Education Policy 2020.

PM POSHAN Scheme: Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme has been revamped and extended to cover students of Balvatika in addition to students of Classes I-VIII in Government and Government-Aided Schools.  In a pivotal move, setting up of School Nutrition

Gardens (SNG) are encouraged in all schools and to further strengthen community participation, a special initiative named 'Tithi Bhojan' has been initiated.

National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF FS) was launched on 20th October, 2022. Based on this, Learning Teaching Material (Jadui Pitara) and Textbooks for classes I and II have been released.

National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) was released on 23rd August 2023. Under NCF-SE, the curriculum has been aligned with the National Education Policy 2020, emphasizing the 5+3+3+4 design of schooling. This framework addresses the entire educational journey from the foundational to secondary stages. Textbooks for classes 3 to 8 as per NCF-SE (2023) have been released.

National  Mission  for  universalizing  Foundational  Literacy  and  Numeracy  called  National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN BHARAT) was launched on 5th July 2021.

Vidya  Pravesh  (VP),  a  3  Months  Play  Based  School  Preparation  Module  was  developed  and launched  on  29th  July,  2021.  The  module  is  of  12  weeks  with  developmentally  appropriate instruction for the children entering of Grade I to bolster a child's pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, cognitive and social skills. Vidya Pravesh is now an annual calendar, and more than 4.2 crore children in Grade I have been benefited from VP.

Norms  and  standards  for  4-year  integrated  Teacher  Education  Programme  (ITEP)  has  been notified  vide  gazette  notification  dated  22.10.2021  by  NCTE.  From  2023-24  to  2024-25,  64 institutions granted recognition for 4-year integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) with an intake of 6,100.

Vidya Sameeksha Kendra (VSK) was launched on 06.09.2020.VSK has been established centrally at the NCERT, CBSE and all the States/UTs except kerala.

National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) launched on 21st August 2019 and extended to cover teachers at all levels of schooling including training of master trainers for ECCE.

PARAKH  (Performance  Assessment,  Review,  and  Analysis  of  Knowledge  for  Holistic Development)  was  set  up  on  8th  February,  2023,  to  fulfil  the  objectives  of  setting  norms, standards, guidelines and implement activities related to student assessment.

PARAKH  Rashtriya  Sarvekshan  was  conducted  on  4th  December  2024  covering  the  entire spectrum of schools, including Government Schools (Central and State Government), Government-Aided Schools, and Private Schools across all 36 States and UTs. The primary aim of  this  nationwide  survey  was  to  assess  the  foundational,  preparatory,  and  middle  stages  of schooling by assessing sampled students in Grades 3, 6, and 9.

National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) defines the work of teachers and makes explicit  elements  of  high-quality,  effective  teaching  in  21st  century  schools  that  will  improve educational outcomes for students. NCTE has developed a guiding document that outlines the competencies  that  teachers  should  possess  to  effectively  perform  their  roles.  NPST  guiding document released on 9th March 2024 and is now available in 22 Indian Scheduled languages and Braille Version & Audio format.

National  Mission  for  Mentoring  (NMM)  is  about  the  creation  of  a  large  pool  of  outstanding professionals  willing  to  provide  mentoring  to  school  teachers.  The  'Bluebook  on  NMM'  was released on 9th March 2024 and is now available in 22 Indian Scheduled languages and Braille Version & Audio format.

Under  PM  e-VIDYA,  DIKSHA  is  the  one  nation,  one  digital  education  infrastructure.  All states/UTs have been onboarded in DIKSHA. This digital infrastructure is artificial intelligence based  and  is  highly  scalable.  This  infrastructure  is  also  being  utilized  for  creating  Energized Textbooks  (ETBs)  and  presently  7,497  ETBs  are  published  on  DIKSHA.  There  are  total  of 3,74,460 e-contents available on DIKSHA and eContent available in 135 languages (128 Indian + 7 Foreign Languages).

DTH Channels of SWAYAM PRABHA have been expanded to 200 channels and are for School Education, meant to support and reach those who do not have access to the internet with a total of 1,04,737 Video Contents equals 31,034 hours of telecast received from States/UTs/ABs in 45 languages.

PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme was launched on 7th September 2022 with an aim to develop more than 14500 selected schools as exemplar schools that offers leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood, showcasing all the initiatives of NEP 2020.

ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Adult Education, aligns with NEP 2020 and aims to provide educational opportunities to the non-literates of aged 15 years and above. A dedicated Mobile App was launched on 29.07.2023 for  registering  learners  and  volunteer  teachers  and  also  enable  teaching  learning  process  by providing  access  to  primers  in  27  languages.  More  than  3.13  crore  Learners  and  46.95  lakh Volunteer  Teachers  (VTs)  have  been  registered.  Till  date,  6  States/UTs  i.e.  Ladakh,  Goa, Mizoram, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh have been declared fully literate.

District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) are being developed as centres of excellence in a phased manner in the next five years for strengthening teacher training.

A  series  of  transformative  reforms  and  initiatives  have  also  been  undertaken  in  the  Higher Education sector under the vision of NEP 2020.

In the area of academic frameworks and standardisation, significant steps have been taken such as the  implementation  of  the  National  Credit  Framework  (NCrF)  and  its  Standard  Operating Procedure to enable seamless integration of academic, vocational, and experiential learning across levels of education. Further, National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) aims to standardize qualification levels across academic and vocational streams for equivalence and comparability.

The introduction of the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR ID) provides students  with  a  lifelong  academic  identity  to  track  their  learning  journey  from  pre-primary  to higher education. Over 2600 universities and HEIs have been onboarded on the ABC portal, and more than 4.50 crore students are already registered.

To improve access and affordability, the PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme has been launched, enabling meritorious  students  to  avail  collateral-free,  guarantor-free  education  loans  through  a  simple, transparent, and digital process.

Additionally,  the  regulatory  frameworks  for  Open  and  Distance  Learning  (ODL)  and  Online Education have been revised to ensure quality and parity with regular programmes. As of now, 126 HEIs are offering nearly 802 online programmes and 121 HEIs are running around 1699 ODL programmes.

To  promote  multilingual  education,  the  Bharatiya  Bhasha  Pustak  Scheme,  as  per  the  Budget announcement 2025-26, has been envisaged to provide textbooks across various school and higher education subjects in 22 Indian languages in digital format over the next three years.

Further, UGC allows that students can write the answers in local languages in examinations even if the programmes is offered in English medium and promote translation of original writing in local  languages  and  use  of  local  language  in  the  teaching-learning  process  at  universities.  41 Institutions are offering Engineering Courses across 10 States in 12 regional languages. CUET conducted in 13 Languages and participated by around 240 Institutions. JEE (Mains) and NEET (UG) conducted in 13 languages involving about more than 30 lakhs students.

Digital education has been strengthened through the integration of the SWAYAM platform, which now allows up to 40% of total programme credits to be earned through online courses. A total of 404 universities have adopted SWAYAM, with more than 5 crore cumulative enrolments and around 10 lakh certifications per year. To support skill development, the SWAYAM Plus portal has  also  been  launched,  focusing  on  upskilling  and  reskilling  the  workforce.  Over  4.65  lakh students have registered so far.

For realizing the vision of "Make AI in India and Make Al work for India", the Government had approved establishment of three Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a total financial outlay of Rs. 990.00 Cr over the period of FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28. Ministry of Education approved three academic institutions for establishment of three Centres of Excellence (CoE) - CoE of AI in Health at IISc Bengaluru, CoE of AI in Agriculture at IIT Ropar and CoE of AI in Sustainable Cities at IIT Kanpur. Further, a new Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Education announced in Budget 2025-26 for a total outlay of Rs. 500.0 Cr, is being led by IIT Madras.

Promoting internationalisation of education, the Government has enabled the setting up of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions (FHEIs) in India. 14 Letters of Intent have been issued to FHEIs from Australia, Italy, United Kingdom and USA to set up their campuses at various places in India including Bengaluru (Karnataka), Delhi NCR, Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu). Among these, University  of  Southampton,  UK commenced  its  courses  in  August,  2025  at  its campus in Gurugram, Haryana. Under International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Regulations  2022,  approvals  have  been  accorded  to  5  universities  from  UK,  Australia  and Northern  Ireland  for  operating  offshore  branch  campuses  in  GIFT  City  SEZ,  Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Among these 5 universities, Deakin University, Australia commenced its courses in July, 2024, and University of Wollongong, Australia commenced its courses in November, 2024. In addition, Indian institutions are also establishing a global presence, with IIT Delhi's campus in Abu Dhabi and IIT Madras in Tanzania. These steps support the goal of making India a global hub for education.

