New Delhi: The National Education Policy (NEP), approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday (July 29) has outlined many school education reforms. This includes making board exams easy, reduction of the curriculum to core concepts, replacement of 10+2 structure of school curricula with a 5+3+3+4 structure, and medium of instruction up to class 5 in mother tongue or regional language.


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Addressing media, School Education Secretary Anita Karwal said, "Board exams for classes 10 and 12 will be continued, but will be reformed to eliminate the need for taking coaching classes," adding "Board exams will be redesigned to encourage holistic development and will also be made easier by testing core capacities and competencies."


"All students will be allowed to take board exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement if desired. All students will take school examinations in classes 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority," she added. 


The 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced with a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to age groups 3-8, 8-11, 11-14 and 14-18 years respectively.


Under the NEP 2020, the medium of instruction until at least class 5, but preferably till class 8 and beyond, will be the home language, mother tongue, local language and regional language.


The School Education Secretary said, "Sanskrit will be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula. Foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level." 


New features in school education 


-ECCE for all by 2030: NCF for ECCE 
-Achieve 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio in school education by 2030
-New curricular and pedagogical framework of 5+3+3+4
-Medium of instruction mother tongue/local language/regional language at least uptograde 5
-Preparatory class/Balvatika for 5-6 year olds
-Special Education Zones (SEZ)
-No hard separation of curricular/extra and co-curricular/arts and science and vocational/sports and academics
-Exams in 3,5 and 8, in addition to Board exams in 10 and 12
-National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission
-Gender Inclusion fund; KGBVs upto class 12
-Curriculum to integrate Indian culture and ethos at all levels
-Board exams: Modular, low stakes, based on conceptual knowledge and its applications
-School Preparation module for all class 1 entrants; Bal Bhavans
-Reduction in curriculum to core concepts
-National Assessment Center–PARAKH
-Utilize unused capacity of schools as Samajik Chetna Kendras
-Tracking students, as well as their learning levels; universalisation of secondary education
-Holistic Report card –use AI for identifying specific aptitude of child
-Identify life skills to be attained in each grade as a part of NCF
-Vocational education from middle stage
-Teacher recruitment based on TET, NTA test and teaching demonstration
-TEIs to move to multidisciplinary colleges and universities by 2030
-10 days bagless internship with local trades/craftsperson
-TET mandatory for teaching in pre-primary to 12
-Non-performing TEIs –stringent action
-Lok Vidya –local artistes as master instructors in schools
-Minimum 50 hours of in-service training per teacher/year
-Minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated BEd degree by 2030
-Aim: every child learns at least one vocation and is exposed to several more
-National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) by 2022
-ICT integration: for teaching-learning, evaluation, teacher preparation and professional development, educational access,  educational planning/management/administration including admissions, attendance, assessments
-Special provisions for Gifted children
-IT and data based predictive planning for requirement of students in TEIs
-Mandatory for every PhD student to do a module on teacher education
-Engagement of social workers, alumni, volunteers with schools
-State Department to look after policy making
-Adult education: focus upon technology based solutions; NCF for AE
-School complex/clusters for resource sharing 
-Directorate of Education to look after operations
-Open school –NIOS to expand to include vocational courses and courses for grades, 3, 5 and 8 also
-Random sampling of students for continuous online feedback on self-disclosure
-SCERT to look after academics
-Alternative model of schools to be encouraged to adopt NCF
-Book promotion policy and digital libraries
-State School Standards Authority to set minimal standards for online self-disclosure by all schools –public and private
-Innovative pedagogies –experience and activity-based, integrating Indian art, sports and IT
-National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 
-National Curricular Framework for School Education, NCFSE 2020-21
-National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021
-Public and private schools assessed and accredited on the same criteria, benchmarks, and processes
energizing breakfast in addition to midday meals. 
-National Mentorship programmewith a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty
-High-quality bilingual textbooks for science and mathematics
-Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardized