Last updated on August 7, 2022

National Education Policy 2020

Parent Note (Up)	education reading list

Author : Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India)

PDF Link

Year : 2020

Introduction

Primary Goals of education are achieving full human potential, creating a just and equitable society and ensuring national development through economic growth. And also cultural preservation. However, it is captured much better below.

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. A good education institution is one in which every student feels welcomed and cared for, where a safe and stimulating learning environment exists, where a wide range of learning experiences are offered, and where good physical infrastructure and appropriate resources conducive to learning are available to all students. Attaining these qualities must be the goal of every educational institution. However, at the same time, there must also be seamless integration and coordination across institutions and across all stages of education.

Focus of changes in the education policy are towards:

Achieving universal education
Equipping individuals for the evolving job market (employability)
Helping students learn how to learn (because content is always changing)

Literacy & numeracy + critical thinking & problem solving + holistic skill development and exposure

Creating ethical, rational and compassionate individuals

Goal = The aim must be for India to have an education system by 2040 that is second to none, with equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of social or economic background.
Fundamental principles of the policy:

Highest priority = foundational literacy and numeracy by grade 3.
Identifying and fostering unique capabilities of each student. Flexibility. No hard separations. Multidisciplinary & holistic education.
Develop conceptual understanding, creativity, critical thinking, ethics and constitutional values.
Promote multilingualism and power of language. Develop life skills. Rootedness and pride in India.
Focus on regular formative assessment for learning.
Synergy in curriculum across all levels of education.
Extensive use of technology to remove barriers and improve access. Teachers and faculty at the centre of the learning process.
Respect for diversity, local context, equity and inclusion.
Light but tight regulatory framework. Focus on integrity, transparency, resource efficiency, autonomy, good governance and empowerment. Outstanding research. Continuous review.
Education is a public service and a basic right. Substantial investment in public education.

Part 1 - School Education

Early childhood care and education : The foundations of learning

85% of a child’s cumulative brain development happens before the age of 6.
Children from (especially) socio-economically backward backgrounds don’t get the required early childhood care and education required. Universal access to this required ECCE is the goal by 2030.
The goals of early childhood care and education are:

Physical & motor - Indoor + outdoor play & movement.
Cognitive - Colours, shapes, puzzles, logical-thinking and problem solving.
Socio-emotional-ethical - Social capacity, sensitivity, good behaviour, courtesy, ethics, cleanliness (personal & public), teamwork & cooperation.
Cultural/artistic - Drawing, painting, visual art/craft, drama, puppetry, music.
Communication & early language - Languages, speaking & story (telling/understanding).
Literacy - Alphabets and spelling.
Numeracy - Numbers and counting.

The mechanisms of early childhood care and education are flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and inquiry-based learning.
NCERT will devise a framework for early childhood care and education in 2 parts (0-3 years old & 3-8 years old).
Early childhood care and education can be accessed through one of 4 routes.

An anganwadi is primarily a healthcare centre, which serves to also act as a childcare and pre-school centre.
What are anganwadis?
Infrastructure (physical as well as certified teacher supply) of Anganwadis will be significantly strengthened to handle the added responsibility of pre-schooling.
Prior to the age of 5, children are expected to be enrolled in some sort of preparatory class or the other, which must be handled by an ECCE (early childhood care and education) certified teacher. The primary mode of learning in these preparatory classes is play-based learning. This shift in early childhood care and education is primarily targeted at socio-economically backward areas.
Training of early childhood care and education teachers (those currently working in Anganwadis) will be done through:

Digital and distance programmes through smartphones, as far as possible. This prevents disruption of their current teaching work.
6 month training programmes for teachers with a 10+2 qualification. 1 year diploma for teachers without the qualification.
The Cluster Resource Centres, under the School Education Department will be responsible for teacher training. This shall include at least 1 monthly contact class. In the long run, the state governments will be responsible for the same.
ECCE teacher training and frameworks will also be introduced in ashramshalas and alternate forms of schooling for more remote areas in a phased manner.

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

Basic literacy (reading, writing and comprehension) and numeracy (basic operations with numbers) are foundational skills required for every individual in our society. They are a basic prerequisite for school and life long learning.
According to several surveys (govt. + NGO), we are in a learning crisis. A large proportion of current elementary school students (over 50,000,000) have not yet attained basic literacy and numeracy.
Attaining basic foundational literacy and numeracy within the foundational education level (for all students in grade 3 or higher) by 2025 is the top priority within NEP 2020. All other objectives in the policy can only be realised if this basic goal is.
A national mission on foundational literacy and numeracy will be set up by MHRD. However, the implementation plan is left up to the state governments.