Additionally,  regulatory  provisions  now  allow  for  Twinning,  Joint  Degree,  and  Dual  Degree Programmes  through  academic  collaboration  between  Indian  and  foreign  HEIs,  with  103 institutions currently offering such programmes out of 230 eligible universities.

India's standing in global rankings has significantly improved, with 54 Indian HEIs featured in the QS Rankings 2026, as compared to 11 in 2015. The QS Subject Rankings for 2025 included 79 Indian HEIs, an increase of 10 from the previous year's 69. As per QS Asia ranking 2026, 294 Indian Higher Education Institutions features.

To  promote  industry-academia  collaboration,  the  Professor  of  Practice  scheme  has  been introduced, facilitating the engagement of around 18,596 domain experts across 537 HEIs.

Efforts are also being made to strengthen cultural and traditional knowledge systems, with the systematic  integration  of  Indian  Knowledge  Systems  (IKS)  into  higher  education  curricula  to promote Indian values, heritage, and indigenous knowledge. IKS Scheme has been extended from 2025-26  to  2029-30  with  a  financial  outlay  of  Rs.  405.78  Crore  to  bridge  the  gap  between scientifically  evidenced  and  researched  tradition  Indian  knowledge  systems  and  contemporary knowledge systems.

(b) to (e): Education is subject of concurrent list and both Central and State government work collaboratively  to  ensure  comprehensive,  and  progressive  enhancement  of  overall  quality  and growth within the education sector. NEP 2020 does not intend to take away the powers of the State to legislate on education and rather it requires careful planning, joint monitoring, and collaborative implementation between the Centre and States for execution of the policy.

To create awareness and discuss innovative ideas for NEP implementation, a series of workshops /  consultation-cum-review  meetings  have  been  held  with  States/UTs,  Educational  Institutions, other stakeholders from time to time. Implementation of NEP 2020 was discussed in National Education  Ministers'  Conference  held  in  Gujarat  in  June  2022;  National  Conference  of  Chief Secretaries held in June 2022; 7th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog held in August 2022; Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog held on 27th July 2024; Two-day National Workshop on Higher and Technical Education with Secretaries of States/UTs on 12th & 13th November 2024; Two-day Vice Chancellors' Conference of Central Universities in Kevadia, Gujarat on 10th & 11th July 2025 to  focus  on  Central  Universities'  role  as  drivers  of  educational  transformation  and  their contribution to Viksit Bharat @2047, review progress and set the future roadmap; A National Workshop on Multidisciplinary Education & Research University (MERU) under Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM USHA) from 30th April to 1st May, 2025 to discuss topics like UGC Regulations for NEP Implementation, Clustering and Collaboration for Multidisciplinary Education, Holistic Education through Integration of Skilling and Industry Connect, etc.

National  Conference  on  Curricular  and  Assessment  Equivalence  and  Improving  Learning Outcomes was organised on 02.07.2025.  The  Conference  witnessed  participation  of  over  250 senior  officials.  Key  highlights  included  the  launch  of  the  PARAKH  Dissemination  Portal, presentations on State-level best practices, deliberations on frameworks for Board equivalence, and strategies for enhancing learning outcomes in alignment with the objectives of NEP 2020.

An Orientation and Training Workshop was organised on 12.01.2026 for Vice-Chancellors and Nodal Officers of HEIs on the QS World University Rankings. The workshop aimed at improving institutional understanding of global ranking parameters, best practices, and strategic pathways, in alignment with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The workshop witnessed wide participation from Central, State, and Private Universities, including autonomous institutions across the country.

NEP  2020  provides  different timelines as well as principles and methodology  for its implementation.  Accordingly,  Ministry  of  Education,  State  Governments,  education-related Ministries,  the  regulatory  and  implementing  bodies  of  school  and  higher  education  such  as University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, National Council for Teacher Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Central Board of Secondary  Education,  Universities/Colleges/Schools  etc.  have  started  taking  initiatives  for implementation of NEP 2020.