National Educational Policy 2020
NEP The National Education Policy is a comprehensive framework to guide the development of education in the country. A new NEP usually comes along every few decades. The first came in 1968 and the second in 1986. The third new NEP was released on 29 th July 2020. The NEP provides only a board direction and it is not mandatory to follow. Since education is a concurrent subject (both the center and the state governments can make laws on it), this will not happen immediately. The government has set a target of 2040 to implement the entire policy. In school education the policy focuses on overhauling the curriculum, “easier” board exams, a reduction in the syllabus to retain “core essentials” and thrust on “experimental learning and critical thinking”. Design of NEP 2020: The NEP pitches for a “5+3+3+4” design corresponding to the age group of 3 to 8 years as foundational stage, 8 to 11 as preparatory stage, 11 to 14 as middle stage and 14 to 18 as secondary stage. Foundat...