Empty teacher positions must be filled on priority. A pupil to teacher ratio of 30:1 or lower must be met.

In grade 1, an interim 3 month play-based school preparation module must be administered. The module will consist of activities and workbooks to learn alphabets, sounds, words, shapes, colours and numbers.
Through preparatory and middle school there should be an increased focus on reading, writing, speaking, counting, arithmetic and mathematical thinking. This should be accompanied by continuous adaptive assessment to ensure that no student falls behind.
A repository of high quality resources on foundational literacy and numeracy will be made available on the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA). Other technological interventions to help bridge language barriers may also be used.
Studies show that a 1-1 peer based teaching system is highly effective for teaching basic reading. This could be attempted in class, with teacher supervision. This can also be extended to the country at large for adults as well.
Reading of books will be promoted through:

Development/translation of enjoyable and inspiring books.
Setting up and expanding of public and school libraries.
Creation of digital libraries.

Routine health checkups (especially monitoring for 100% immunisation) and involvement in social workers and counsellors shall be introduced. A simple and nutritious breakfast, in addition to midday meals shall be provided. Studies show that physical and mental health have a strong influence on the ability to learn.

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

Enrollment in elementary education in India is close to 100% through initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (now the Samagra Shiksha) and the Right to Education Act. However, gross enrollment ratio drops off dramatically after grades 5, 8 and 10, to 56.5%. The goal is to achieve a gross enrollment ratio of 100% (preschool to secondary) by 2030.
To prevent school dropouts, the government shall:

Improve infrastructure of all existing schools (physical and teacher supply). Existing schools shall be enlarged, and new high quality schools shall be established in areas where they don’t exist.
Safe conveyance (and hostels if need be) shall be established to make the school a safe environment.
Tracking of students and their learning levels to ensure that they are attending school, and to help them catch-up, if they are falling behind.
Involvement of trained counsellors and social workers to interact with students and parents.
Strong incentives must be provided for deployment of knowledgeable teachers who speak the local language in areas with high dropout rates. The curriculum must also be made engaging.

The scope of schooling should be broadened through offerings of Open Distance Learning, National Institute of Open Schooling and State Open Schools. These offerings should also be provided at varying levels such as A (grade 3), B (grade 5), C (grade 8), secondary (grade 10 & 12), adult literacy and vocational education.
Restrictions at the input level on the setup of non-governmental schools must be reduced. This will help increase the supply of schools, especially those which are better tuned to each culture and geography.
Greater involvement of volunteers through well maintained databases of literate people, ex-government employees etc. should be encouraged.

Curriculum and Pedagogy in Schools: Learning Should be Holistic, Integrated, Enjoyable, and Engaging

Curriculum across 5+3+3+4 education system:

Foundational stage is focused on ECCE goals of physical/motor, cognitive, socio-emotional-ethical, cultural/artistic, communication/language. Literacy & numeracy.
Preparatory stage will focus on reading, writing, speaking, physical education, art, languages, science, and mathematics. These subjects will be taught at a level which is a natural step up compared to the foundations from the previous stage.
Middle stage will focus on more advanced subjects in the areas of sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities.
Secondary stage will focus on similar subject areas, but in greater depth, with more critical thinking. Choice of electives and focus on life aspirations will be in focus. The option to shift to vocational education for grades 11 and 12 will be offered.

Pedagogy across 5+3+3+4 education system:

Foundational stage approach is flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and inquiry-based learning.
Preparatory stage pedagogy will continue to be play, discovery, and activity-based with the introduction of light textbooks and interactive classrooms. These classes would usually be taken by a single (or a few) teacher across all learning.
Middle stage learning will be through similar mechanisms as preparatory stage, but with more focus on subject specific teachers. Experiential learning and connecting learning across subject areas will be encouraged.
Secondary stage pedagogy will be similar to that of the middle stage, with more focus on individual thought and critical thinking.

