New Education Policy and Its Impact on Higher Education

The NEP 2020 offers an elaborative framework so that there can be development in the educational system of the country. Generally, it takes a long time of decades to replace the policy. The current policy is third in sequence and replaces the NEP 1986. The NEP 2020 provides a concrete path to education in the country. Under the NEP 2020, there is an extensive focus on reshaping the curriculum. The board examinations will be reformed and there is much emphasis on the development of critical thinking among the students and offering experiential learning to them. The most important thing is that there will be an emphasis on teaching students all the subjects in their native language. The NEP 2020 addresses the need to create professionals in fields ranging from agriculture to artificial intelligence.


INTRODUCTION
The National Policy on Education (NPE) is a policy formulated by the Government of India to promote education amongst India's people.The policy covers elementary education to colleges in both rural and urban India.The first NPE was promulgated by the Government of India by Prime Minister Mrs.Indira Gandhi in 1968, the second by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, and the third by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020.The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which was approved by the Union Cabinet of India on 29 July 2020, outlines the vision of India's new education system.The new policy replaced the previous National Policy on Education, 1986.The policy is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India.The policy aims to transform India's educational system by 2021.The language policy in NEP is a broad guideline and advisory in nature; and it is up to the states, institutions, and schools to decide on the implementation.The NEP 2020 enacts numerous changes in India's education policy.The New National Education Policy is nothing short of revolutionary in the education system in India.After our education policy monotonously followed the same norms for 34 years, the Ministry of Education (formerly known as MHRD) did some serious amendments in it on 29 July 2020.This New National Education Policy was recently approved by the Indian government in 2023.When the NEP was launched in 2023, its motto was Educate, Encourage and Enlighten.The government's purpose to launch this policy was to develop 21st-century skills in the students of India.The amendments in NEP from the previous education policy strive for Research, Innovation, and Quality.

Historic Development of the Education Policy in India
• The First National Policy on Education, 1968: Based on the report and recommendations of the Kothari Commission (1964)(1965)(1966), the then Prime Minister Mrs.Indira Gandhi's government declared the first NEP in 1968.The policy was considered with "radical reform" and recommending equal opportunities (for both rural and urban sectors) of education to achieve national integration and more excellent cultural and economic development.However, the decision to adopt Hindi as a national language proved controversial.The policy called for the use and learning of Hindi to promote a common language throughout India.This specific policy also encouraged the teaching of the ancient Sanskrit language, which was considered to be an integral part of India's culture and heritage.This policy was also aligned to promote physical education to promote sports and games culture.The NPE of 1968 called for expenditure on education to rise to 6% of the national income (Govt. of India, 1968).• Second National Policy on Education, 1986 : In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister, launched a new National Policy for promoting education at all economic levels.The adopted policy is known for "Special Emphasis on the Elimination of Inequalities and to Sequalise the Educational Opportunity", irrespective of the cast (scheduled caste, scheduled tribes), gender (predominantly for females), and economic status.The policy called for the expansion of scholarships, subsidies, allowances, adult education, and various other methods to promote social integration.This NPE is known for the "child-centered approach" especially for primary education, and, thus, initiated a very popular educational reform "Operation Blackboard."The objective was to develop primary schools across the country.The policy extended the open and distance university system with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) founded in 1985 (IGNOU, 1985).This policy has followed the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi to promote development (both economic and social) at the bottom level in rural India (Govt. of India, 1986).The significant change is in pedagogical structure from a 10 + 2 + 3 system to a 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 system.
The is an effort to optimizes learning based on the cognitive development of children.On July 29, 2020, the cabinet (senate) approved a NEP intending to introduce numerous changes to the prevailing education system of India.Appropriate and liberal, the NEP 2020 scripts a significant advance in our education system.

Benefits of the New Education Policy 2023
The following are the benefits and features of this policy: • The former education policy has been replaced with the New National Education Policy, which was implemented by the Ministry of Education.• The Ministry of Human Resources will now be known as the Ministry of Education.
• The national education policy will now make education universal, with the exception of medical and law studies.• Formerly, the pattern of 10 plus two was followed, however under the new education policy, the pattern of 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 will be adopted.• There was once a Science, Commerce, and Arts stream, however this will no longer be the case.
• Students can study accounting alongside physics or arts if they so desire.
• In sixth standard, computer languages will be taught to students.
• Every schools will be outfitted with digital technology.
• All forms of content will be translated into regional languages, and virtual labs will be built.
• The NEP will cost 6% of GDP to execute.
• If desired, the learner would be able to study Sanskrit and other ancient Indian languages.
• Board exams will be held twice a year to relieve the student of the stress.
• Artificial intelligence software will also be utilised to facilitate learning.
• The M. Phil degree from higher education is being phased out.
• The pupil will be taught three languages determined by the state.

