NEP-2020 to revamp all aspects of education structure in India: Union Education Minister

Srinagar, Dec 6: The Ministry of Education (MoE) Government of India on Tuesday stated that the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 will revamp all aspects of the education structure and build upon India’s traditions and value systems.

This was stated by the Minister of State (MoS) in the MoE, Dr Subhas Sarkar while replying to the queries of Member Parliament S Jagathrakshakan. He had sought details about the implementation.

"National Education Policy (NEP)- 2020 aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our country," the MoS said.

He said the Policy proposes the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century education, including Sustainable Development Goal-4, while building upon India’s traditions and value systems.

"One of the fundamental principles of the NEP 2020 is 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," he said.

The Union MoS Education said that NEP 2020 provides for no hard separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extracurricular activities, between vocational and academic streams in order to eliminate harmful hierarchies among, and silos between different areas of learning.

"In this direction, National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF FS) and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) have been launched which are more balanced and integrated educational frameworks," he said.

Similarly, in higher education, National Credit Framework (NCrF) and National Higher Education Qualification Framework provides broad-based multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, holistic education with flexible curricula, creative combination of subjects, multiple pathways, establishing equivalence, facilitate national and international mobility by utilizing the platform of Academic Bank of Credit (ABC).

"It will enable life-long learning and recognition of prior learning in cohesion with the multiple exit/ entry guidelines," he said.

He said that several other initiatives to ensure flexibility have been taken such as guidelines for multiple entry and exit in academic programmes offered in the HEIs to pave the way for seamless student mobility, between or within degree-granting HEIs and facilitate students to choose their learning trajectory.

He said that All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has revamped the existing curriculum and launched outcome based model curriculum. "Student internship has been redefined and made mandatory," he said.

The minister said that the model curriculum has also been prepared for courses in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Block Chain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Science, Cyber Security, 3D Printing and Design besides augmented reality and virtual reality.