[New Education Policy (NEP) 2020]
The first change in education policy in India took place in the year 1968. After this, the policy of education was also changed in the year 1986 and there was little modification in it, in the year 1992. And after 34 years, new education policy (NEP) 2020 is introduced by government of India. In this NEP-2020, many very important and useful changes have been made; and now the MHRD (GoI) has been re-named as Ministry of Education (MoE).
In NEP-2020, the currently running “10+2 program” has been changed to “5+3+3+4 program”; and the currently implemented “stream system” like “science stream”, “commerce stream”, and “arts stream” has also been terminated; and the “Multiple entry/exit system” has been introduced.
At present, in the current “10+2 program”, central/state government, through its different bodies (that is, ‘CBSE’, ‘ICSE’, “State Level Education Board”, et cetera) fully monitors the education of every student for maximum 12 (twelve) years, that is, every students need to study from Class-1 to Class-12. So, in general, the minimum age of a student in Class-12 is 18 (eighteen) years. After Class-12, students can do Graduation or any other study of his/her choice from any university without having a full monitoring from our government.
Now, in NEP-2020, the government will fully monitor the education of every student for maximum 15 (fifteen) years. The 15 years educations of students are divided in this following way:
SNo. | Schooling Stage Name | Sub Stage Name | Study Duration in Sub Stage | Student’s Entry Age |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | FOUNDATION (No any examination) | PLAY SCHOOL | 3 Years | 3 Years |
CLASS 1 | 1 Year | 7 Years | ||
CLASS 2 | 1 Year | 8 Years | ||
2 | PREPARATORY (Examination will starts from class 3) | CLASS 3 | 1 Year | 9 Years |
CLASS 4 | 1 Year | 10 Years | ||
CLASS 5 | 1 Year | 11 Years | ||
3 | MIDDLE | CLASS 6 | 1 Year | 12 Years |
CLASS 7 | 1 Year | 13 Years | ||
CLASS 8 | 1 Year | 14 Years | ||
4 | SECONDARY (Multiple subject selection and semester-wise examination) | CLASS 9 | 1 Year | 15 Years |
CLASS 10 | 1 Year | 16 Years | ||
CLASS 11 | 1 Year | 17 Years | ||
CLASS 12 | 1 Year | 18 Years |
In NEP-2020, now every student will start their studies from the age of 3 years from “Play school”, as mentioned in table. It is quite possible that this has been done so that the children do not feel any fear to go to school; but become attached to the school.
The initial 5 years of student’s education is named as “Foundation stage” which is divided into three parts:
From the age of 3 to 6, the student will stay in “Play school” where all the facilities for play will be made available. Note that the system of “Play school” for children are already there in India by private players in the field of education, now government is also going to implement this play school concept in a much larger frame. It is one of the best reforms done by government of India in new education policy 2020.
During the three years of “Play school”, no any examination will be taken from the children.
After completing 3 years in “Play school”, the student will enter in Class-1, and then after 1 year in Class-2 for studies. No examination will be taken from the students even in class 1 and class 2.
After the “Foundation stage (that is, after Class-2)”, students will enter in “Preparatory stage”, where they will study in Class-3, Class-4, and Class-5. The process of taking the student’s examination will start from Class-3.
According to NEP-2020, in “Preparatory stage”, the school will be able to teach its students in the regional language, but doing so will not be mandatory for the school. For example, if a school in the state of Bengal wishes, it can teach students in Preparatory stage (that is, students of Class-3, and/or Class-4, and/or Class-5) in Bengali language, but it will not be mandatory for the school to do so.
After studying for 3 years in the “Preparatory stage”, students will get admission in the “Middle stage”, where they will get the education of Class-6, Class-7, and Class-8. In “Middle stage”, students will taught:
Apart from above five subjects, students will also be taught any one Indian language such as Sanskrit, Urdu, Maithili, Marathi, Guajarati, etc cetera as per their own interest.
After studying for 3 years in the Middle stage, students will get admission in “Secondary stage” where they will get the education of Class-9, Class-10, Class-11, and Class-12. Semester-wise examination will start from Secondary stage, that is, there will be two examinations in one year, and thus, total of eight examinations in four years.
Also, the system of “no any stream” will start from the Secondary stage itself, that is, neither will there be any “science stream”, nor “commerce stream”, nor “arts stream”; but now students will be able to pursue their studies by “choosing multiple subjects” according to their own interest. Students can make a set of multiple subjects for their further study without having a bound like in stream-based system.
Apart from it, in Secondary stage, students will be able to study any foreign language according to their interest. At present, government of India has not included Chinese language in the list of foreign languages which can be taught to students. It is another best reform done by government of India in NEP-2020.
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The major changes in India's education system, as outlined in NEP-2020, include the shift from the "10+2 program" to the "5+3+3+4 program," elimination of the traditional "stream system," introduction of the "Multiple entry/exit system," and restructuring of school education stages from foundation to secondary.
India's education system can be improved through the implementation of the NEP-2020 reforms, increased allocation of 6 percent of GDP to education, a focus on teacher training programs, and a shift towards holistic assessment methods involving self-evaluation, peer evaluation, and teacher evaluation. Additionally, attention to regional language preferences and flexibility in subject choices contribute to enhancement.