Cabinet approves new national education policy: Key points

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new National Education Policy (NEP) and renamed the HRD ministry as education ministry.
Addressing a press conference, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said it is important as for 34 years there were no changes in the education policy of the country.
Following the new education policy and reforms, we will achieve 50% Gross Enrollment Ratio by 2035, Amit Khare, higher education secretary said.
Here are the key points:
* The ministry announced that there will be holistic and multidisciplinary education in terms of flexiblity of subjects.
* MPhil courses to be discontinued under new National Education Policy, and all the courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level will be interdisciplinary.
* All higher education institutions, except legal and medical colleges, will be governed by a single regulator
* Common norms will be in place for private and public higher education institutions under the Central government's new education policy
* Common entrance exams will be held for admission to universities and higher education institutions, as per the new education policy
* Other features include graded academic, administrative and financial autonomy of institutions
* E-courses will be developed in regional languages; virtual labs will be developed and a National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) is being created
* There are over 45,000 affiliated colleges in our country. Under graded autonomy, academic, administrative and financial autonomy will be given to colleges, on the basis of the status of their accreditation
* Board exams will be low stakes and test actual knowledge instead of rote learning
* Home language, mother tongue or regional language to be the medium of instruction up to class 5
* School curriculum will be reduced to core concepts; vocational education will be integrated from class 6
* Report cards will be a comprehensive report on skills and capabilities instead of just marks and statements
* National mission will focus on basic literacy and basic numeracy
* Major changes have been announced in the pedagogical structure of curriculum with no rigid separation between streams; all separations between vocational and academic and curricular and extra-curricular will also be removed
* National Assessment Centre- 'PARAKH' has been created to assess the students
* The existing NEP was framed in 1986 and revised in 1992.
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