New Education Policy, changes it brings and Frequently Asked Questions

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National Education Policy 2020 – Features and Difference From Past Education Policy.

The National Education Policy was framed in 1986 and then first modified in 1992. 34 years have passed since previous Policy. During this period significant changes have taken place in our country, society economy, and the world at large. It is in this context that the education sector needs to gear itself towards the demands of the 21st Century and the needs of the people and the country. Quality, innovation and research will be the pillars on which India will become a knowledge super power. Clearly, a new Education Policy is needed. So government come up with a new education policy 2020.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Government had initiated the process of formulating a New Education Policy through the consultation process for an inclusive, participatory and holistic approach, which takes into consideration expert opinions, field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices.

The Committee for preparation of the draft National Education Policy submitted its report to the Ministry on 31.05.2019. The Draft National Education Policy 2019 (DNEP 2019) was uploaded on MHRD’s website and also at MyGov Innovate portal eliciting views/suggestions/comments of stakeholders, including public. The draft NEP is based on the foundational pillars access, affordability, equity, quality and accountability.

A special meeting of CABE on National Education Policy was held. In the meeting, 26 Education Ministers of various States and UTs, representatives of States and Union Territories, Members of CABE, Heads of Autonomous Organisations, Vice Chancellors of Universities, attended the meeting along with senior officials of the Central and State Governments. Around 2 lakh suggestions on the Draft National Education Policy received from various stakeholders. A meeting on Draft NEP 2019 of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development was held on 07.11.2019.

What is New Education Policy 2020

Education Policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each individual. It is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities -both the ‘foundational capacities ’of literacy and numeracy and ‘higher-order’ cognitive capacities, such as critical thinking and problem solving – but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.

The teacher must be at the centre of the fundamental reforms in the education system. The new education policy must help re-establish teachers, at all levels, as the most respected and essential members of our society, because they truly shape our next generation of citizens. It must do everything to empower teachers and help them to do their job as effectively as possible.

Principles of New Education Policy

The purpose of the education system 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 fundamental principles that will guide both the education system at large, as well as the individual institutions within it are:

Recognizing, identifying, and fostering the unique capabilities of each student, by sensitizing teachers as well as parents to promote each student’s holistic development in both academic and non-academic spheres
According the highest priority to achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by all students by Grade 3;
Flexibility, so that learners have the ability to choose their learning trajectories and programmes, and thereby choose their own paths in life according to their talents and interests;
No hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams, etc. in order to eliminate harmful hierarchies among, and silos between different areas of learning;
Multidisciplinarity and a holistic education across the sciences, social sciences, arts,humanities, and sports for a multidisciplinary world in order to ensure the unity and integrity of all knowledge;
Emphasis on conceptual understanding rather than rote learning and learning-for-exams;
Creativity and critical thinking to encourage logical decision-making and innovation;
Ethics and human & Constitutional values like empathy, respect for others, cleanliness, courtesy, democratic spirit, spirit of service, respect for public property, scientific temper, liberty, responsibility, pluralism, equality, and justice;
Promoting multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning;
Life skills such as communication, cooperation, teamwork, and resilience;
Focus on regular formative assessment for learning rather than the summative assessment that encourages today’s ‘coaching culture ’;
Extensive use of technology in teaching and learning, removing language barriers, increasing access for Divyang students, and educational planning and management;
Respect for diversity and respect for the local context in all curriculum, pedagogy, and policy, always keeping in mind that education is a concurrent subject;
Full equity and inclusion as the cornerstone of all educational decisions to ensure that all students are able to thrive in the education system;
Synergy in curriculum across all levels of education from early childhood care and education to school education to higher education;
Teachers and faculty as the heart of the learning process – their recruitment, continuous professional development, positive working environments and service conditions;
A ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework to ensure integrity, transparency, and resource efficiency of the educational system through audit and public disclosure while encouraging innovation and out-of-the-box ideas through autonomy, good governance, and empowerment;
Outstanding research as a corequisite for outstanding education and development;
Continuous review of progress based on sustained research and regular assessment by educational experts;
A rootedness and pride in India, and its rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge systems and traditions;
Education is a public service; access to quality education must be considered a basic right of every child;
Substantial investment in a strong, vibrant public education system as well as the encouragement and facilitation of true philanthropic private and community participation.

Parts of New Education Policy 2020

The vision of the Policy is to instill among the learners a deep-rooted pride in being Indian, not only in thought, but also in spirit, intellect, and deeds, is well as to develop knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions that support responsible commitment to human rights, sustainable development and living, and global well-being, thereby reflecting a truly global citizen.

Part 1: SCHOOL EDUCATION

This policy envisages that the extant 10+2 structure in school education will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18.

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): The Foundation of Learning

Over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of 6. So, strong investment in ECCE must ensure that no later than 2030, all students entering Grade 1 are school ready.
ECCE ensures flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and inquiry-based learning,. It also includes a focus on developing social capacities, sensitivity, good behaviour, courtesy, ethics, personal and public cleanliness, teamwork, and cooperation.
A National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 will be developed by NCERT in two parts, namely, a sub-framework for 0-3 year-old, and a sub-framework for 3-8 year-old.
Special attention and priority will be given to districts and locations that are particularly socio-economically disadvantaged. ECCE shall be delivered through (a) standalone Anganwadis; (b) Anganwadis co-located with primary schools; (c) pre-primary schools/sections covering at least age 5 to 6 years co-located with existing primary schools; and (d) stand-alone pre-schools.
Anganwadi Centres will be strengthened with high-quality infrastructure, play equipment, and well-trained Anganwadi workers/teachers.
ECCE will also be introduced in Ashramshalas in tribal-dominated areas.

