American Research Journal of Humanities and Social sciences

Volume 7, Issue 1, 1-7

Research Article | Open Access An Academic Publishing House
ISSN (Online)- 2378-7031

National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE
Dr. Saroj Mallik,Asst. Professor
SCERT/DIET NCT OF DELHI, India, Dr. Meena Kumari, Associate Professor, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa (Haryana) India
Email - sarojmalik8@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
A child’s future depends on the form of education he/she receives. “Education begins at home”, there is no truer sentence, but the education a child acquires
at school is just as important to mold the lifestyle of the child. Their career, psyche, mentality, connection with society depends on the education received at
school. And a well-defined and well-planned education policy helps for the growth of a nation’s economy and social position. Based on the culture, tradition, and
societal view, a country adopts an education policy. And with the growth observed in our country’s most valued possession, the intellectual youth, the adoption
of a new education policy seems to be a progressive thought. This paper concentrates on highlighting the innovations and new adaptions in NEP 2020 along
with its comparison with the existing policy, merits, implications, and improvements.

KEYWORDS: National Policy on Education (1968), New Education Policy, NEP 2020, Overview, Analysis, Merits, Predicted implications, Improvements
National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

2 OBJECTIVES:
1 INTRODUCTION:
Keeping in mind the positiveness and merits of NEP 2020,
While quantitatively India is inching closer to universal
this study aims at:
education, the type of education the students in India receive
has been questioned. With the boost in population, constructing 1. To highlight,studyand identify the innovative ideas the
schools nearer to students living habitats became common; this policies of NEP 2020
was done intending to increase enrollment. Thus, creating an 2. To comparethe National Policy of Education 1986 and its
escalation in the number of schools. With nearly 900 universities, reforms with National Education Policy 2020
40,000 colleges, and 15 lakh schools, India lacked in providing
qualitative education to students [4,5]. Also, many of these 3. To highlight the merits of NEP 2020.
institutions are small-sized and are running single-program and 4. Predicting required improvements to NEP 2020
not the multidisciplinary style of higher education which is a must
in the country for the 21st century [3]. In 2019, about 27% of the 3 HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIA:
Indian population was observed to be youngsters of the age0–14- With universities like Taxila and Nalanda, India has always
year category, 67%were of the 15-64 age group, hence by 2030 it given prompt importance to education. India’s educational history
is expected that India will have more than 69% of youth. is painted in awe with great Sages and Monks as Gurus. But there
Improving the form of education given to the youth workforce seemed to be one fault with the earliest system. With the point
of current and future times is a burden in itself. This burden was “King son becomes a King” and the classification of society
placed on the committee formed headed by K Kasturirangan, into four classes was the main issue in this education system.
Chairman of the Draft Committee of National Education Policy, Brahmin class guarded the Vedic Knowledge, the Kshatriyas were
and the others the new policy was drafted and presented at the the ruling class, the Vaishyas were the trading class and Shudras
Assembly in 2019[3]. After approval, on 29th July 2020, the new were the working class. Children of these classes were educated
National Education Policy was launched [8]. according to their bloodlines and no education was ever imparted
to the Shudra class. This system may have been good for ancient
The reforms, detailed in the Policy, provide an upgrade to the
times, but with the development of education and society in the
Indian Education model. It replaces the current 10+2 education
other parts of the world, India lacked the skilled workforce and
model with the 5+3+3+4 model and mandates education from 3
intellects required to develop the country. Illiteracy was becoming
years of age, unlike its predecessor which mandates education
a great issue.
from 6 years of age [3]. It is expected that a transformation will be
seen in the Education System by 2021. Acknowledging the future of the country, the post-independent

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 National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

