Page 42 - EW August 2025

Cover Story

NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020
5 YEARS LATER

SNAIL PACE IMPLEMENTATION

The euphoria of the BJP/NDA government at the Centre and
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan about the
smooth roll out of the NEP 2020 is not shared by dons of
academia and teachers in the country's 1.4 million schools

DILIP THAKORE & SUMMIYA YASMEEN

T HE NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY minister Dharmendra Pradhan hailed NEP 2020 as “the

(NEP) 2020, promulgated after an
most crucial pathway to Viksit Bharat”. “Under PM’s leader-
interregnum of 34 years, crossed the
ship, education is not just policy but the greatest national
investment. Where there is learning, there is progress. A
milestone of five years on July 29.
The outcome of mountains of labour
billion minds unshackled and empowered aren’t just a
of the high-powered T.S.R. Subrama-
Pradhan in an op-ed essay in Times of India (July 29).
nian (2016) and Dr. K. Kasturirangan
(2018-19) committees, NEP 2020 demographic divided, but New India’s supernova,” wrote
Earlier in May, to mark BJP-led NDA government’s com-
mandates comprehensive reform of Indian education from pletion of 11 years in office, a Press Information Bureau-
pre-primary to Ph D. published booklet titled Viksit Bharat ka Amrit Kaal-11
Among its major statements of official intent are ac- Saal (‘11 Years towards Viksit Bharat’) had also enumer-
cordance of high importance to early childhood education; ated the successful outcomes of NEP 2020. Among them:
replacing memory-based rote learning pedagogies in K-12 early childhood education is now compulsory for all chil-
education with development of children’s critical think- dren from three years of age under the new reconfigured
ing capabilities; integrating hitherto neglected vocational 5+3+3+4 school education system and integrated with pri-
and skills training into secondary and higher education; mary education; primary school enrolment has increased
increasing the duration of undergrad degree programmes to almost 100 percent; inter-disciplinary learning and the
from three to four years; establishing an online Academic four-year degree have become a reality in higher education,
Bank of Credits (ABC) to enable students to exit and re- and youth employability has been enhanced through skills-
enter higher education institutions (HEIs); and introducing based vocational learning programmes.
research and innovation culture in HEIs. However, this all-is-well euphoria expressed by the BJP/
At a grand fifth anniversary event — the Akhil Bhartiya NDA government and Union education minister Dharmen-
Shiksha Samagam 2025 (‘All India Education Congress’) — dra Pradhan in particular, is not shared by dons of aca-
staged in the national capital on July 29, Union education demia and teachers in the country’s 1.4 million schools. Five

42 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2025