Major Reforms Introduced by the NEP
• There will be no substantial distinction between arts, science, academic, vocational, curricular, and subjects of extracurricular streams.• There will be extra emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.
• No imposition of State Language on Students studying in any State.
• Permission of taking Board Exams two times for the students.
• The government will spend 6% of the Country's GDP on Education instead of 1.7%.
• The Gender Inclusion fund will be fully established.
• The government will do extra efforts for providing proper education to the gifted children • The UG Courses will be for 4 years.
• The minimum qualification to apply for the post the teacher will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed Course.• There will be an introduction of a Common Entrance Test for admission to HEIs.
• The Master of Philosophy course will no longer be a part of the education system.
• The students will be able to opt for different subjects such as arts, crafts, vocation skills, and physical education in Secondary School.• The Standards for Board Exams will be set by the body PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) • The government will make literature of India and other classical languages part of the syllabus in schools.
• The exams for students will be held only in classes 2nd, 5th, and 8th instead of every academic year.

Higher Education and NEP
The students who will pursue UG and Higher Education will also be affected by the NEP 2023.According to the policy, the duration of a UG degree will be four years and these degrees will be multi-disciplinary, holistic, and flexible.Moreover, the students will be given multiple chances to opt for an exit from the degree course.For instance, the students will get a certificate for completing a 1-year vocational or professional field course.Whereas, they will get a diploma after 2 years and a Bachelor's degree after 3 years.
For PG courses, the course duration will be limited to 1 to 2 years.Also, the Master of Philosophy programs will no longer be accessible.The most ambitious decision for college-level education in this policy is that the college affiliation system will be fully phased out in the coming 15 years.Moreover, there will be a new body to supervise all the higher education courses excluding the legal and medical courses.

NEP 2023 Implementation by Different States
• Karnataka became the first state that issued an order related to the implementation of NEP 2022 in 2021.• Later on 26 August 2021 Madhya Pradesh also decided to implement New National Education Policy.
• Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath assures that the implementation of NEP will be in phases in the state.• Goa is set to implement NEP in the state in 2023.
• States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Assam are also making efforts for the implementation of New NEP.• Meghalaya CM said that it will soon become the first state to fully implement the New National Education Policy.

Mother tongue as medium of instruction
The NEP emphasizes pupils' native language as the medium of teaching while adhering to the "threelanguage formula" and ensuring that no language is imposed on anyone.The NEP simply suggests using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction rather than making it mandatory.According to the policy paper, children learn and grasp non-trivial topics faster in their native language.The home language, mother tongue, local language, or regional language will be used as the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably until Grade 8 and beyond.Following that, wherever practicable, the home or local language will be taught as a language.Both public and private schools will follow this.

FYUP Programme Returns & No More Dropouts
Under the NEP, undergraduate degrees will last three or four years, with several exit alternatives available during that time.After one year of study in a topic or field, including vocational and professional fields, colleges will be required to award a certificate, a diploma following two years of study, or a Bachelor's degree after a three-year program.The government will also create an Academic Bank of Credit to store academic credits earned at various HEIs digitally so that they can be transferred and counted toward a final degree.

Intrinsic changes in grade structures-deviating from the traditional '10+2+3' to a new '5+3+3+4'
The new grade system challenges the existing educational infrastructure of several educational institutions in India, calling into question the 'qualifications' provided by these institutions.The classic definitions of primary and secondary education will also undergo a drastic shift, as their objectives change.Furthermore, the NEP proposes the removal of internal exams until the Second Grade, the introduction of semesters in Grade 12 and the clearance of 8 th board exams at the end of Grade 10.This implies that schools which till now, have provided education ending at the 8th or 10th grade, must reevaluate their infrastructure to meet new guidelines.

