National Education Policy, 2019

The Committee for Draft National Education Policy, chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, submitted its report on May 31, 2019. The Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in June 2017.

The draft Policy provides for reforms at all levels of education from school to higher education. It seeks to increase the focus on early childhood care, reform the current exam system, strengthen teacher training, and restructure the education regulatory framework. It also seeks to set up a National Education Commission, increase public investment in education, strengthen the use of technology and increase focus on vocational and adult education, among others.

History of NEP-

The first NPE was promulgated in 1968 by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the second by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986.

• Based on the report and recommendations of the Kothari Commission (1964–1966), the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced the first National Policy on Education in 1968, which called for a "radical restructuring" and equalize educational opportunities in order to achieve national integration and greater cultural and economic development.
• The policy called for fulfilling compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14, as stipulated by the Constitution of India (Directive Principle under Article 45), and the better training and qualification of teachers.
• The policy called for focus on learning of regional languages, outlining the "three language formula" to be implemented in secondary education - the instruction of the English language, the official language of the state where the school was based, and Hindi.
• The NPE of 1968 called for education spending to increase to six percent of the national income.

NPE 1986-

• The new policy called for "special emphasis on the removal of disparities and to equalize educational opportunity," especially for Indian women, Scheduled Tribes (ST) and the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities.
• The NPE called for a "child-centered approach" in primary education, and launched "Operation Blackboard" to improve primary schools nationwide.
• 3 language formula and 6% of GDP is same.

NPE 2019-

The Draft Policy primarily focuses on foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability & Accountability. The draft Policy provides for reforms at all levels of education from school to higher education. It seeks to increase the focus on early childhood care, reform the current exam system, strengthen teacher training, and restructure the education regulatory framework.

• Early child care and education
• Currently, the RTE Act provides for free and compulsory education to all children from the age of six to 14 years. The draft Policy recommends extending the ambit of the RTE Act to include early childhood education and secondary school education.
• The current structure of school education consist of a 5-3-3-4 design comprising: (i) five years of foundational stage (three years of pre-primary school and classes one and two), (ii) three years of preparatory stage (classes three to five), (iii) three years of middle stage (classes six to eight), and (iv) four years of secondary stage (classes nine to 12).
• End non-teaching activities of teacher, four-year integrated B.Ed. programme that combines high-quality content, pedagogy, and practical training.
• Creating an independent State School Regulatory Authority for each state that will prescribe basic uniform standards for public and private schools.
• Of Higher Education, It aims to increase GER to 50% by 2035 from the current level of about 25.8%.
• The current higher education system has multiple regulators so this reduces the autonomy of higher educational institutions and creates an environment of dependency and centralised decision making. Therefore, it proposes setting up the National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA).
• The Committee observed that the total investment on research and innovation in India has declined from 0.84% of GDP in 2008 to 0.69% in 2014. In 2017-18, public expenditure on education in India was 2.7% of GDP.
  
• The draft Policy recommends establishing a National Research Foundation, an autonomous body, for funding, mentoring and building the capacity for quality research in India.
• The Committee observed that less than 5% of the workforce in the age-group of 19-24 receives vocational education in India. This is in contrast to 52% in the USA, 75% in Germany and 96% in South Korea. It recommends integrating vocational educational programmes in all educational institutions (schools, colleges and universities) in a phased manner over a period of 10 years.

Challenges to implementation Draft Policy

• Infrastructure problem- Buildings, classrooms, laboratories, and equipment- education infrastructure - are crucial elements of learning environments in schools and universities. The Governement is not focusing on upgradation of the infrastructure.
• Budget constrains- The lack of sufficient funds is the main problem in the development of education. Due to insufficient funds most educational institutions lack infrastructure, science equipment and libraries, etc. Due to this reason, desired results cannot be achieved.
• Quality of teachers and Syllabus- The syllabus which is being taught in the schools is outdated and obsolete. Over 80 percent of the syllabus of most of the subjects has been same for as long as 15 years. Another issue is the quality of teacher and teaching methods. The Government did not invest enough for the training of teachers.
• High vacancy of teacher- Large numbers of primary schools are single teacher schools and many schools are even without teachers. As many as 18% positions of teachers in government-run primary schools and 15% in secondary schools are vacant nationwide, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha by MHRD during 2016.
• Constitutional amendment is required to change the limits for compulsory schooling in the country. It’s a complicated process required special majority in the parliament.
• No mention of how the State regulatory body will regulate the government institutions.

Way Forward

• Education is a concurrent list subject. Apart from the centre and the states, there is a need to ensure that the other stakeholders, including institutions, academicians and industry should also be participating in the formation of the structure and syllabus.
• A higher budget allocation is required to fulfill the infrastructural gap so there is a need of a parliamentary bill with mandatory budget allocation and fix the responsibility of states too.
• Teacher training is also important for the qualitative education system so the government should create an institution for teacher training on the line of civil services.