Focus of the curriculum across stages will be:

Away from rote learning -> Towards conceptual understanding -> Ultimately learning how to learn.
Not just cognitive development -> But also building character.
The National Curriculum Framework will specify key skills and values to be developed at each level and through each module.
Lesser content -> Greater focus on core concepts, ideas, critical thinking/problem solving and applications.

Pedagogy across all stages should be:

Interactive (discussions), question drive, collaborative, creative and involving fun experiential learning.
Story based, arts based and sports based pedagogy should be standardised across all subjects.
Explorations of connections across subjects should be encouraged and routine.
Assessment should be as a part of learning and for the sake of learning and feedback, not for tracking scores.

Elective selection and self-driven learning will be brought about through:

In secondary education, there will be many subjects and courses to choose from across math, science, humanities, arts, sports, vocational subjects etc. There will be no hard separation of streams, curricular or extra-curricular activities.
In all stages of education, more exposure to all of these different subject areas is encouraged.
In secondary education, each student will select the courses which best prepare them for their life choices.

Multilingualism and the power of language:

The home language (language commonly spoken at home and in the community) should be the medium of instruction as far as possible. Learning material in as many languages as possible should be created. Technology to bridge inevitable language barriers between teacher and students should also be used.
The home language is the language in which students are likely to grasp concepts most easily and thoroughly.
Research shows that children pick up languages quickly between the ages of 2 & 8. In the foundational stage children should be exposed to many different languages in a fun and conversational manner. Emphasis must be put on teaching the child’s mother tongue, including reading and writing. For other languages, the focus till age 8 is understanding and conversation, and reading and writing can follow from grade 3 onwards. A large number of language teachers will be needed for this objective.
The 3 language policy is recommended for all states, which would mean English, Hindi and 1 other language can be taught.
The 3 language policy
However, now states will be given more freedom to select the 3 languages of choice for the state. Past grade 6/7 students will be allowed to change the languages that they learn. The only condition is that at the end of the secondary level they must be able to show proficiency in at least 1 Indian language at the literature level + any other 2 languages.
Bilingual textbooks for math and science will be made. The key requirement is that students should be able to think and speak about math and science in both their home language and english.
In the middle stage (grades 6-8) students will have a non-evaluated project on the languages of India. Here they will be exposed to a range of Indian languages and understand their roots, commonalities, learn key phrases in major languages and read some (translated) rich literature. The idea is to expose them to India’s cultural heritage.
Classical Indian languages (sanskrit, tamil, kannada etc) will be offered as optional subjects at all stages of education. Foreign languages too shall be offered as optional in the secondary education stage.
All of these languages will be offered with experiential learning elements (gamification, cultural immersion through movies etc).

Essential Skills

Essential skills that must be developed include:

Evidence based thinking, problem solving, logic.

Digital literacy, coding & computational thinking.

Oral & written communication.
Creativity.
Artistic/aesthetic sense.
Health, nutrition, fitness & sports.
Teamwork & cooperation.
Vocational exposure & skills.
Ethics, constitutional values, gender sensitivity & environmental awareness.
Citizenship skills, knowledge of India & current affairs.

Math and computational thinking will be given emphasis. In the foundational stages engaging methods of puzzles and games will be used. In the middle stage coding activities will be used.
Students will be given exposure to vocational crafts through:

At least one elective course in grades 6-8 (middle stage).
Short internships (at least 10 days), with local vocational experts.
Field visits to monuments, museums, cultural attractions, higher educational institutions, workplaces etc.

National Curriculum Framework for School Education

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, frontline curriculum needs, and after discussions with all stakeholders including State Governments, Ministries, relevant Departments of the Central Government, and other expert bodies, and will be made available in all regional languages. The NCFSE document shall henceforth be revisited and updated once every 5-10 years, taking into account frontline curriculum.

Textbooks:

The NCFSE will define what core content must be covered. NCERT textbooks will be a model of the same.
Any textbook must cover this core material, but may also present it through the local context, and may add relevant supplementary material. Teachers are free to choose any textbook(s) which cover the require core content, and suit their pedagogy.
NCERT and state textbooks should be made available for download for free. A set of high quality textbooks should be made available by the state at printing cost.

Assessment for student development

Shifts required in assessment:

From summative -> To regular and formative
From testing rote memory -> To testing higher order thinking and understanding
From purely evaluative information -> To feedback for learning

Feedback:

360 degree holistic report card covering progress on multiple dimensions of learning. Peer evaluation and self evaluation will be included in addition to teacher evaluation. AI based analysis of growth and learning through school years.