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: An Urgent & Necessary Prerequisite to Learning

The ability to read and write, and perform basic operations with numbers, is a necessary foundation and an indispensable prerequisite for all future schooling and lifelong learning. However, we are currently in a learning crisis: a large proportion of students currently in elementary school lacks the ability to read and comprehend basic text and the ability to carry out basic addition and subtraction with Indian numerals.
The highest priority of the education system will be to achieve
universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary school by 2025. This Policy will become relevant for our students only if this most basic learning requirement (i.e., reading, writing, and arithmetic at the foundational level) is first achieved. This is targeted to be acheived by 2025.
First, teacher vacancies will be filled at the earliest, in a time-bound manner – especially in disadvantaged areas and areas with large pupil-to-teacher ratios or high rates of illiteracy. Special attention will be given to employing local teachers or those with familiarity with local languages. A pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of under 30:1 will be ensured at the level of each school; areas having large numbers of socio-economically disadvantaged students will aim for a PTR of under 25:1.
A national repository of high-quality resources on foundational literacy and numeracy will be made available on the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA).
Enjoyable and inspirational books for students at all levels will be developed, including through high-quality translation (technology assisted as needed) in all local and Indian languages, and will be made available extensively in both school and local public libraries.
Children are unable to learn optimally when they are undernourished or unwell. Hence, the nutrition and health (including mental health) of children will be addressed, through healthy meals and the introduction of well-trained social workers, counsellors, and community involvement into the schooling system.

Curtailing Dropout Rates and Ensuring Universal Access to Education at All Levels

Through initiatives such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (now the Samagra
Shiksha) and the Right to Education Act, India has made remarkable strides in recent years in attaining near-universal enrolment in elementary education. However, the data for enrolment Grades 6-8 was 90.9%, while for Grades 9-10 and 11-12 it was only 79.3% and 56.5%, respectively – indicating that a significant proportion of enrolled students drop out after Grade 5 and especially after Grade 8. so the aim is to ensure education for children from pre-school to Grade- 12.
Special care shall be taken to ensure that no school remains deficient on infrastructure support.
Credibility of Government schools shall be re-established and this will be attained by upgrading and enlarging the schools that already exist and by building additional quality schools.
Ensure that children of migrant labourers, and other children who are dropping out of school due to various circumstances are brought back into mainstream education.
For providing equitable and quality education from the Foundational Stage through Grade 12 to all children up to the age of 18.
Once infrastructure and participation are in place, ensuring quality will be the key in retention of students. This will require a system of incentives for deploying teachers with knowledge of the local language to areas with high dropout rates.
To facilitate learning for all students, with special emphasis on Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs), the scope of school education will be broadened. Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Programmes offered by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and State Open Schools will be expanded and strengthened. NIOS and State Open Schools will offer the following programmes in addition to the present programmes: A, B and C levels that are equivalent to Grades 3, 5, and 8 of the formal school system; secondary education programmes that are equivalent to Grades 10 and 12; vocational education courses or programmes; and adult literacy and life-enrichment programmes.
Efforts will be made to involve community and alumni, one-on-one tutoring; the teaching of literacy and holding of extra help sessions; teaching support and guidance for educators; career guidance and mentoring to students; etc. Databases of literate volunteers, retired
scientists/government/semi government employees, alumni, and educators will be created for this purpose.

