New Education Policy aims at reducing curriculum load

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet approved the New Education Policy and renamed the Central Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry as Education Ministry, Union minister Prakash Javadekar announced here on Wednesday.

According to the new policy, higher educational institutions will be allowed graded autonomy in academic, administrative and financial matters based on the accreditation status and there will only be a single regulator for higher education instead of UGC and AICTE. In higher education, the policy suggests 50 per cent gross enrollment ratio by year 2035. It also aims to increase the budgetary funding to education.

In school education, major reforms proposed by the NEP includes Universalisation of Early Childhood Care Education or ECCE and National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. The government has said the new policy suggests reduction of school curriculum to core subjects with a vocational integration from Class 6 onwards. The new NEP has envisaged usage of technology in education planning, teaching, learning and assessment, administration and management, regulation - self disclosure and minimum human interface. The policy also mandates increasing access for disadvantaged groups, according to the Union government. Calling it a historic day for Indian education sector, the minister said with the new National Education Policy getting approval from the Union Cabinet, the HRD ministry will be known as Education ministry.

A panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new NEP to Union Education Minister when he took charge last year. The draft was then put in public domain to seek feedback from various stakeholders and over two lakh suggestions were received by the HRD Ministry about the same.

The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992. A new education policy was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto ahead of the 2014 general election.

The drafting experts also took into account the report of a panel headed by former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian and formed by the HRD Ministry when it was being headed by Union Minister Smriti Irani.

The implementation of this policy will be led by various bodies including Education Ministry, CABE, Union and State Governments, education-related Ministries, State Departments of Education, Boards, NTA, the regulatory bodies of school and higher education, NCERT, SCERTs, schools, and HEIs.