Board exams for 10th and 12th grade will be made easier by:

Shifting from rote memory based questions to testing core competencies.
Redesign so that any student attending school routinely can perform well, without coaching.
Allowing multiple attempts.
Exams could be offered in a modular fashion (smaller and spread out exams). Subjects and exams could be taken at multiple levels ranging from basic to advanced.

Examinations at grades 3, 5 & 8 will be used to monitor progress only.
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 specialised common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year. These exams shall test conceptual understanding and the ability to apply knowledge and shall aim to eliminate the need for taking coaching for these exams. Students will be able to choose the subjects for taking the test, and each university will be able to see each student’s individual subject portfolio and admit students into their programmes based on individual interests and talents.

Support for gifted students

Topic or project based groups and learning circles will be encouraged at the school and any geographic level.
State and national residential summer programmes for specific skills should be created. Their entry should be meritocratic and rigorous, but equitable, to attract the best students and teachers.
Olympiads and competitions at school to state to national level should be coordinated to create a national framework of talent recognition and access to participation. Premier institutes like IITs and NITs will be encouraged to use olympiad results as a part of their admission criteria.
With wider access to internet enabled devices, forums and networks for participation and enrichment across schools and across the country will be created.

Teachers

Best recruitment and incentives for teachers = best teachers = best education = best future
Recruitment

Merit based scholarships (especially rural students) for 4 year integrated B.Ed programmes.
Deployment of scholarship students in their own local, rural areas as teachers.
Incentives for these scholarship student/teachers in the form of housing.
Limited teacher transfers will take place, through a transparent system.
Recruitment requirements (both govt. And private schools):

Teacher Eligibility Tests will be conducted for selection of teachers across all education stages (foundational-secondary). National Testing Agency test scores may also be used for subject teacher selection.
Classroom demonstrations and/or interviews will be used to judge teaching motivation and capability.
Proficiency in the local language is an added bonus, and at least some teachers in the school must know the language.

Technology-based forecasting of teacher requirements and expected vacancies by subject area must be done at a state level for teacher supply planning.

School environment and culture:

Clean toilets, safe drinking water, good infrastructure, electricity, computing devices, internet, libraries, sports and recreational facilities must be provided. The school must also be accessible for teachers and children with disabilities.
In resource starved areas, the state government may choose to create school complexes (groups of schools that share resources). In doing so, the resources available shouldn’t be diluted, but a community to improve learning outcomes across all schools may be built.
Parents and other local stakeholders (as well as teachers) may be added to school management boards.
Teachers will no longer be involved in any administrative work (not related to teaching and learning) aside from the minimum work required in arranging for midday meals.
Teachers will be given more autonomy in selection of an appropriate and effective pedagogy for their class. They will also be recognised for novel methods.

Continuous professional development

There will be workshops at city, state and national levels to help teachers learn and improve their understanding of pedagogy, foundational literacy/numeracy, formative assessment etc.
Digital platforms for sharing of ideas and learning will also be created and promoted.
Similar modules on leadership and management will be created for principals and administrators.
All teachers and principals will be required to spend at least 50 hours a year on these continuous professional development modules of their choice.

Career management progression

The state must develop a performance tracking and assessment system.
Salary structures, incentives, promotions and tenure must be provided as a function of assessment of performance. Through this system, enough incentive to perform at the highest level must be created.
There should be no incentives to move from one stage of teaching to another (eg. foundational to secondary). This will ensure that quality teachers are maintained at all stages. However, this sort of movement should be allowed.
Vertical movement to principal or management levels on demonstrated leadership and management capabilities should be allowed. Appropriate training for the same should be provided.

National Professional Standards for Teachers

The centrally developed NPST will help set the expectations and requirements of teachers at each stage. It will also provide guidelines on appraisal, career progression and development of teachers that each state can implement. It will also inform the design of pre-service teacher education programmes.

Special educators must also be trained, as a part of teacher education programmes, as well as through part time training, while teaching. These special educators will specialise in teaching children with disabilities.
Teacher education

By 2030, the minimum qualification for becoming a teacher will be one of the following:

4 year integrated B.Ed (including practical training at local schools) at a multidisciplinary college/university.
Bachelor’s degree in any specialisation, followed by 2 year B.Ed.
4 year multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree or bachelor’s and master’s degree in any specialisation. Followed by 1 year B.Ed. This is allowed only if they intend to teach the subject that they specialised in.