Restructuring school curriculum and pedagogy in a new 5+3+3+4 design

The curricular and pedagogical structure of school education will be reconfigured to 5+3+3+4 design, consisting of the Foundational Stage (in two parts), that is,
- 3 years of Anganwadi/pre-school
- + 2 years in primary school in Grades 1-2; both together covering ages 3-8(Grade upto 2)
- Preparatory Stage (Grades 3-5, covering ages 8-11) ,
- Middle Stage (Grades 6-8, covering ages 11-14),
- Secondary Stage (Grades 9-12 in two phases, i.e., 9 and 10 in the first and 11 and 2 in the second, covering ages 14-18).
The key overall thrust of curriculum and pedagogy reform across all stages will be to move the education system towards real understanding and towards learning how to learn.
Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis based learning.
In all stages, experiential learning will be adopted, including hands-on learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated education, story-telling-based pedagogy, among others, as standard pedagogy within each subject, and with explorations of relations among different subjects.
Students will be given increased flexibility and choice of subjects to study, particularly in secondary school – including subjects in physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills; so that they can design their own paths of study and life plans.
There will be no hard separation among ‘curricular’, ‘extracurricular ’, or ‘co-curricular’, among ‘arts’, ‘humanities’, and ‘sciences’, or between ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ streams. Subjects such as physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills, in addition to science, humanities, and mathematics, will be incorporated throughout the school curriculum, with a consideration for what is interesting and safe at each age.
Each of the four stages of school education, in accordance with what may be possible in different regions, may consider moving towards a semester or any other system that allows the inclusion of shorter modules, or courses that are taught on alternate days, in order to allow an exposure to more subjects and enable greater flexibility.
It is well known that children will learn better in their home language/mother tongue. Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond. This will be followed by both public and private schools. High-quality textbooks, including in science, will be made available in home languages/mother tongue. If textbook material in local languages is not available, the language of transaction between teachers and students will still remain the home language/mother tongue wherever possible.
The three-language formula will continue to be implemented and at
least two of the three languages are native to India. Students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or 7.
All efforts will be made in preparing high-quality bilingual textbooks and teaching-learning materials for science and mathematics, so that students are enabled to think and speak about the two subjects both in their home language/mother tongue and in English.
India’s languages are among the richest, most scientific, most beautiful, and most expressive in the world, with a huge body of ancient as well as modern literature. For purposes of cultural enrichment as well as national integration, all young Indians should be aware of the rich and vast array of languages.
They will also learn what geographical areas speak which languages, get a sense of the nature and structure of tribal languages, and learn to say commonly spoken phrases and sentences in every major language of India.
Sanskrit, while also an important modern language mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, possesses a classical literature that is greater in volume than that of Latin and Greek put together, containing vast treasures from different fields of study written by people of various religions as well as non-religious
people, and by people from all walks of life and a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds over thousands of years. Sanskrit will thus be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an
important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula. It will be taught in ways that are interesting and experiential as well as contemporary relevant.
In addition to Sanskrit, India also has an extremely rich literature in other classical languages, including classical Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia. In addition to these classical languages Pali, Persian, and Prakrit; and their works of literature too must be preserved.
For the enrichment of the children, and for the preservation of these rich languages and their artistic treasures, all students in all schools, public or private, will have the option of learning at least two years of a classical language of India and its associated literature, through experiential and innovative approaches.
In addition to high quality offerings in Indian languages and English, foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level.
Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardised across the country, and National and State curriculum materials developed, for use by students with hearing impairment. Local sign languages
will be respected and taught as well, where possible and relevant.
Concerted curricular and pedagogical initiatives, including the introduction of contemporary subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking, Holistic Health, Organic Living, Environmental Education, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), etc. at relevant stages will be undertaken to develop these various important skills in students at all levels.
It is recognised that mathematics and mathematical thinking will be very important for upcoming fields and professions that will involve
artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science, etc. Thus, mathematics and computational thinking will be given increased emphasis.
Students will be taught at a young age the importance of “doing what’s right”, and will be given a logical framework for making ethical decisions. In later years, this would then be expanded along themes of cheating, violence, plagiarism, littering, tolerance, equality, empathy, etc., with a view to enabling children to embrace moral/ethical values in conducting one’s life, formulate a position/argument about an ethical issue from multiple perspectives, and use ethical practices in all work.
The formulation of a new and comprehensive National Curricular Framework for School Education, NCFSE 2020-21, will be undertaken by the NCERT – based on the principles of this National Education Policy 2020. The NCFSE document shall henceforth be revisited and updated once every 5-10 years.
Quality textbooks shall be available at the lowest possible cost -namely, at the cost of production/printing – in order to mitigate the burden of textbook prices on the students and on the educational system. Additional textbook materials could be funded by public-philanthropic partnerships and crowd sourcing.
Concerted efforts, through suitable changes in curriculum and pedagogy, will be made by NCERT, SCERTs, schools, and educators to significantly reduce the weight of school bags and textbooks.
The aim of assessment in the culture of our schooling system will shift from one that is primarily tests rote memorization skills to one that is more regular and formative, is more competency-based.
The progress card of all students for school-based assessment, which is communicated by schools to parents, will reflects in great detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.
The current nature of secondary school exams, including Board exams and entrance exams – and the resulting coaching culture of today – are doing much harm, especially at the secondary school level, replacing valuable time for true learning with excessive exam coaching and preparation. These exams also force students to learn a very narrow band of material in a single stream, rather than allowing the flexibility and choice that will be so important in the education system of the future.
While the Board exams for Grades 10 and 12 will be continued, the existing system of Board and entrance examinations shall be reformed to eliminate the need for undertaking coaching classes. To reverse these harmful effects of the current assessment system, Board exams will be redesigned to encourage holistic development; students will be able to choose many of the subjects in which they take Board exams, depending on their individualized interests. To further eliminate the ‘high stakes’ aspect of Board Exams, all students will be allowed to take Board Exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired.
Boards may over time also develop further viable models of Board Exams that reduce pressure and the coaching culture. Some possibilities include: a system of annual/semester/modular Board Exams could be developed.
To track progress throughout the school years, and not just at the end of Grades 10 and 12, all students will take school examinations in Grades 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority. The Grade 3 examination, in particular, would test basic literacy, numeracy, and other foundational skills. The results of school examinations will be used only for developmental purposes of the school education system, including for public disclosure by schools of their overall (anonymized) student outcomes, and for continuous monitoring and improvement of the schooling system.
It is proposed to set up a National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development), as a standard-setting body under MHRD.
The principles for university entrance exams will be similar. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will work to offer a high-quality common aptitude test, as well as specialized common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year.
There are innate talents in every student, which must be discovered, nurtured, fostered, and developed. Teacher education will include methods for the recognition and fostering of such student talents and interests. The NCERT and NCTE will develop guidelines for the education of gifted children. B.Ed. programmes may also allow a specialization in the education of gifted children.
Olympiads and competitions in various subjects will be conducted across the country, with clear coordination and progression from school to local to state to national levels, to ensure that all students
may participate at all levels for which they qualify.
Once internet-connected smart phones or tablets are available in all homes and/or schools, online apps with quizzes, competitions, assessments, enrichment materials, and online communities for shared interests will be developed. Schools will develop smart classrooms, in a phased manner, for using digital pedagogy and thereby enriching the teaching-learning process with online resources and collaborations.

