India’s third proper education policy since Independence, the New National Education Policy saw the light of day on 29 July 2020 with the commitment of major changes in the education system of the country. When the policy was announced in the midst of the pandemic to aim at bringing about much needed transformational changes in the country’s education system with a global perspective, skillbased learning seemed to have been prioritised with the use of modern technology.

But, sadly, a clear road map for implementation of the proposals has not been in sight. The shift to a new framework without proper infrastructure may undermine the quality of education and effective delivery of the intended outcomes. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) seek to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all” by 2030. It is believed that through NEP 2000, India can achieve the goals established under the Policy by 2040.

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On the occasion of the first anniversary, the government launched some key initiatives like the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEA), Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) and National Education Technical Forum (NETF) to give an impetus to quality learning. The NEP comes with an inclusive approach to partner with NGOs and community members to emphasise the need for vocational education. A target year – 2025 – has been fixed by which at least half the learners in schools and colleges would have exposure to vocational education.

However, there is no mention about how it will be ensured that the benefits of overall education reach marginalized sections of society. It has been envisaged that 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio from preschool to secondary level be achieved by 2030. The NEP also envisages an increase in the education expenditure from 4.6 per cent of GDP to 6 per cent. Considering the post-Covid new normal of remote learning and technologybased education, a higher spend is required for digital infrastructure. It seems there would be more stress on privatisation of education. However, in a country like ours where affordability of learning is still the biggest issue, privatisation seems like a major hurdle in implementation of the policy.

Although NEP mentions the need for transparency in fee structure, there is ambiguity about how the escalating fee of private institutions can be curtailed. In this respect, it is desirable that Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models are geared up for getting the private sector to contribute and utilise expertise for expediting proper delivery of education. It is imperative that collaboration between the government, higher education departments and public and private enablers be made for creating the requisite educational infrastructure in urban and rural areas. We must remember that the 1968 NEP was hamstrung by a shortage of funds.

Access, Equity, Quality and Accountability are the four pillars of NEP. The Human Resources Ministry has an important role to play in ensuring strong foundations for students at an early stage of their lives. Literacy and numeracy should be achieved by all states and union territories. But, sadly, as per the ASER 2022 report, only 20 per cent of grade 3 students can read grade 2 level texts (down from 27 per cent in 2018). Class V students who can at least read a Class 2 level text fell from 55.5 per cent in 2018 to 42.8 in 2022. It is, however, known that NEP 2020 lays emphasis on foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN). The NIPUN Bharat mission (2021) has the aim to ensure that all students in grades up to 3 have foundational literacy by 2026-27. This would reduce dropouts and improve numeracy rates. Diksha, a dedicated vertical on FLN resources, was developed in 2021 for easy and quick accessibility. UGC has developed the curriculum and credit framework for undergraduate programmes in December 2022 only to be implemented from this academic year, which provides for holistic education by allowing learners to experience courses from multiple disciplines through a 3- year or 4-year undergraduate programme with multiple entry and exit options, flexible degree options with single major, double major, multiple interdisciplinary education, integration of vocational courses, internship, skill and ability enhancement courses etc.

In fact, the inter-discipline approach in higher education requires drastic changes. The four-year degree programme with multiple exit options was chalked out with the aim to taking away the threat of students losing a year if they decide to shift streams or take a break for work. The proposal is already set to be introduced in central universities. The multiple entry and exit options were made available to universities from the 2020-21 session. The Academic Book of Credit (ABC), which will be the central repository of the academic credits obtained by all students, has been promoted by the UGC and the government of India. ABC, which will provide multiple entry and exit options for students in higher education and launched by the prime minister, has been welcomed by all. However, educators and learners are yet to develop curiosity and respect for the parameters fixed in the programmes.

As for the much-awaited single regulatory body for higher education which will take the place of both the UGC and AICTE, it is learnt that the bill is still in the process of being drafted. NEP proposed making it mandatory for students till Class V to be taught in their regional languages. Students were asked to provide options to study in three languages, out of which two would be indigenous. Setting up of a Sanskrit university was also suggested. Technical education such as engineering courses are to be offered in eight regional languages.

The Education Minister informed that technical education would be offered in these regional languages in certain institutions on a pilot basis from 2020-21 itself. Emphasis on mother tongue/ regional languages is nothing new for our country. Most government schools are doing this already. But it is unlikely that private English medium schools would be asked to change their medium of instruction. In fact, the provision of mother tongue as medium of instruction was never compulsory for states as education is in the concurrent list. Hence the final stand of NEP in this regard has been ambiguous for schools.

Regional languages or mother tongue as the medium of instruction has been introduced on a pilot basis in the 2020-21 academic year. But NEP is yet to spell out something specifically on children of parents with transferable jobs, although it acknowledges children living in multilingual families. As there is a problematic teacher-student ratio in schools across the country, introducing a mother tongue for each subject does not seem feasible. Do the formulators of NEP have any answer? While some new subjects like Financial Literature and Artificial Intelligence have been included in the school curriculum and regional languages have been made the medium of instruction, the changes in allowing flexibility to enter and exit college courses is not in sight.

To facilitate multidisciplinary streams in the education system, some engineering colleges have reportedly started offering commerce and humanities subjects. Some IITs are also, it is learnt, on their way to start courses on economics, design, music, linguistics, etc. In schools also, subjects like Data Science and Artificial Intelligence will be offered on an optional basis. CBSE has already collaborated with Microsoft to co-operate Class VI-VIII students on code related modules. Under the purview of NPE 2020, online platforms have started offering some courses in partnership with institutes under top Indian universities. The Liberal Arts, Science and Engineering (LASE) Programme gives students the option to graduate with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, art and design and other ones permitting the students to design their own concentration.

Moreover, the latest welcome news is that international institutes are in the process of setting up their campuses. Legislation to allow foreign institutes to open campuses is hastened. lt is yet to be ascertained if a new law would enthuse the best foreign universities to set up campuses in India. In 2013, when a similar bill was sought to be pushed in Parliament, there were newspaper reports that the top global universities had shown little interest. Indeed, the government should hasten to set up a subject wise committee with members from relevant ministries at the central and state levels to develop implementation plans for each aspect of NEP. Listing of actions to be taken by multiple bodies like the HRD ministry, NCERT, Central Advisory Board of Education, National Testing Agency etc. is likely to make an impact. Amidst cheers, in 2014, the then HRD minister had promised a NEP which would utilize ”a time bound grassroots consultative process” and enable the minister “to reach out to individuals across the country through 2.75 lakh direct consultations.” The NEP 2000 is indeed promising. But a lot needs to be done.

(The writer, a former Associate Professor, Department of English, Gurudas College, Kolkata is presently with Rabindra Bharati University.)