government implemented a scheme in 1968. Under Prime Minister 4.1 Curriculum and Pedagogy of Schooling in NEP 2020:
Indira Gandhi, National Policy on Education was adopted. The new
Unlike the previous policy with the 10+2 system, NEP 2020
policy aimed at removing divergence in the education system and
introduces the 5+3+3+4 curriculum. Pre-school to Grade 2 being
provided equal opportunities to all children under the age of 14 to
the Foundational Stage, Grade 3 to Grade 5 being Preparatory
study. [7] This policy gave importance to spreading awareness of
Stage, Grade 6 to Grade 8 being the Middle Stage, and Secondary
education. This policy was a big change in the history of the Indian
Stage being Grade 9 to Grade 12. The curriculum in each stage
education system. It followed a 10+2 system. In 1986, this policy
will be as mentioned below: [3]
was reformed; thisreformed policy was to increasing applications
of scholarships, adult education, increment in the recruitmentof 4.1.1 Foundation Stage: Pre-school to Grade 2
teachers from the Scheduled Caste, attractive incentives to enable The Foundational Stage of schooling is based on Early Child
the poor families to admit their children to school, development Care and Education based learning. In these foundational years,
of new institutions, and many more. In 2002, under the 86th NEP 2020 introduces a flexible, multilevel, play – participate –
amendment to Constitution, the Right to Free and compulsory discover based system which aims to teach the young ones in
education was added. This improved the literacy rate in the country the local language/mother-tongue and other languages. Most
but yet the workforce was not efficient. The fragmentation in the importance is given to making them understand basics like colors,
higher education system affects the efficiency rate. The causes for shapes, sounds, movement, then move on to subjects like games,
this fragmentation are: elements of drawing, painting, music, and the local arts, and also
• Students step into different disciplines very early on teach them various socio-emotional skills relating to their curiosity,
patience, cooperation and improve their teamwork, interaction,and
• Lack of presence of Higher Education in rural areas
empathy, which act as preparedness for school.
• Absenceof autonomy for teacher and institutions changes
4.1.2 Preparatory Stage: Grade 3 - Grade 5
in Higher Education to attract students
Based on statistics, many students fail in higher classes due
• Insufficient and inappropriate resources for career
to a lack of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN). Without
management
basic literary knowledge and numeracy knowledge, students who
• Absence of growth in faculty and institutional leaders fall behind or score low have been seen to maintain the same
status quo in higher education. To instill these foundation skills
• Fewer opportunities to conduct research and innovations
in the students, the next three years of the curriculum are focused
at most of the universities and colleges
on improving reading, writing, speaking, and their knowledge of
• Weak governing bodies and leaders at higher education Physical Education, art, languages, science, and mathematics.
institutions
4.1.3 Middle Stage: Grade 6 - Grade 8
• The corrupted regulatory system that allows the growth
The middle stage, with three years of education, focuses on
of look like colleges that hinders excellent and innovative
building a more formal setting of education. In this stage, the
institutions
students will be introduced to subject teachers, who will impart
In 2030, India will be one of the youngest countries with the more abstract knowledge of subjects like Science, Mathematics,
third-largest economy, and this economy will be boosted not by Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities. The teaching style is based
the natural resources of the country butby the growing intellectual on learning, discussions, and exploring interdisciplinary relations.
resources. To help the growing intellectuals, the government seems
to have come up with the right scheme, the National Education 4.1.4 Secondary Stage: Grade 9 - Grade 12
Policy 2020. The four years of the secondary stage is subject-oriented
learning. This stage focuses on allowing the student to choose 5
4 STUDY OF NEP 2020: – 6 subjects from the multidisciplinary study. In this stage, the
The National Education Policy of 2020 focuses on India students are encouraged to concentrate more on subjects with
centered Education. The policy was drafted concerning the greater depth, critical thinking, and focus on life goals. There will
heritage, history, culture, tradition, and values of the country. This greater flexibility in choosing subjects including ones like arts,
Policy aims at providing a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary vocational training, and physical education. This allows students
liberal education.[1] to expand their horizons and helps them to be more prepared for
higher education.

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 National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

4.2 The architecture of Higher Education Institutes (HIEs): 4.3 Teaching faculty:
By this policy, the focus of HIEs is on improving the To match the curriculum and have an improved teaching
professional skills of the workforce. Higher education has been standard, the below steps have been taken:[3]
divided into the same three categories with a change in curriculum,
• B.Ed. programs will be of four years with a
like,[1]
multidisciplinary settee.
• Under-graduation Education: The Undergraduate degrees
• For those from different master’s degrees or four-year
will be of either 3- or 4-year duration. During these years’
bachelor’s degrees, the B.Ed. course will be for one year.
students have a choice of multiple entries and exits like
a certificate upon clearing the first year, after passing • B.Ed. and D.El.Ed will be considered under the banner
the second yeara diploma, or after passing the third of B.Ed.
yeara Bachelor’s degree. The four years undergraduate • Teacher education in universities will be stage-specific;
degree program comes with majors, minors, and research based on the educational stage they wish to teach.
projects.
• Specialized teachers, for arts and vocational courses or
• Post-graduation Education: The Master’s degree will local art, literature, crafts are trained with a special course
be one year or two years course based on their previous of one year.
Bachelor’s degree duration taken up by the student or
• All B.Ed. programs will include educatingon subjects
they can choose an integrated five-year degree,the main
like FLN, multidisciplinary teaching and evaluation,
aim of which is high-quality research in the final year. The
tutoringSpecially-abled Children, technology in
Masters’ degree will prioritize the research component
education, and more.
to improvise professionalism in students and to prepare
them for a research degree. • Standalone teacher education institutions will be closed
or merged or converted to HEIs.
• Research: The research stage of a minimum of 3 or 4
years, consists of pursuing high-quality research leading • Volunteers, ex-government workers (includes ex-
to a Ph.D. in any core subject, multidisciplinary subject, military), and counselors are encouraged to educate
or interdisciplinary subject and it may be full-time and children by joining local schools.
part-time study. During Ph.D. they will undergo 8-credit
With the idea, quote: “If literate members of society help to
coursework in subjects of teaching/ education/ pedagogy
teach a student or a person, it would change the country’s literary
which will be related to their chosen Ph.D. subject. The
landscape.”
one-year MPhil program will hence-forth be discontinued.
4.4 Adult Education:
Based on the above format of the curriculum the HIEs will be
divided as below [3]: Being an illiterate adult in a growing society is just difficult.
To improve the living of those adults and to educate them the
1. Research Universities: With the priority of research, these
government has taken up the below steps:[3]
universities will have a curriculum based on cutting-
edge research and encouraging new researches. The • The curriculum is based on improving FLN, life skills
universities will have programs from Undergraduate to subjects like finance, digital, health care, child care,
Ph.D. The aim is to have world-class research universities family welfare and others like vocational skills, basic
and compete globally. education, and higher education (if they wish to)