Special, shorter teacher training programmes will be created for eminent local persons who might be invited as “expert teachers” of vocational crafts.
Shorter post B.Ed programmes will be created at multidisciplinary universities for teachers to specialise in teaching students with disabilities, or for educational leadership etc.

Equitable and Inclusive Education

Equitable and universal access to education is the single most powerful lever in achieving social justice and equity in society at large.
The drop in gross enrollment ratio, with increasing grade is most starkly experienced in socio-economically disadvantaged groups (SEDG). Within these groups, the drop in enrollment is higher still for females. This trend continues from secondary education to higher education as well.
Drop-out rates are often caused by lack of access to schools, poverty, social norms and language barriers.
Policies to improve access to early childhood care and education are particularly relevant for socio-economically disadvantaged groups.
Interventions ranging across economic incentives, safety measures, accessibility enhancements etc can help increase SEDG enrollment. The interventions which work best vary from one group to another, and must be applied appropriately. All scholarships will be made available by a single agency, and be announced and accessible through one portal.
Some geographies have a higher concentration of SEDGs. These will receive particular focus through several interventions and will be dubbed special education zones. In order to fund initiatives targeted specifically at bridging the gender gap in education there will be a central Gender-Inclusion Fund.
Free boarding facilities will be constructed in schools where students (especially SEDGs) may have to travel a great distance.
To make education accessible to students with disabilities, teachers with specialised training must be recruited, technology to bridge accessibility barriers must be used, and textbooks in appropriate languages must be made available. These students will have the option of schooling from home. NIOS material and supplements to enable parents and homeschoolers to appropriately teach these students must be developed.
Teachers must be educated on how to identify and support children with special learning needs. They must also be gender sensitised, and taught how to educate underrepresented groups.

Efficient Resourcing and Effective Governance through School Complexes/Clusters

Concerning statistics relating to distribution of schools:

28% of primary schools (grades 1-5) and 14.8% of middle stage schools have <30 students. These schools are too small to be run effectively.
The average number of students enrolled in a grade level in a given school is 14. And a large proportion have less than 6 students per grade level. This again is too small to function effectively.
1,08,017 schools have only one teacher running all operations.

The issues with such small schools are that economically, it is infeasible to set up good infrastructure or maintain them. Just one teacher is incapable of teaching multiple grades at once, or doing justice to the wide range of subjects. Further, the isolation isn’t great for teachers, students or the administration process.
Practically, it is difficult to consolidate small schools into fewer, larger ones. Mainly accessibility for students will get worse. By 2025, state governments should aim to find innovative ways of forming school clusters. The aim is to ensure that each school unit has sufficient resources (infrastructure, teachers, counsellors, events and a community).

The school complex model suggests grouping 1 secondary school, and all institutions offering foundational to middle stage education within a 5-10km radius into a single school complex. The school complex will act semi-autonomously, developing their own pedagogies and methods (in line with national curriculum framework). District and block education officers will interact with only the complex, which will be in charge of all schools within it.
School complexes will develop their own development plans periodically, and progress on these plans will be monitored by district and block education officers.

Public and private schools can be paired for interaction, cooperation, sharing resources and best practices. This can help improve performance, and create a stronger community and understanding of the wider society.
More bal bhavans should be created by each state. Bal bhavans are common day time boarding schools where children of all ages may visit whenever they please for art, vocational, career, play or any other developmental activities.
During non-school hours, the unutilised infrastructure of schools can be used to promote community activities, to help restore the position of the school as a key social and community institution. Celebration of the school’s founding, important alumni and other key events may also help.

Standard-setting and Accreditation for School Education

Regulation of schools should serve to:

Empower schools and help boost innovation

The department of school education will only be responsible for policy making and overall monitoring of schools, but not regulations or operations.
The directorate of school education, including district and block education officers will be involved in regulation and operations of school.

Ensure transparency in operations and outcomes

A state school standards authority will define the basic dimensions of assessment and minimum standards for all schools in the state. Schools are expected to self regulate and transparently update their scores against these defined dimensions on their own website and the SSSA website. Random feedback will also be collected through students and technological means, to reduce the administrative burden on schools.
Sample based national and state achievement surveys should be carried out. Results of these surveys should be aggregated and anonymised and used only to improve performance outcomes, not to evaluate individual performances.

Ensure basic standards and fairness

Each role in the public education system will have clearly defined job description and KPIs, so that there is neither dilution of work, nor over indexing on end outcomes without focus on intermediate variables.

Part 2 - Higher Education

Quality Universities and Colleges: A New and Forward-looking Vision for India’s Higher Education System

Higher education serves to fuel economic development and create opportunities for individuals.

Individuals must be able to develop deep specialisation in one or two fields. But also develop professional and social capabilities across a wide range of skills.
Universities must provide opportunities for learning and development across a wide range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, languages and various vocational studies.

Higher education must act as the base for knowledge creation and innovation.
To overcome corresponding challenges, the following changes are proposed in higher education:

More universities, across all districts. These universities will be multidisciplinary and offer teaching in local languages as well.
Merit based faculty appointment and career progression. More faculty autonomy. Light but tight regulation. Revamping of curriculum and pedagogy.
Establishment of a national research foundation to fund better research.

Institutional Restructuring and Consolidation

Higher education should not be fragmented. Multidisciplinary universities and colleges should exist.

This will improve cross disciplinary learning and research.
It will also improve material and human resource utilisation and sharing.
Each such multidisciplinary university/college should have at least 3,000 students across disciplines.

Through a stage-wise, transparent system of graded accreditation colleges would be granted increasing autonomy. All colleges should eventually become multidisciplinary autonomous degree granting colleges or colleges which are part of multidisciplinary universities, rather than affiliated colleges. The accreditation and scoring system will also transparently determine access to funds for development, for both public and private universities.
Main goals of all universities should be teaching, research, development of other universities and faculty, as well as support of school education.
Higher education institutions should aim to become multidisciplinary by 2030. There should be at least 1 large multidisciplinary higher education institute in or near every district by 2030. Gross enrollment ratio in college (including vocational) should be up to 50% from 26.3% by 2035. Enrollments in each HEI should be in the thousands by 2040.
Higher education institutes will be encouraged to offer online courses and open distance learning programmes of quality matching their on campus courses.

Towards a More Holistic and Multidisciplinary Education

Inclusion of multiple disciplines of study in higher education is supported by research which shows better learning outcomes (creativity, innovation etc) with the inclusion of multiple disciplines.
Bachelor’s degrees will have multiple exit options in the form of 1 year (certificate), 2 year (diploma), 3 year (bachelor’s degree), 4 year (multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree (possibly with research)).

Optimal Learning Environments and Support for Students

Infrastructure including libraries, labs, dining areas, classrooms, recreational areas etc. must be sufficient in number, to the mark in quality and engaging in design.
Curriculum (choice based credit system), pedagogy and a (continuous, comprehensive, formative) assessment will be designed by each institute and its faculty members, autonomously, but within a broad central framework.
There must be a provision for the creation, funding and operation of interest based groups, activities and fests.
Institutes should set up centres to support, fund and counsel disadvantaged students.
International exchanges, collaboration on research, attraction of foreign students should be prioritised by each higher education institution. This may be done through the setup of an international student’s office, maintaining high standards, offering of internationally relevant courses, facilitating meaningful social engagement etc.
Select international universities will be allowed to setup campuses in India, and top Indian universities will be encouraged to expand abroad.

Motivated, Energised, and Capable Faculty

Infrastructure must be maintained at a high standard.
Teaching responsibility must not be excessive, student teacher ratio shouldn’t be too high, and enough time must be provided for research and other university activities. Teachers must not be transferred from one university to another against their will.
Autonomy in design of curriculum and pedagogy should be provided within a wide framework. Rewards and incentives for strong performers and accountability of all teachers must be built in.
Universities should be free to recruit as per their own framework. But there should be transparency in recruitment, promotion etc. And there should be the option of fast tracking strong performers.

Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education

Some actions that the government will take to improve the access to higher education for socio-economically disadvantaged groups are:

Set aside funds for scholarships. Conduct outreach programmes to educate the target audience.
Set clear targets for gross enrollment ratios by disadvantaged groups.
Enhance gender balance in the admission criteria.
Construct more higher education institutes in special education zones, with a focus on bilingual teaching.
Improve accessibility (wheelchair/blind friendly etc) of all infrastructure.
Develop bridge courses at all institutes, to help disadvantaged students catch up.

