Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal, the Education Minister of India addressed the questions about the National Education Policy on February 4, 2021. The minister shed light on the status of the implementation of NEP 2020 in the parliament. He did so by asking relevant questions asked by Mrs Shanta Chhetri.
The education ministry announced the National Education Policy, 2020 on July 29, 2020. The official document of the policy has been made available on the official website of the ministry i.e., education.gov.in. According to NEP 2020, to implement the policy, multiple initiatives and required to be undertaken. Moreover, these initiatives must be taken up by multiple bodies in a systematic and organised manner.
Taking this into consideration, various bodies have been assigned the responsibility to implement the new education policy. These bodies include the Ministry of Education, Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), Union and State Governments and ministries of education. Furthermore, governmental bodies such as the State Departments of Education, education boards, NTA, regulatory bodies of school and higher education, NCERT, SCERT, schools and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) shall also participate in implementing the policy.
NEP 2020 also specifies the different timelines for implementing the different themes or subsets. Apart from different timelines, the new education policy also provides the essential principles and methodology to implement it. Subsequently, the education ministry has communicated all the necessary instructions to all the States and Union Territories (UTs) and their corresponding governments.
The concerned ministry communicated with the state and UT governments to take the necessary policy implementation steps through letter and spirit. Subsequently, the education ministry and specified governmental bodies have begun the implementation of NEP 2020. Necessary initiatives have also been introduced to ensure that the policy gets introduced smoothly in the pre-existing education system.
The education minister was asked whether the government plans on spending 6% of the country’s GDP on education under the purview of NEP 2020. The minister went onto clarify that the education policy unconditionally endorses and encourages a considerable increase in educational investments. These investments are public and must be shall be taken up by the Central Government as well as the State Governments.
The centre and all states shall function in a unified manner to increase public investment in the education sector. All efforts shall be taken to increase public investments to 6% of the country’s GDP. The ministry hopes to achieve this figure as soon as possible. The education minister, on the same day, also shed light on the various salient features of the education policy.
