As the National Education Policy completes five years, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced educational projects worth Rs 4,040 crores. These include campus inauguration, digital launches, and global partnerships aimed at realising NEP 2020's transformative vision.
In a major global connect, letters of intents were signed with four foreign universities to set up campuses in India- Western Sydney University, Australia in Greater Noida, Victoria University, Australia in Noida, La Trobe University Australia in Bengaluru, University of Bristol, UK in Mumbai.
To promote inclusive education, foundation stones were laid for 384 hostels under two tribal welfare schemes-PM-JANMAN and DAJGUA. Aimed at bridging the education gap among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), these hostels span 20 states with a combined investment of nearly Rs 1,400 crore.
In an attempt to expand access to school education, 22 Kendriya Vidyalaya projects have been identified and 613 PM SHRI best performing schools one from each district, 24 best KVS one from each region and 7 best NVS one from each region have been identified for dedication to the nation demonstrating all saturation components.
Multiple campuses and facilities under CBSE, KVS, NVS, NCERT, and central universities were also inaugurated, including new buildings for IIT Bombay's Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship, lecture halls across NITs, and residential towers in NIT Delhi.
Under the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS), one lakh students are expected to benefit offering a minimum monthly stipend of Rs 9,000 for graduates and Rs 8,000 for diploma holders. The total estimated stipend support under the initiative is around Rs 500 crore, jointly funded by the government and participating companies.
Curriculum reforms were also announced at IIT Delhi and IIT BHU to make the course flexible with a multidisciplinary learning approach, multiple entry and exits, and internship-linked degrees.
In line with Swachh Bharat and environmental consciousness, the Swachh Evam Harit Vidyalaya Rating (SHVR) system was also introduced, which will evaluate schools across hygiene and sustainability metrics, further incentivizing behavioural change in schools.
Keeping in tandem the country's push for digital, two digital platforms were also launched. The TARA App leverages speech processing and machine learning to assess reading fluency in Grades 3-8, has already been piloted in 1,200 KVs with over 7 lakh students assessed. My Career Advisor app was also launched which aims to offer career guidance to school students with AI-driven personalization, developed in collaboration with the Wadhwani Foundation.
Minister Pradhan called the NEP 2020 as a "living document" that continues to evolve through such initiatives.
Five years since its inception, the policy faces challenges too as it draws criticism from some opposition-ruled states, particularly over concerns related to centralisation and language. While 35 universities have begun shifting towards a multidisciplinary model with central support, reforms like the multiple entry and exit system have seen limited adoption-pointing to both early strides and ongoing implementation challenges.
