Union cabinet approved the new Education policy that aims to overhaul the country’s education system. HRD Ministry to be renamed as education ministry.

Education sector to get 6% of GDP, earlier it was 1.7%

It aims at 50% gross enrolment ratio by 2035. There will be multiple entry and exit options for those who wish to leave the course in the middle. Their credits will be transferred through Academic Bank of Credits.

SCHOOLS/ CURRICULUM / LEARNING

Use of schools/ school complexes beyond school hours and public library spaces for adult education courses which will be ICT-equipped when possible and for other community engagement and enrichment activities.

Bagless days will be encouraged throughout the year for various types of enrichment activities involving arts, quizzes, sports, and vocational crafts.

Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language. 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.

Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardized across the country, and National and State curriculum materials developed, for use by students with hearing impairment.

Students will be given increased flexibility and choice of subjects to study, particularly in secondary school – including subjects in physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills

There will be no hard separation among ‘curricular’, ‘extracurricular’, or ‘co-curricular’, among ‘arts’, ‘humanities’, and ‘sciences’, or between ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ streams.

Subjects such as physical education, the arts and crafts, and vocational skills, in addition to science, humanities, and mathematics, will be incorporated throughout the school curriculum.

Each of the four stages of school education, may consider moving towards a semester or any other system that allows the inclusion of shorter modules.

Experiential learning will include hands-on learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated education, story-telling-based pedagogy, among others, as standard pedagogy .

Classroom transactions will shift, towards competency-based learning and education. The mandated content will focus on key concepts, ideas, applications, and problem-solving.

Teaching and learning will be conducted in a more interactive manner. Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, and make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.

The nutrition and health (including mental health) of children will be addressed, through healthy meals and regular health check-ups, and health cards will be issued to monitor the same.

A National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be set up. Students of class 6 and onwards will be taught coding in schools as a part of 21st century skills, school. There will e- content in regional language apart from English and Hindi. E courses to be in eight major languages not just English and Hindi.

The extant 10+2 structure in school education will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18. Currently, children in the age group of 3-6 are not covered in the 10+2 structure as Class 1 begins at age 6.

Quality technology-based options for adult learning such as apps, online courses/modules, satellite-based TV channels, online books, and ICT-equipped libraries and Adult Education Centres, etc. will be developed.

VOCATIONAL STUDIES

Every child to learn at least one vocation and exposed to several more.

Sampling of important vocational crafts, such as carpentry, electric work, metal work, gardening, pottery making, etc., as decided by States and local communities during Grades 6-8.By 2025, at least 50% of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education. A 10-day bagless period sometime during Grades 6-8 to intern with local vocational experts such as carpenters, gardeners, potters, artists, etc. Vocational courses through online mode will also be made available

PRE SCHOOL EDUCATION

Pre-school sections covering at least one year of early childhood care and education will be added to Kendriya Vidyalayas and other primary schools around the nation, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

The planning and implementation of early childhood care and education curriculum (ECCEC) will be carried out jointly by the Ministries of HRD, Women and Child Development (WCD), Health and Family Welfare (HFW), and Tribal Affairs. Prior to the age of 5 every child will move to a “Preparatory Class” or “Balavatika” (that is, before Class 1), which has an ECCE-qualified teacher.

EXAMS

Boards may over time also develop further viable models of Board Exams, such as – annual/semester/modular Board Exams; offering all subjects beginning with mathematics, at two levels; two parts exams or objective type and descriptive type.

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 get 360 degree holistic report card, which will not only inform about the marks obtained by them in subjects, but also their skills and other important points.

There are over 45,000 affiliated colleges in our country. Under Graded Autonomy, Academic, Administrative & Financial Autonomy will be given to colleges, on the basis of the status of their accreditation