India's Cabinet approves National Education Policy 2020, replacing 1986 framework

India's Union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy 2020 on July 29, 2020, according to a government release issued through the Press Information Bureau. The policy replaces the National Policy on Education of 1986, which had been in place for 34 years, and covers both school and higher education.

For schools, the policy replaces the 10+2 structure with a 5+3+3+4 design covering ages 3 to 18 and sets a goal of 100 percent gross enrollment by 2030. Assessment is to move toward regular, competency-based formative evaluation, with exams in Grades 3, 5 and 8 and redesigned board exams in Grades 10 and 12. A new national assessment center, PARAKH, is to act as a standard-setting body. In higher education, the target is a 50 percent gross enrollment ratio by 2035, up from 26.3 percent in 2018, with 3.5 crore new seats, undergraduate degrees with multiple exit points, and an Academic Bank of Credit for storing and transferring credits.

The policy also proposes a single regulator, the Higher Education Commission of India, with separate verticals for regulation, standard setting, funding and accreditation; medical and legal education are excluded. It provides for a National Research Foundation, a National Educational Technology Forum, and the entry of top-ranked foreign universities to open campuses in India. The release states an aim of raising public investment in education to 6 percent of GDP.