by Abhay Anand
T
he Union Ministry of Human Resource Development
has put the Draft National Education Policy (NEP)
2019 in the public domain and citizens can give feed-
back and suggestions till the end of July. Let’s take
a look at the salient features of the Draft that has received
50,000 responses so far.
The Draft NEP was among the first few key policy docu-
ments taken up by the Modi Government 2.0 as soon as it
resumed office, thus giving a hint of the government’s priority.
The Draft proposes some big-ticket reforms for overhauling
the education system. The new policy, which will replace
the Education Policy of 1986, has to address the new chal-
lenges and opportunities, keeping global outlook and the huge
demographic dividend India has right now at its centre.
The Draft has elicited some positive reviews for suggesting a
wholesale overhaul of the system. There is unanimity among
all the stakeholders that country needs a new Education
Policy, however, opinions are still divided over some of the
approaches suggested in the Draft.
As soon as the Draft was put in public domain, controversy
broke out over the imposition of Hindi over non-Hindi speak-
ing states. Another area where there is lack of clarity is related
to funding, At a time when the country spends less than 2.7%
of its GDP, it would have been expected from the Draft to
come up with a well-defined formula for funding schools and
higher educations.
The 484-page document is divided into four sections,
‘School Education’, ‘Higher Education’, ‘Additional Key
Focus Areas’, and ‘Transforming Education’. The cornerstone
of NEP would be providing access, equity, quality, affordabil-
ity and accountability.
Key recommendations
OGrouping of Institutions into three types: Type I- Research
Universities; Type II- Teaching Universities; and Type III-
Teaching Colleges.
OAbolition of Affiliation system: The committee has rec-
ommended for doing away with the affiliation system of
colleges by giving them autonomous status.
OA National Research Foundation (NRF) will be estab-
lished to grant competitive funding for outstanding
research proposals across all disciplines.
OThere will be a common examination for MBBS at the
final stage of exit also known as NEXT.
OSingle Higher Education Regulator: The committee has
recommended establishment of National Higher Educa-
tion Regulatory Authority (NHERA) as the sole regulator
for higher education in the country including professional
education. All existing bodies like AICTE, NCTE etc. will
be transformed into Professional Standard Setting Bodies
(PSSBs).
OExtending Scope of RTE: Extension of the RTE Act to
include early childhood education (3-6years).
O5+3+3+4 model of School Education: A new developmen-
tally appropriate curriculum and pedagogical structure for
school education: 5+3+3+4 design.
OThe notions of ‘higher secondary’ or ‘junior college’ will be
eliminated; Grades 11 and 12 will be considered an integral
part of the secondary stage.
OAbolition of MPhil programme: It has recommended for
discontinuation of MPhil programmes. Undertaking a
PhD shall require either a Master’s degree or a four-year
Bachelor’s degree with Research.The beginning has been good and the government is showing
its intent, but only time will tell how fast things would move
forward. The question is pertinent as during its previous ten-
ure, it had announced its desire to establish 20 Institutions
of Eminence (IoEs). However, the final list is yet to be out.
Even for replacing the UGC with Higher Education Com-
mission of India, the NEP committee was constituted twice.
National Medical Commission Bill is yet to see the light of
the day. Major reforms for schools were announced with lit-
tle action. Therefore, it remains to be seen how the shape and
contours of the National Education Policy would influence
the future of the world’s largest growing economy where the
population of youth is much more than the population of
entire Europe!A MOMENT OF RECKONING
FOR INDIA’S FUTURE
National Education Policy INTRODUCTION