Teacher Education

According to the Justice JS Verma Commission (2012) more than 10,000 standalone teacher education institutions sell degrees, without attempting to train teachers. By 2030, the aim is to ensure that this practice is stopped, by empowering the regulatory system to take action against such institutes.
All teacher education (4/2/1 year B.Ed) must be done in a multidisciplinary higher education institute. Teachers will be expected to be trained in all subjects relevant to teaching (psychology, sociology, pedagogy etc), must gain exposure to a range of subjects such as social studies, math, science, arts, music, language etc, and also specialise in a subject of their choice.
Higher education institutes offering B.Ed like courses must be attached to a set of government and private schools. Potential teachers must teach students and engage in various community activities at these schools, as a part of their course work.
All PhD students will be expected to also take basic courses in education as well as complete some mandatory teaching hours through teaching assistantships. This will be useful because many doctoral students become college professors in the future.

Reimagining Vocational Education

Only 5% of Indians aged 19-24 have received any formal vocational trainings vs 52%, 75% and 96% in USA, Germany and South Korea.
Vocational education traditionally provides limited upward mobility in India. The majority perception is that vocational education is for those who can’t cope with mainstream education.
Vocational education must be phased in at the middle school level onwards. By 2025 50% of students enrolled in middle school must have some exposure to vocational education.

The bachelor of vocational studies degree will continue to exist. But higher education institutes must also provide vocational courses as electives to all students. The creation of shorter certificate vocational courses should also be encouraged.
Higher education institutes and industry must support the development of vocational studies at the school level.
A hub and spoke model of creation of skill labs across schools will be used for sharing resources for vocational education.

The MHRD will work on bridging skills gaps and mapping vocational education students to local opportunities.
The national skills qualification framework will be detailed further to put in place threshold qualifications for different types of labour, in line with the frameworks of the international labour organisation.

Catalysing Quality Academic Research in All Fields through a new National Research Foundation

Research and innovation is of utmost importance to the country’s development on almost all fronts. However, only 0.69% of GDP is being invested in it, compared to 2%-4% in leading nations.
Higher education institutes which have a strong culture of research perform much better on all educational and learning outcomes. Higher education institutes which are multidisciplinary tend to perform most strongly in terms of research outcomes.
Extent and quality of research can be improved through:

Focus on play and learn systems in school, with an emphasis on the scientific method and critical thinking.
Inclusion of research and internship components in undergraduate curriculum.
Emphasis on research elements in higher education faculty appraisal.
A national research foundation will be setup:

To fund quality peer-reviewed research, and thus incentivise and create a research culture.
And governed by a board of top researchers, independent of the government. They will coordinate funding activities amongst other major funding institutions, to streamline allocation of funds and avoid duplication.
Mentor and grow research in less competitive institutes.

Transforming the Regulatory System of Higher Education

The higher education commission of India will have 4 distinct verticals which will function independently towards regulation, accreditation, funding and academic standard setting. This should prevent concentration of power, conflict of interest and lack of accountability. The HECI should function on pillars of transparency, technology for efficiency and minimisation of human interface, and strict compliance measures, while allowing autonomy.

Regulation - Focus will be on a limited set of financial, governance and outcome transparency initiatives.
Accreditation norms shall be set centrally and driven in a distributed manner through multiple smaller agencies.
Funding will be provided as a function of publicly disclosed institutional development plans of each institute, as well as their progress, including improvements on accreditation.
Standard Setting - A national higher education qualifications framework (including the national skills qualification framework) must be framed and tackle issues of expected outcomes, credit transfers and equivalency of learnings.

Preventing commercialisation:

All public and private institutes will be regulated and accredited in a similar manner, and held to the same standards.
Through transparent regulation and accreditation processes, all financials must be disclosed, thus preventing profiteering. Fees must also be set independently, but within a central framework (as a function of accreditation and standards of education provided).

Effective Governance and Leadership for Higher Education Institutions

All institutes which are accredited to function autonomously shall be governed by a board of governors. This board will consist of competent and recognised experts in various fields. They will be responsible for setting in place a constitution and other mechanisms of effective self governance. They will be required to transparently disclose records of all discussions and decisions with all stakeholders.
Leading academics and proven leaders shall be appointed as institutional leaders. They, along with board of governors, faculty and students should devise institutional development plans.