Part 2: HIGHER EDUCATION

The main thrust of this policy regarding higher education is to end the fragmentation of higher education by transforming higher education institutions into large multidisciplinary universities, colleges, and HEI clusters/Knowledge Hubs, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students.
Moving to large multidisciplinary universities and HEI clusters is thus the highest recommendation of this policy regarding the structure of higher education like the ancient Indian universities Takshashila, Nalanda, Vallabhi, and Vikramshila, which had thousands of students from India and the world studying in vibrant multi-disciplinary environments.
This vision of higher education will require, in particular, a new conceptual perception/understanding for what constitutes a higher education institution (HEI), i.e., a university or a college. A university will mean a multidisciplinary institution of higher learning that offers
undergraduate and graduate programmes, with high quality teaching, research, and community engagement. The definition of university will thus allow a spectrum of institutions that range from those that place equal emphasis on teaching and research i.e., Research-intensive Universities, those that place greater emphasis on teaching but still conduct significant research. Meanwhile, an Autonomous degree-granting College (AC) will refer to a large multidisciplinary institution of higher learning that grants undergraduate degrees and is primarily
focused on undergraduate teaching though it would not be restricted to that and it need not be restricted to that and it would generally be smaller than a typical university.
A stage-wise mechanism for granting graded autonomy to colleges, through a transparent system of graded accreditation, will be established. Over a period of time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an Autonomous degree-granting College, or a constituent college of a university – in the latter case, it
would be fully a part of the university.
With appropriate accreditation, Autonomous degree-granting Colleges could evolve into Research-intensive or Teaching-intensive Universities.
HEIs will have the autonomy and freedom to move gradually from one category to another, based on their plans, actions, and effectiveness.
By 2040, all higher education institutions (HEIs) shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions. All HEIs will firstly plan to become multidisciplinary by 2030, and then gradually increase student strength to the desired levels.
More HEIs shall be established and developed in under served regions to ensure full access, equity, and inclusion. There shall, by 2030, be at least one large multidisciplinary HEI in or near every district.
Growth will be in both public and private institutions, with a strong emphasis on developing a large number of outstanding public institutions.
Institutions will have the option to run Open Distance Learning (ODL) and online pogrammes.
Single-stream HEIs will be phased out over time, and all will move towards becoming vibrant multidisciplinary institutions or parts of vibrant multidisciplinary HEI clusters, in order to enable and
encourage high-quality multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary teaching and research across fields.
Gradual phasing out the system of ‘affiliated colleges’ over a period of fifteen years through a system of graded autonomy, and to be carried out in a challenge mode.
The overall higher education sector will aim to be an integrated higher education system, including professional and vocational education.
The present complex nomenclature of HEIs in the country such as ‘deemed to be university’, ‘affiliating university’, ‘affiliating technical university’, ‘unitary university’ shall be replaced simply
by ‘university’ on fulfilling the criteria as per norms.
The undergraduate degree will be of either 3 or 4-year duration, with multiple exit options within this period, with appropriate certifications, e.g., a certificate after completing 1 year in a discipline or field including vocational and professional areas, or a diploma after 2 years of study, or a Bachelor ’s degree after a 3-year programme. The 4-year multidisciplinary Bachelor’s programme, however, shall
be the preferred option since it allows the opportunity to experience the full range of holistic and multidisciplinary education in addition to a focus on the chosen major and minors as per the choices of the student.
An Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) shall be established which would digitally store the academic credits earned from various recognized HEIs so that the degrees from an HEI can be awarded taking into account credits earned. The 4-year programme may also lead to a degree ‘with Research’ if the student completes a rigorous research project in their major area(s) of study as specified by the HEI.
HEIs will have the flexibility to offer different designs of Master’s programmes: (a) there may be a 2-year programme with the second year devoted entirely to research for those who have completed the 3-year Bachelor ’s programme; (b) for students completing a 4-year Bachelor ’s programme with Research, there could be a 1-year Master’s programme; and (c) there may be an integrated 5-year Bachelor’s/Master’s programme. Undertaking a Ph.D. shall require either a Master’s degree or a 4-year Bachelor’s degree with Research. The M.Phil. programme shall be discontinued.
Model public universities for holistic and multidisciplinary education, at par with IITs, IIMs etc., called MERUs (Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities) will be set up and will aim to attain the highest global standards in quality education. They will also help set the highest standards for multidisciplinary education across India.
HEIs will focus on research and innovation by setting up start-up incubation centres; technology development centres; centres in frontier areas of research; greater industry-academic linkages; and interdisciplinary research including humanities and social sciences research. Given the scenario of epidemics and pandemics, it is critical that HEIs take the lead to undertake research in areas of infectious diseases, epidemiology, virology, diagnostics, instrumentation, vaccinology and other relevant areas.
The curriculum must be interesting and relevant, and updated regularly to align with the latest knowledge requirements and to meet specified learning outcomes. High-quality pedagogy is then necessary to successfully impart the curricular material to students; pedagogical practices determine the learning experiences.
Curriculum and pedagogy will be designed by institutions and motivated faculty to ensure a stimulating and engaging learning experience for all students, and continuous formative assessment will be used to further the goals of each programme.
Universities and colleges will thus be required to set up high-quality support centres and will be given adequate funds and academic
resources to carry this out effectively.
India will be promoted as a global study destination providing premium education at affordable costs thereby helping to restore its role as a Vishwa Guru.
An International Students Office at each HEI hosting foreign students will be set up to coordinate all matters relating to welcoming and
supporting students arriving from abroad.
High performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries, and similarly, selected universities e.g., those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.
Financial assistance to students shall be made available through various measures. Efforts will be made to incentivize the merit of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and other SEDGs. The National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to support, foster, and track the progress of students receiving scholarships.
Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer larger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their students.
As the most basic step, all HEIs will be equipped with the basic infrastructure and facilities, including clean drinking water, clean working toilets, blackboards, offices, teaching supplies, libraries, labs, and pleasant classroom spaces and campuses. Every classroom shall have access to the latest educational technology that enables better learning experiences.
Faculty will be given the freedom to design their own curricular and pedagogical approaches within the approved framework, including textbook and reading material selections, assignments, and assessments.
In keeping with the vision of autonomous institutions will have clearly defined, independent, and transparent processes and criteria for faculty recruitment.Whereas the current recruitment process will be continued, a ‘tenure-track’ i.e., suitable probation period shall be put in place to further ensure excellence. There shall be a fast-track promotion system.