2. Teaching Universities: The aimhere is to provide high- • The curriculum is planned under a new section added to
quality education across all HIE courses like Undergraduate, NCERT
Masters,Doctoral; may these beProfessional, Vocational, • Adoption of CIAE - Central Institute of Adult Education
Certificate, orDiploma programs.
• Training a highly-skilled cadre for Adult Education
3. Colleges: These institutes will focus on providing Centers
education to masses with courses across disciplines and
fields like undergraduate programs, with the diploma and • Introducing lifelong education as a part of Adult Education
certificate programs included, including vocational and for neo-literates and targeted beneficiaries.
professional. 4.5 Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog (RSA):
It’s known that this Policy emphasizes the creation of highly

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 National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

intellectual society and recognizes the multidimensions of 4. New regulatory bodies are set up, namely the National
education and its holy nature. To reach its goal the policy recognizes Higher Education Regulatory Authority, General
the need to change the current governance of education. Under this Education Council, Higher Education Grants Council,
policy, the following steps are to be taken: National Research Foundation
1. A new Apex body named RSA or NEC (National 5. The RSA will be responsible for the application,
Education Commission) will come into force. modification, development of the vision of education.
Thus, RSA is the supreme decision-maker. The other
2. Ministry of Human Resources Development will be
regulatory bodies like NAAC, NCERT, etc. fall under
reassigned tothe Ministry of Education.
RSA.
3. The Prime Minister will head the RSA as the chairperson.

5 COMPARISON OF NEP 2020 AND NPE 1986:

Though NPE 1968 aimed at modernizing education in India, it failed to bring out the desired result. The below table gives out the
comparison between NEP 2020 and NPE 1986.

No NEP 2020 NPE 1968

It concentrates on the interdisciplinary and
1 It concentrates on the overall development of students
multidisciplinary form of education.
Focus is on bettering education and workforce in
2 Focus is on improving education in the country
the country
3 It has 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 1 form of curriculum It has 10 + 2 + 3 + 2 form of curriculum
4 The preliminary education begins at age 3. The preliminary education begins at age 6.
The Pre-universities allows a choice of subjects in The Higher education of four years allows the multidisciplinary choice of
5
fixed streams (Science, Arts, or Commerce) subjects.
Entrance into undergraduate courses at HEIs is
Entrance into undergraduate and higher courses is dependent on entrance
6 based on NTA’s (National Testing Agency) scores
exams at the state level, national level, or by the private institutes
excluding private HEIs
Post-graduation focuses on specialization and
7 Post-graduation focuses on specialization only.
research.
There is no hard separation among subjects,
8 vocational, academics, curricular, extracurricular, The hard separation among subjects is seen.
non-curricular, sciences, arts, or otherwise.
Focuses on early childhood care along with
9 education hence arts, music, and aesthetics are Focuses on early childhood care.
included in the foundational stage.
Students are free to choose interdisciplinary Students are free to choose any subjects around the fixed stream (Science,
10
subjects from any stream Arts or Commerce)
Exams are an integrated part of learning. The
Exams are independent of learning. The exams conducted are evaluated by
11 teaching faculty at the respective institute is
affiliating universities
responsible for conducting exams.
To join as a tutor at HIEs Ph.D. with the clearance To join as a tutor at HIEs, Masters with the clearance of NET/SLET is
12
of NET/SLET is compulsory compulsory
About 100 foreign Universities are permitted to
13 No foreign universities are permitted to operate in-country.
operate in the country
Teaching methods are knowledge, fieldwork, and
14 Teaching methods are knowledge and fieldwork oriented
research-oriented
Multiple entries and multiple exits are allowed
Lateral entry in few fields is allowed whereas multiple entries or exits
15 in graduation courses and others like medical or
aren’t allowed.
paramedical.

