Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank On Wednesday announced New Education Policy 2020 approved by Union cabinet. The Cabinet also approved a proposal to rename the Ministry of Human Resource Development as the Ministry of Education. The new education policy proposes several structural changes in the early as well as the higher education system and aims to achieve 100 % youth and adult literacy in India.
Highlights of New Education Policy:
- New education policy has replaced the old 10+2 method to 5+3+3+4 to develop child mind and capabilities.
- 5 years of foundation education for the age group-3-8 that will consist of 3 years of pre-school and Anganwadi education and 2 years of primary education including classes 1 and 2.
- 3 years of preparatory education for the age group of 8-11 that will focus on experimental learning for class 3-5.
- 3 years of secondary education for the age group of 11-14 that will cover school education from class 6-8
- 4 years of secondary education for class 9-12, this stage is divided into two phases one will be from 9-10, and the second will be 11-12.
- Apprenticeship opportunities will be available for class 6-12 students to learn vocational subjects.
- Under New Education Policy the world’s top 100 foreign universities will be allowed to set-campuses and operate in India.
- Course content for each subject will be reduced and make space for research-based, critical thinking, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.
- The National Testing Agency (NTA) will offer a high-quality common aptitude test, as well as specialized common subject exams in the sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and vocational subjects, at least twice every year for university entrance exams.
- Students will learn about coding languages in school from class 6 as a part of 21st-century skills.
- Students will get an integrated report card, that will not only inform about the marks obtained by them in subjects but also their skills and other important points.
- Under Graded Autonomy, Academic, Administrative & Financial Autonomy will be given to over 45,000 affiliated colleges in our country based on the status of their accreditation.
- Except for legal and medical colleges, all higher education institutes will be governed by a single regulator.
- Board exams will be conducted in two parts: objective and descriptive, exams could be conducted twice a year. This step will reduce the stress of board exams and rote learning and promote knowledge application.
- The mother tongue or regional language will be the medium of instruction up to class 5.
Many more changes have also been given in the new education policy. The new education policy has been drafted after 34 years. The earlier educational changes occurred in the year 1986.