Challenges in Implementation of NEP 2020
National Education Policy (2020) is reformatory step toward changing the education system of India for the better.A lot of effort has been put in framing the policy, it is the result of in-depth research, deliberations and discussion that we have arrived at something as comprehensive as NEP.But, there exist few changes in the successful implementation of these reforms which are as follows: • There is a lack of infrastructure and funding to incorporate such massive changes into the system.The national education policy 2020 focuses on making India a global destination for education by stressing upon quality and dynamism.The policy focuses on raising expenditure in the education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.But figures give a very contracting picture.It is not for the first time that there are talks about increasing the investment in education.The economic survey 2019-20 says India spends only 3.1 % of its GDP on education sector even after continuous talks on spending patterns.So, the first thing is to priories education as a top priority and channelize the investment towards this goal.• From the policy documents is seems quite obvious that there will be more stress on privatization of education.In a country like India where affordability of education is still the biggest issue, privatization seems like a major hurdle in implementation of the policy.Although NEP does mention about the need of transparency in fee structure but there is no mention about how they will curtain the growing fees of private institutions and make them function in a manner where utilitarianism will be the focus not profit maximization.• There is no mention is the NEP 2020 about how it will be ensured that the benefits of education reach the marginalized section of society.The explicitness about the inclusion of every section of the society is missing in the policy document.The roadmap for any such action is missing.• Ensuring the accountability of each stakeholder is a huge task.The comprehensiveness of the policy requires many stakeholders working together in a close knitted and well-coordinated relationship.The kind of changes the implementation of this policy will bring to the system is massive in terms of impact and outreach.Thereby expecting cooperation and acceptability of each stakeholder is a tedious task in such a large setup.• The policy document talks about top foreign colleges setting up their institutions in India.However, to what extent it will solve the problem for India is debatable as setting up institutions in India will Cost them hefty amount of money which they will be recovering from the fees and related charges which will ultimately increase the burden on the student making it difficult to enroll themselves in such institutions.• NEP advocated that mother tongue will also be a medium of instruction till class 5 ,preferably till class 8 and beyond it wherever possible .But is has a negative side attached to it also as it will further intensify the gaps between students who knows English or Hindi and who doesn't know these .Secondly, it will be difficult to standardize the reading material in absence of any script making it a tedious task .It will require large investments and positives coming out of this investment seems less likely and there are chances that it might create a bigger gulf in the education system .• NEP 2020 talks about experimentation in the pedagogy since the foundational years of study has brought about a Paradigm shift in the way of learning which a welcome change is.But this will require well trained teachers to ensure that this experimentation, flexibly goes well with the students, only then the strategical advancements in the curriculum can be achieved for the betterment of students.So, the taring of teachers to adapt to such flexible ways is a must which is lacking at the moment.• Inter-disciplinarily in higher education demands a paradigm Shift ,many have appreciated the step towards portioning inter-disciplinary learning .As it will create amongst learner a wide range of experience and perspectives about all the different things those exist around .But to bring such thing into action is a task which requires drastic changes .Indian system of education has been compartmentalized for decades now and to adapt to this idea of multi-disciplinarily there will be need to cultural and behavioural shift .The professors and the learners both should develop respect and curiosity to learn new things from multiple disciplines not keeping themselves in an air bubble .This will require 20-30 good years to create a positive atmosphere for such change.

CONCLUSION
If the aforementioned changes are implemented with commitment and consistency, we could witness a significant reform in the way the younger generation perceives and experiences education.Moreover, a system that evaluates individual skills and strengths, not only aids in better assessing a student's educational career -but also helps said student better judge what subjects and courses they want to pursue in the future.More self-aware students, coupled with close ties between the educational and industrial sectors, will lead to the emergence of a highly skilled workforce, with a greater capacity to inspire economic growth.However, multi-state educational coordination is a tremendous task, and must be undertaken with firm guidelines set in place.Though the initial implementation of the NEP, will bring about a great deal of work-with the enforcement of new policies and budgets-and a close eye must be kept on the implementation of the NEP, if done successfully, India would have created a new generation of forward-thinking, entrepreneurs and leaders: ushering in the age of tomorrow.

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Revisions in Second National Policy on Education in1992 and 2005 : In 1992, the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao revised the NEP.This education policy is known for the adoption of the Common Entrance Examination (CEE).The former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, introduced a revised "Common Minimum Program" policy.The Program of Action (PoA) 1992, under the NEP, 1986, planned a common entrance examination for all India-based vocational and technical training admissions.• Third National Policy on Education, 2020 : In 2019, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) released a Draft on NEP, 2019, which was trailed by several ideas and consultations offered by the stakeholders and public.The Draft NEP discusses reducing curriculum content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking.The objective is to promote holistic experiential, discussionbased, and analysis-based learning.It also talks about a revision of the curriculum for the first time.