The TLDR: The government unveiled the final draft of the National Education Policy which promises to overhaul our school and university system. The good news: It takes a liberal approach and offers a bold vision. The bad news: is usually hidden in the details and will no doubt emerge in the days to come. But at first glance, the draft represents a big step forward toward greater flexibility and choice.

NEP explained: The cabinet cleared a draft of the National Education Policy—which is the third such major overhaul since Independence. The previous two big-bang changes were made in 1968 and 1986. The big-picture targets: increase investment in education to 6% of our GDP; boost enrollment in higher education by 50%; add 3.5 crore new seats in colleges and universities.

The new policies for schools

Say goodbye to 10+2: Schools will now follow a 5+3+3+4 system:

• 5-year foundational school: The formal school system will now cover three years of preschool education and two years in primary school in grades 1 and 2. The emphasis will be on activity-based learning.
• 3-year preparatory school: from grades 3 to 5—which will focus on experiential learning across the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities.
• 3-year middle school: from grades 6 to 8. This is when students move to learning specific subjects with a formal curriculum. But there will be new emphasis on vocational training, including internships.
• 4-year secondary school: broken up by two board exams in Grade 10 and Grade 12, as usual—but with “greater depth, greater critical thinking, greater attention to life aspirations, and greater flexibility and student choice of subject.” 

The language clause: The NEP says that until Grade 5—and preferably till Grade 8—the language of instruction should be the child’s mother tongue or the local/regional language. But the instruction is careful to include the phrase “wherever possible.” So it is likely that English-medium private schools will remain an option.

And while the three-language requirement remains, there will be no imposition of Hindi as threatened in previous drafts: “The three-language learned by children will be the choices of states, regions, and of the students, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India".

A more liberal education: Students will no longer be forced to choose between rigid ‘streams’ of specialisation—Science, Arts, Commerce—in grades 11 and 12. They are free to pick subjects from other streams—and also crafts or vocational subjects. The Print notes:

“The policy states there will be no hard separation among ‘curricular’, ‘extracurricular’, or ‘co-curricular’, or between ‘vocational’ and ‘academic’ streams, which suggests that extracurricular activities like sketching, painting etc may have a bearing on one’s report card.”

The overall aim is to offer a "multi-disciplinary" and "multilingual" education without rigid distinctions between arts and sciences, curricular and extracurricular activities, and between vocational and academic subjects.

Fewer scary final exams: Final exams will no longer be administered every year, but only at the end of grades 3, 5 and 8. Assessment in other years will shift to "competency-based” that “promotes learning and development and tests higher-order skills, such as analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity.”

As for the big bad boards: “Board exams will be redesigned to make them easier in the sense that they will test primarily core capacities/ competencies rather than months of coaching and memorisation.” Also: a student can take their board exams a second time in order to improve their marks.

The new policies for colleges

A four-year degree: College education will be spread over four years, but with options to exit at the end of each year. Students can get a one-year certificate, a two-year diploma, or the traditional three-year Bachelor’s degree. But the “preferred option” will be an American-style four-year program that enables a “holistic and multidisciplinary education” and lets students focus on their chosen major and minors.

Point to note: A student in the four-year program can also opt for “a degree ‘with Research’ if the student completes a rigorous research project in their major area(s) of study.”

Goodbye MPhil! Students with a three-year Bachelor’s degree can opt for a two-year Master’s program. But if they did four years w/ Research, they can get a Master’s in just one year. They can also opt directly for a PhD program—which otherwise requires an MA/MSc. The so-called MPhil has been officially retired. 

Again, a multidisciplinary emphasis: All colleges and universities must offer a full range of subjects—including IITs and other engineering colleges which must offer arts and humanities courses. Also: “Students of arts and humanities will aim to learn more science and all will make an effort to incorporate more vocational subjects and soft skills.” Colleges that specialize in technical or other specific areas will be phased out.

A single entrance exam: for all colleges and universities except law, tech and medical colleges—to be administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA). But it will be optional much like the SATs in the US.

A single commission: The NEP does away with various bodies in charge of regulating higher education and replaces them with a single overarching body called the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). It will oversee all higher education institutions except those specialising in law or medicine. 

Foreign unis welcome! The government is putting out the welcome mat for the world’s top universities, and promises to create a legislative framework and “special dispensation” to help them set up shop in the country. 

The bottomline: This is an excellent and significant step in the right direction. But as with all governments, only time will tell the difference between rhetoric and intent. 

Reading list

Mint has a long list of the key points, and explains how the new school system will work. Indian Express focuses on colleges. The Print offers more analysis and responses from experts. Hindustan Times explains why the RSS is happy with the NEP. The Hindu has more on why Kerala is already objecting to the new policy.