Part 3 - Other Key Areas of Focus

Effective Governance and Leadership for Higher Education Institutions

As a function of the needs of the country and industry, higher education in each discipline must be designed to ensure that graduates are able to fit into and improve the industry and therefore the nation.

Adult Education and Lifelong Learning

Literacy and basic education should be treated as a basic right of all citizens of the country. It unlocks and exponential curve of positive social outcomes for the country. In addition to infrastructural and financial levers, volunteerism is a powerful and proven lever to improve literacy and basic education. The usage of technology is also critical.
NCERT will aim to develop an adult education framework around the pillars of:

foundational literacy and numeracy
critical life skills (including financial & digital literacy, commercial skills, health & child care & family welfare
vocational skills development
basic education (including preparatory, middle, and secondary stage equivalency)
continuing education

The methods of teaching employed for adult education will have to be distinct. Adult educators must be specially trained for this, as a part of their qualifying education.
Teachers in schools, higher education institutions, social workers and community members at large will be requested to volunteer to participate in adult education drives.
Infrastructure of schools and higher education institutions will be reused outside of conventional class timings for adult education. Further, the accessibility and affordability of books across all languages and library infrastructure must be improved across the country, especially in disadvantaged areas.

Promotion of Indian Languages, Arts, and Culture

The preservation and promotion of the country’s culture is a high priority for the maintenance of its identity and development of its economy.
The language(s) that one speaks influences their world view, perception and behaviour tremendously.
Languages and arts must be a part of education at each level (at least as an optional offering). Language must be taught not just through literature, but with a focus on conversation.
Learning opportunities and print materials (books, plays, dictionaries etc) must be created and updated for all languages frequently.
High-quality programmes, degrees and research in Translation and Interpretation, Art and Museum Administration, Archaeology, Artefact Conservation are necessary for cultural preservation and promotion.
A unified set of portals/platforms/wikis should be established for the preservation of language, arts and cultures. On these platforms, anyone can contribute content, relating to languages, literature, art forms and cultures, so that they are available for all to access and preserve.

Technology Use and Integration

Technology and education both impact each other in a virtuous cycle. It is therefore useful to have national educational technology forum to oversee and drive the proactive usage of useful technology in education.
The thrust of technological interventions will be for the purposes of improving teaching learning and evaluation processes, supporting teacher preparation and professional development, enhancing educational access, and streamlining educational planning, management, and administration including processes related to admissions, attendance, assessments, etc.
A wide range of software should be developed for the above purposes, and should support content in multiple languages. A rating and feedback system must be included to help improve content.
Higher education institutions will be the testing grounds for usage of education in technology. They will also be the centre of research into new technologies of all sorts, and central in educating and skilling large number of people for job readiness in a heavily technological world.
Even at the school level it is important to build awareness about technology, data and bring about an understanding of the importance of data privacy and its implications.

Online and Digital Education: Ensuring Equitable Use of Technology

The key recommendations to make online and digital education realistic, at a high quality are:

Pilot studies to identify best practices. These pilot studies are best conducted through higher education institutions, open schooling and then through traditional schools.
Digital infrastructure creation. This includes software/platforms which are accessible for a diverse audience, hardware which can be commonly and individually used.
Online teaching platforms and tools which are teacher friendly, and minimise friction.
A strong, ever evolving repository of digital content. This should include learning content, coursework, assessments etc. It should allow open ended contribution, ratings and reviews.
Minimise the digital divide. This includes not only creation of access to personal computing devices, but usage of television and radio extensively, to minimise the divide.
Teacher training. Teachers must be initially and routinely trained in the usage of online platforms, as well as the creation of content to help a wider audience.
Online assessment frameworks and systems must be created which are both effective (for even more practical skills) as well as tamper proof.
Hybrid models of learning must be developed and standardised, as a mix of in person and digital learning is likely to create the best results.

Part 4 - Making it Happen

Financing: Affordable and Quality Education for All

While it is recommended that 6% of GDP be spent on education in India, only around 4.43% of GDP has generally been spent on education.
The key areas in education that require stronger financing are:

Infrastructure development
universal provisioning of quality early childhood care education
providing food and nutrition (breakfast and midday meals)
investing in teacher education and continuing professional development of teachers
cultivating research
extensive use of technology and online education

Private philanthropic fundraising towards improving educational outcomes would also be required to supplement government efforts.

End of Note

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