The approach to equity and inclusion must be common across school and higher education. Furthermore, there must be continuity across the stages to ensure sustainable reform. Thus, the policy initiatives required to meet the goals of equity and inclusion in higher education must be read in conjunction with those for school education.
For equity and inclusion of all sections Governments and HEIs:
- Steps to be taken by Governments
  (a) Earmark suitable Government funds for the education of SEDGs
  (b) Set clear targets for higher GER for SEDGs
  (c) Enhance gender balance in admissions to HEIs
  (d) Enhance access by establishing more high-quality HEIs in aspirational districts and Special Education Zones containing larger numbers of SEDGs
  (e) Develop and support high-quality HEIs that teach in local/Indian languages or bilingually
  (f) Provide more financial assistance and scholarships to SEDGs in both public and private HEIs
  (g) Conduct outreach programmes on higher education opportunities and scholarships among
  SEDGs
  (h) Develop and support technology tools for better participation and learning outcomes.
- Steps to be taken by all HEIs
  (a) Mitigate opportunity costs and fees for pursuing higher education
  (b) Provide more financial assistance and scholarships to socio-economically disadvantaged students
  (c) Conduct outreach on higher education opportunities and scholarships
  (d) Make admissions processes more inclusive
  (e) Make curriculum more inclusive
  (f) Increase employability potential of higher education programmes
  (g) Develop more degree courses taught in Indian languages and bilingually
  (h) Ensure all buildings and facilities are wheelchair-accessible and disabled-friendly
  (i) Develop bridge courses for students that come from disadvantaged educational backgrounds
  (j) Provide socio-emotional and academic support and mentoring for all such students through
  suitable counselling and mentoring programmes
  (k) Ensure sensitization of faculty, counsellor, and students on gender-identity issue and its
  inclusion in all aspects of the HEI, including curricula
  (l) Strictly enforce all no-discrimination and anti-harassment rules
  (m) Develop Institutional Development Plans that contain specific plans for action on increasing
  participation from SEDGs, including but not limited to the above items.
Teacher Education:Teachers must be grounded in Indian values, languages, knowledge, ethos, and traditions
The Regulatory System shall be empowered to take stringent action against substandard and dysfunctional teacher education institutions (TEIs) that do not meet basic educational criteria, after giving one year for remedy of the breaches. By 2030, only educationally sound, multidisciplinary, and integrated teacher education programmes shall be in force.
All teacher education programmes must be conducted within composite multidisciplinary institutions
All multidisciplinary universities and colleges – will aim to establish, education departments which, besides carrying out cutting-edge research in various aspects of education, will also run B.Ed. programmes, in collaboration with other departments such as
psychology, philosophy, sociology, neuroscience, Indian languages, arts, music, history, literature, physical education, science and mathematics.
All stand-alone TEIs will be required to convert to multidisciplinary institutions by 2030, since they will have to offer the 4-year integrated
teacher preparation programme.
The 4-year integrated B.Ed. which also include Bachelor’s degree in one specialized subject s offered by such multidisciplinary HEIs.
The HEI offering the 4-year integrated B.Ed. may also run a 2-year B.Ed., for students who have already received a Bachelor’s degree in a specialized subject.
A 1-year B.Ed. may also be offered for candidates who have received
a 4-year undergraduate degree in a specialized subject.
Scholarships for meritorious students will be established for the purpose of attracting outstanding candidates to the 4-year, 2-year, and 1-year B.Ed. programmes.
In order to maintain uniform standards for teacher education, the admission to pre-service teacher preparation programmes shall be through suitable subject and aptitude tests conducted by the National Testing Agency, and shall be standardized keeping in view the linguistic and cultural diversity of the country.
All fresh Ph.D. entrants, irrespective of discipline, will be required to take credit-based courses in teaching/education/pedagogy/writing related to their chosen Ph.D subject during their doctoral training period.
Exposure to pedagogical practices, designing curriculum, credible evaluation systems, communication, and so on will be ensured.
Ph.D students will also have a minimum number of hours of actual teaching experience gathered through teaching assistantships and other means. Ph.D. programmes at universities around the country will be reoriented for this purpose.
The use of technology platforms such as SWAYAM/DIKSHA for online
training of teachers will be encouraged, so that standardized training programmes can be administered to large numbers of teachers within a short span of time.
A National Mission for Mentoring shall be established, with a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty – including those with the ability to teach in Indian languages – who would be willing to provide short and long-term mentoring/professional support to University/ college teachers.
By 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education, for which a clear action plan with targets and timelines will be
developed. This is in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4.4 and will help to realize the
full potential of India ’s demographic dividend. The number of students in vocational education will
be considered while arriving at the GER targets. The development of vocational capacities will go
hand-in-hand with the development of ‘academic’ or other capacities. Vocational education will be
integrated in the educational offerings of all secondary schools in a phased manner over the next
decade. 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. Higher education institutions will offer vocational education
either on their own or in partnership with industry and NGOs. The B.Voc. degrees introduced in 2013
will continue to exist, but vocational courses will also be available to students enrolled in all other
Bachelor’s degree programmes, including the 4-year multidisciplinary Bachelor ’s programmes. HEIs
will also be allowed to conduct short-term certificate courses in various skills including soft skills.
‘Lok Vidya’, i.e., important vocational knowledge developed in India, will be made accessible to
students through integration into vocational education courses. The possibility of offering vocational
courses through ODL mode will also be explored.
16.6. Vocational education will be integrated into all school and higher education institutions in a
phased manner over the next decade. Focus areas for vocational education will be chosen based on
skills gap analysis and mapping of local opportunities. MHRD will constitute a National Committee
for the Integration of Vocational Education (NCIVE), consisting of experts in vocational education
and representatives from across Ministries, in collaboration with industry, to oversee this effort.
16.7. Individual institutions that are early adopters must innovate to find models and practices that
work and then share these with other institutions through mechanisms set up by NCIVE, so as to help
extend the reach of vocational education. Different models of vocational education, and
apprenticeships, will also be experimented by higher education institutions. Incubation centres will be
set up in higher education institutions in partnership with industries.
16.8. The National Skills Qualifications Framework will be detailed further for each discipline
vocation and profession. Further, Indian standards will be aligned with the International Standard
Classification of Occupations maintained by the International Labour Organization. This Framework
will provide the basis for Recognition of Prior Learning. Through this, dropouts from the formal
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system will be reintegrated by aligning their practical experience with the relevant level of the
Framework. The credit-based Framework will also facilitate mobility across ‘general’ and vocational
education.
17. Catalysing Quality Academic Research in All Fields through a new National
Research Foundation
17.1. Knowledge creation and research are critical in growing and sustaining a large and vibrant
economy, uplifting society, and continuously inspiring a nation to achieve even greater heights.