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 National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

Online libraries with membership including online Physical libraries were improved with betterment in faculty, books, and
16
books and online journal are to be journals
Only multidisciplinary institutes are encouraged.
Single disciplinary institutes are expected to turn to
17 Single and multidisciplinary both institutes are encouraged
multidisciplinary institutes or must be shut down
and modified into monuments or libraries.
Students are expected to engage in social programs
18 Students' involvement in social programs is optional.
as it is compulsory and is equal to a whole semester
To teach at any stage in schools’ teachers are
To teach at the secondary education stage teachers are expected to complete
19 expected to complete integrated B.Ed. course which
their bachelor’s degree and B.Ed. which is five years of learning
is for four years and this is compulsory
All the 3 types of HEIs are allowed to conduct Only selected and approved institutes are allowed to conduct online and
20
online and distance learning courses distance learning

6 MERITS OF NEP 2020: • Arts and music are introduced at the early stages of
education allowing the growth of the culture of the country
With the intensive stress on multidisciplinary education and
industrial education, this policy is expected to revamp the Indian • The differentiation in the types of HIEs helps the idea of a
education system by 2030. With the policy being implemented limited and burdenless but effective curriculum. This also
from June 2020, the changes in the education system are expected helps the students to study better based on their choice of
to be seen in the next two to three years. The merits of NEP 2020 institution
are listed below: • Integrated courses lessen the burden of studying but yet
• With the changes in the pedagogy and curriculum of gives a better outcome.
education, the 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 system is expected to bring • Retaining schemes like Midday Meals still attracts the
a new wave of intellectuals in the next 10 years. And this students.
group of youth is said to be the most important resource
in India. • With the installation of preschools and primary schools
near Anganwadis and closer to habitats, the percentage of
• The reforms to the adult education system attract adults enrollment of students is expected to grow as it reduces
to join and begin or complete their incomplete education. the burden of commute.
• The multidisciplinary approach to syllabi ensures the • The change in the education system, 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 system,
students excel in the subjects they have chosen. will increase the number of schools and HIEs and hence
• As the policy is student-centric and has a competency- will reduce the privatization of education
based credit system, a student can evaluate himself/ • The compulsory accreditation of HIEs, every five years,
herself by taking courses through SWAYAM, MOOCs keeps in check the quality of education provided at HIEs.
(Massive Online Open Courses), or ODLs (Online
Distance Learning) at their own pace.[1] • The introduction of Online and distance learning in every
HIEs helps to promote education even in remote rural
• With the introduction of vocational classes into the school areas.
curriculum, the heritage of the country prospers. It also
promotes the growth of a skilled workforce. • The improvement to the National Scholarship Portal
encourages the students to excel at studies and scholarships
• The volunteer system, wherein volunteers are accepted at also improve enrollment percentages.
local schools to educate students, helps to best the quality
of education. • Professional education is bound to improve the quality of
the workforce by 2045.
• With the establishment of RSA, the corrupted regulatory
system will be brought under control. 7 IMPROVEMENTS TO BE INTRODUCED TO NEP 2020:
• Inclusion of research study into the curriculum promotes Every good thing seems to have flaws. Though NEP 2020
the students to explore the depth of their chosen subjects seems to be perfectly drafted without flaws, it needs improvement.
• Approval of the establishment of foreign universities in The improvements are hence suggested below:
the country gives more chances for global exposure • Retired professors are to be allowed to educate and guide
research students irrespective of their age.

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 National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

• Publication or patent must be made compulsory during Not only the younger generation, with the focus on adult
post-graduation courses to encourage research. education the literacy rate is expected to improve in India. With
a multidisciplinary approach to curriculum, students get to study
• Earn while learn must be introduced with vocational
subjects of their choice. Due to attractive scholarship offers, study
training.
methodology, credit-based system, and curriculum, the percentage
• Students in the secondary stage, HIEs must be encouraged of enrollment is expected to increase. The heritage and culture are
to take up SWYAM, MOOCs, or ODLs to allow them to also uplifted with the addition of vocational classes and art and
explore their capabilities. music classes, and with the inclusion of aesthetics as a part of the
• The process of patent filing and evaluation must be curriculum we can expect the youth to have a better lifestyle. With
improved. Instead of the current 3 – 6 years, the duration this, we can conclude, hopes of having a fully developed country
should be reduced. is not far.

• Based on teaching capabilities, teachers must be evaluated REFERENCES:

regularly and non-performers must be removed.
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 National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE

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Citation: Saroj Mallik “National Education Policy 2020 and Its Comparative Analysis with RTE”. American Research Journal of
Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 7, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-7.

Copyright © 2021 Saroj Mallik, This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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