Indeed, some of the most prosperous civilizations (such as India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece)
to the modern era (such as the United States, Germany, Israel, South Korea, and Japan), were/are
strong knowledge societies that attained intellectual and material wealth in large part through
celebrated and fundamental contributions to new knowledge in the realm of science as well as art,
language, and culture that enhanced and uplifted not only their own civilizations but others around
the globe.
17.2. A robust ecosystem of research is perhaps more important than ever with the rapid changes
occurring in the world today, e.g., in the realm of climate change, population dynamics and
management, biotechnology, an expanding digital marketplace, and the rise of machine learning and
artificial intelligence. If India is to become a leader in these disparate areas, and truly achieve the
potential of its vast talent pool to again become a leading knowledge society in the coming years and
decades, the nation will require a significant expansion of its research capabilities and output across
disciplines. Today, the criticality of research is more than ever before, for the economic, intellectual,
societal, environmental, and technological health and progress of a nation.
17.3. Despite this critical importance of research, the research and innovation investment in India is,
at the current time, only 0.69% of GDP as compared to 2.8% in the United States of America, 4.3%
in Israel and 4.2% in South Korea.
17.4. The societal challenges that India needs to address today, such as access for all its citizens to
clean drinking water and sanitation, quality education and healthcare, improved transportation, air
quality, energy, and infrastructure, will require the implementation of approaches and solutions that
are not only informed by top-notch science and technology but are also rooted in a deep
understanding of the social sciences and humanities and the various socio-cultural and environmental
dimensions of the nation. Facing and addressing these challenges will require high-quality
interdisciplinary research across fields that must be done in India and cannot simply be imported; the
ability to conduct one ’s own research also enables a country to much more easily import and adapt
relevant research from abroad.
17.5. Furthermore, in addition to their value in solutions to societal problems, any country’s identity,
upliftment, spiritual/intellectual satisfaction and creativity is also attained in a major way through its
history, art, language, and culture. Research in the arts and humanities, along with innovations in the
sciences and social sciences, are, therefore, extremely important for the progress and enlightened
nature of a nation.
17.6. Research and innovation at education institutions in India, particularly those that are engaged in
higher education, is critical. Evidence from the world’s best universities throughout history shows
that the best teaching and learning processes at the higher education level occur in environments
where there is also a strong culture of research and knowledge creation; conversely, much of the very
best research in the world has occurred in multidisciplinary university settings.
17.7. India has a long historical tradition of research and knowledge creation, in disciplines ranging
from science and mathematics to art and literature to phonetics and languages to medicine and
agriculture. This needs to be further strengthened to make India lead research and innovation in the
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21st century, as a strong and enlightened knowledge society and one of the three largest economies in
the world.
17.8. Thus, this Policy envisions a comprehensive approach to transforming the quality and quantity
of research in India. This includes definitive shifts in school education to a more play and discoverybased style of learning with emphasis on the scientific method and critical thinking. This includes
career counselling in schools towards identifying student interests and talents, promoting research in
universities, the multidisciplinary nature of all HEIs and the emphasis on holistic education, the
inclusion of research and internships in the undergraduate curriculum, faculty career management
systems that give due weightage to research, and the governance and regulatory changes that
encourage an environment of research and innovation. All of these aspects are extremely critical for
developing a research mindset in the country.
17.9. To build on these various elements in a synergistic manner, and to thereby truly grow and
catalyze quality research in the nation, this policy envisions the establishment of a National Research
Foundation (NRF). The overarching goal of the NRF will be to enable a culture of research to
permeate through our universities. In particular, the NRF will provide a reliable base of merit-based
but equitable peer-reviewed research funding, helping to develop a culture of research in the country
through suitable incentives for and recognition of outstanding research, and by undertaking major
initiatives to seed and grow research at State Universities and other public institutions where research
capability is currently limited. The NRF will competitively fund research in all disciplines.
Successful research will be recognized, and where relevant, implemented through close linkages with
governmental agencies as well as with industry and private/philanthropic organizations.
17.10. Institutions that currently fund research at some level, such as the Department of Science and
Technology (DST), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Bio-Technology (DBT),
Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian
Council of Historical Research (ICHR), and University Grants Commission (UGC), as well as
various private and philanthropic organizations, will continue to independently fund research
according to their priorities and needs. However, NRF will carefully coordinate with other funding
agencies and will work with science, engineering, and other academies to ensure synergy of purpose
and avoid duplication of efforts. The NRF will be governed, independently of the government, by a
rotating Board of Governors consisting of the very best researchers and innovators across fields.
17.11. The primary activities of the NRF will be to:
(a) fund competitive, peer-reviewed grant proposals of all types and across all disciplines;
(b) seed, grow, and facilitate research at academic institutions, particularly at universities and
colleges where research is currently in a nascent stage, through mentoring of such
institutions;
(c) act as a liaison between researchers and relevant branches of government as well as industry,
so that research scholars are constantly made aware of the most urgent national research
issues, and so that policymakers are constantly made aware of the latest research
breakthroughs; so as to allow breakthroughs to be optimally brought into policy and/or
implementation; and
(d) recognise outstanding research and progress
18. Transforming the Regulatory System of Higher Education
18.1. Regulation of higher education has been too heavy-handed for decades; too much has been
attempted to be regulated with too little effect. The mechanistic and disempowering nature of the
regulatory system has been rife with very basic problems, such as heavy concentrations of power
within a few bodies, conflicts of interest among these bodies, and a resulting lack of accountability.
The regulatory system is in need of a complete overhaul in order to re-energize the higher education
sector and enable it to thrive.
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18.2. To address the above-mentioned issues, the regulatory system of higher education will ensure
that the distinct functions of regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting will be
performed by distinct, independent, and empowered bodies. This is considered essential to create
checks-and-balances in the system, minimize conflicts of interest, and eliminate concentrations of
power. To ensure that the four institutional structures carrying out these four essential functions work
independently yet at the same time and work in synergy towards common goals. These four
structures will be set up as four independent verticals within one umbrella institution, the Higher
Education Commission of India (HECI).
18.3. The first vertical of HECI will be the National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC).
It will function as the common, single point regulator for the higher education sector including
teacher education and excluding medical and legal education, thus eliminating the duplication and
disjunction of regulatory efforts by the multiple regulatory agencies that exist at the current time. It
will require a relook and repealing of existing Acts and restructuring of various existing regulatory
bodies to enable this single point regulation. NHERC will be set up to regulate in a ‘light but tight’
and facilitative manner, meaning that a few important matters particularly financial probity, good
governance, and the full online and offline public self-disclosure of all finances, audits, procedures,
infrastructure, faculty/staff, courses, and educational outcomes will be very effectively regulated.
This information will have to be made available and kept updated and accurate by all higher
education institutions on a public website maintained by NHERC and on the institutions’ websites.
Any complaints or grievances from stakeholders and others arising out of the information placed in
public domain shall be adjudicated by NHERC. Feedback from randomly selected students including
differently-abled students at each HEI will be solicited online to ensure valuable input at regular
intervals.
18.4. The primary mechanism to enable such regulation will be accreditation. The second vertical of
HECI will, therefore, be a ‘meta-accrediting body’, called the National Accreditation Council (NAC).
Accreditation of institutions will be based primarily on basic norms, public self-disclosure, good
governance, and outcomes, and it will be carried out by an independent ecosystem of accrediting
institutions supervised and overseen by NAC. The task to function as a recognized accreditor shall be
awarded to an appropriate number of institutions by NAC. In the short term, a robust system of
graded accreditation shall be established, which will specify phased benchmarks for all HEIs to
achieve set levels of quality, self-governance, and autonomy. In turn, all HEIs will aim, through their
Institutional Development Plans (IDPs), to attain the highest level of accreditation over the next 15
years, and thereby eventually aim to function as self-governing degree-granting institutions/clusters.
In the long run, accreditation will become a binary process, as per the extant global practice.
18.5. The third vertical of HECI will be the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), which will
carry out funding and financing of higher education based on transparent criteria, including the IDPs
prepared by the institutions and the progress made on their implementation. HEGC will be entrusted
with the disbursement of scholarships and developmental funds for launching new focus areas and
expanding quality programme offerings at HEIs across disciplines and fields.
18.6. The fourth vertical of HECI will be the General Education Council (GEC), which will frame
expected learning outcomes for higher education programmes, also referred to as ‘graduate
attributes’. A National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) will be formulated by
the GEC and it shall be in sync with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) to ease
the integration of vocational education into higher education. Higher education qualifications leading
to a degree/diploma/certificate shall be described by the NHEQF in terms of such learning outcomes.
In addition, the GEC shall set up facilitative norms for issues, such as credit transfer, equivalence,
etc., through the NHEQF. The GEC will be mandated to identify specific skills that students must
acquire during their academic programmes, with the aim of preparing well-rounded learners with 21st
century skills.
18.7. The professional councils, such as the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR),
Veterinary Council of India (VCI), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Council of
Architecture (CoA), National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) etc., will act
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as Professional Standard Setting Bodies (PSSBs). They will play a key role in the higher education
system and will be invited to be members of the GEC. These bodies, after restructuring as PSSBs,
will continue to draw the curricula, lay down academic standards and coordinate between teaching,
research and extension of their domain/discipline, as members of the GEC. As members of the GEC,
they would help in specifying the curriculum framework, within which HEIs may prepare their own
curricula. Thus, PSSBs would also set the standards or expectations in particular fields of learning
and practice while having no regulatory role. All HEIs will decide how their educational programmes
respond to these standards, among other considerations, and would also be able to reach out for
support from these standard-setting bodies or PSSBs, if needed.
18.8. Such a system architecture will ensure the principle of functional separation by eliminating
conflicts of interests between different roles. It will also aim to empower HEIs, while ensuring that
the few key essential matters are given due attention. Responsibility and accountability shall devolve
to the HEIs concomitantly. No distinction in such expectations shall be made between public and
private HEIs.
18.9. Such a transformation will require existing structures and institutions to reinvent themselves
and undergo an evolution of sorts. The separation of functions would mean that each vertical within
HECI would take on a new, single role which is relevant, meaningful, and important in the new
regulatory scheme.
18.10. The functioning of all the independent verticals for Regulation (NHERC), Accreditation
(NAC), Funding (HEGC), and Academic Standard Setting (GEC) and the overarching autonomous
umbrella body (HECI) itself will be based on transparent public disclosure, and use technology
extensively to reduce human interface to ensure efficiency and transparency in their work. The
underlying principle will be that of a faceless and transparent regulatory intervention using
technology. Strict compliance measures with stringent action, including penalties for false disclosure
of mandated information, will be ensured so that Higher Education Institutions are conforming to the
basic minimum norms and standards. HECI itself will be resolving disputes among the four verticals.
Each vertical in HECI will be an independent body consisting of persons having high expertise in the
relevant areas along with integrity, commitment, and a demonstrated track record of public service.
HECI itself will be a small, independent body of eminent public-spirited experts in higher education,
which will oversee and monitor the integrity and effective functioning of HECI. Suitable mechanisms
will be created within HECI to carry out its functions, including adjudication.
18.11. Setting up new quality HEIs will also be made far easier by the regulatory regime, while
ensuring with great effectiveness that these are set up with the spirit of public service and with due
financial backing for long-term stability. HEIs performing exceptionally well will be helped by
Central and State governments to expand their institutions, and thereby attain larger numbers of
students and faculty as well as disciplines and programmes. Public Philanthropic Partnership models
for HEIs may also be piloted with the aim to further expand access to high-quality higher education.
Curbing Commercialization of Education
18.12. Multiple mechanisms with checks and balances will combat and stop the commercialization of
higher education. This will be a key priority of the regulatory system. All education institutions will
be held to similar standards of audit and disclosure as a ‘not for profit’ entity. Surpluses, if any, will
be reinvested in the educational sector. There will be transparent public disclosure of all these
financial matters with recourse to grievance-handling mechanisms to the general public. The
accreditation system developed by NAC will provide a complementary check on this system, and
NHERC will consider this as one of the key dimensions of its regulatory objective.
18.13. All HEIs – public and private – shall be treated on par within this regulatory regime. The
regulatory regime shall encourage private philanthropic efforts in education. There will be common
national guidelines for all legislative Acts that will form private HEIs. These common minimal
guidelines will enable all such Acts to establish private HEIs, thus enabling common standards for
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private and public HEIs. These common guidelines will cover Good Governance, Financial Stability
& Security, Educational Outcomes, and Transparency of Disclosures.
18.14. Private HEIs having a philanthropic and public-spirited intent will be encouraged through a
progressive regime of fees determination. Transparent mechanisms for fixing of fees with an upper
limit, for different types of institutions depending on their accreditation, will be developed so that
individual institutions are not adversely affected. This will empower private HEIs to set fees for their
programmes independently, though within the laid-out norms and the broad applicable regulatory
mechanism. Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer freeships and scholarships in significant
numbers to their students. All fees and charges set by private HEIs will be transparently and fully
disclosed, and there shall be no arbitrary increases in these fees/charges during the period of
enrolment of any student. This fee determining mechanism will ensure reasonable recovery of cost
while ensuring that HEIs discharge their social obligations.
19. Effective Governance and Leadership for Higher Education Institutions
19.1. It is effective governance and leadership that enables the creation of a culture of excellence and
innovation in higher education institutions. The common feature of all world-class institutions
globally including India has indeed been the existence of strong self-governance and outstanding
merit-based appointments of institutional leaders.
19.2. Through a suitable system of graded accreditation and graded autonomy, and in a phased
manner over a period of 15 years, all HEIs in India will aim to become independent self-governing
institutions pursuing innovation and excellence. Measures will be taken at all HEIs to ensure
leadership of the highest quality and promote an institutional culture of excellence. Upon receiving
the appropriate graded accreditations that deem the institution ready for such a move, a Board of
Governors (BoG) shall be established consisting of a group of highly qualified, competent, and
dedicated individuals having proven capabilities and a strong sense of commitment to the institution.
The BoG of an institution will be empowered to govern the institution free of any external
interference, make all appointments including that of head of the institution, and take all decisions
regarding governance. There shall be overarching legislation that will supersede any contravening
provisions of other earlier legislation and would provide for constitution, appointment, modalities of
functioning, rules and regulations, and the roles and responsibilities of the BoG. New members of the
Board shall be identified by an expert committee appointed by the Board; and the selection of new
members shall be carried out by the BoG itself. Equity considerations will also be taken care of while
selecting the members. It is envisaged that all HEIs will be incentivized, supported, and mentored
during this process, and shall aim to become autonomous and have such an empowered BoG by 2035.
19.3. The BoG shall be responsible and accountable to the stakeholders through transparent selfdisclosures of all relevant records. It will be responsible for meeting all regulatory guidelines
mandated by HECI through the National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC).
19.4. All leadership positions and Heads of institutions will be offered to persons with high academic
qualifications and demonstrated administrative and leadership capabilities along with abilities to
manage complex situations. Leaders of an HEI will demonstrate strong alignment to Constitutional
values and the overall vision of the institution, along with attributes such as a strong social
commitment, belief in teamwork, pluralism, ability to work with diverse people, and a positive
outlook. The selection shall be carried out by the BoG through a rigorous, impartial, merit-based, and
competency-based process led by an Eminent Expert Committee (EEC) constituted by the BoG.
While stability of tenure is important to ensure the development of a suitable culture, at the same time
leadership succession will be planned with care to ensure that good practices that define an
institution’s processes do not end due to a change in leadership; leadership changes will come with
sufficient overlaps, and not remain vacant, in order to ensure smooth transitions. Outstanding leaders
will be identified and developed early, working their way through a ladder of leadership positions.
19.5. While being provided with adequate funding, legislative enablement, and autonomy in a phased
manner, all HEIs, in turn, will display commitment to institutional excellence, engagement with their
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local communities, and the highest standards of financial probity and accountability. Each institution
will make a strategic Institutional Development Plan on the basis of which institutions will develop
initiatives, assess their own progress, and reach the goals set therein, which could then become the
basis for further public funding. The IDP shall be prepared with the joint participation of Board
members, institutional leaders, faculty, students, and staff.
Part III. OTHER KEY AREAS OF FOCUS
20. Professional Education
20.1. Preparation of professionals must involve an education in the ethic and importance of public
purpose, an education in the discipline, and an education for practice. It must centrally involve critical
and interdisciplinary thinking, discussion, debate, research, and innovation. For this to be achieved,
professional education should not take place in the isolation of one’s specialty.
20.2. Professional education thus becomes an integral part of the overall higher education system.
Stand-alone agricultural universities, legal universities, health science universities, technical
universities, and stand-alone institutions in other fields, shall aim to become multidisciplinary
institutions offering holistic and multidisciplinary education. All institutions offering either
professional or general education will aim to organically evolve into institutions/clusters offering
both seamlessly, and in an integrated manner by 2030.
20.3. Agricultural education with allied disciplines will be revived. Although Agricultural
Universities comprise approximately 9% of all universities in the country, enrolment in agriculture
and allied sciences is less than 1% of all enrolment in higher education. Both capacity and quality of
agriculture and allied disciplines must be improved in order to increase agricultural productivity
through better skilled graduates and technicians, innovative research, and market-based extension
linked to technologies and practices. The preparation of professionals in agriculture and veterinary
sciences through programmes integrated with general education will be increased sharply. The design
of agricultural education will shift towards developing professionals with the ability to understand
and use local knowledge, traditional knowledge, and emerging technologies while being cognizant of
critical issues such as declining land productivity, climate change, food sufficiency for our growing
population, etc. Institutions offering agricultural education must benefit the local community directly;
one approach could be to set up Agricultural Technology Parks to promote technology incubation and
dissemination and promote sustainable methodologies.
20.4. Legal education needs to be competitive globally, adopting best practices and embracing new
technologies for wider access to and timely delivery of justice. At the same time, it must be informed
and illuminated with Constitutional values of Justice – Social, Economic, and Political – and directed
towards national reconstruction through instrumentation of democracy, rule of law, and human rights.
The curricula for legal studies must reflect socio-cultural contexts along with, in an evidence-based
manner, the history of legal thinking, principles of justice, the practice of jurisprudence, and other
related content appropriately and adequately. State institutions offering law education must consider
offering bilingual education for future lawyers and judges – in English and in the language of the
State in which the institution is situated.
20.5. Healthcare education needs to be re-envisioned so that the duration, structure, and design of the
educational programmes need to match the role requirements that graduates will play. Students will
be assessed at regular intervals on well-defined parameters primarily required for working in primary
care and in secondary hospitals. Given that people exercise pluralistic choices in healthcare, our
healthcare education system must be integrative meaning thereby that all students of allopathic
medical education must have a basic understanding of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani,
Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH), and vice versa. There shall also be a much greater emphasis on
preventive healthcare and community medicine in all forms of healthcare educatio

National Education Policy 2020-Features and Difference From Past Education Policy