NEP 2020 is the new policy aspiring to bring change in Indian education by bringing up the promise to transform the education system of the nation as per the demands of the twenty-first century. This policy was unveiled over 34 years later and was a bold and ambitious policy design that was set to make learning more learner-centred, equitable, multidisciplinary, and based on Indian values. The NEP was contemplating radical changes in the education system of the country, whether it is the elimination of the traditional structure of 10+2 to the new 5+3+3+4 system of school education or the provision of multiple entry exit points in higher education, the extraordinary changes introduced by NEP promise to enhance the quality as well as accessibility of education in the country.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has seen notable progress over the past five years. Key initiatives such as the NIPUN Bharat Mission, PM SHRI schools, National Curriculum Frameworks (NCFs), and the Academic Bank of Credits by the UGC have started to shape educational practices and governance. However, challenges like slow implementation in states, digital and infrastructure gaps, and limited funding remain concerns. As the policy completes five years in 2025, this is a crucial moment to assess the progress so far and refine the way forward to achieve its long-term goals.
Introduction – Celebrating Five Years of NEP 2020
NEP 2020 was published on 29 July 2020, the first education reform in India after the better part of 35 years. It induced structural rearrangement in the form of 5+3+3+4, focused on foundational learning, teaching in the mother tongue up to Grade 5, and pursued a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2030. Flexibility and lifelong learning became new definitions of reforms in higher education, such as the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) and Multiple Entry/Exit options.
Through NEP, there have been more than 8,000 PM SHRI Schools approved, and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) was notified, as well as pilot projects on Digital University and National Credit Framework (NCrF). Some of the states, such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, have been leading in their implementation, with others catching up. Heated debates, economic growth, delays, and the situation in the country five years later, NEP@5 gives one a time to breathe and contemplate this transformation and the way forward. The introduction of NEP 2020 has reorganised not just the school and higher education curricula, but also has ushered in some significant national-scale changes, including the Common University Education Entrance Test (CUET), Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), and competency-based school education programs like NIPUN Bharat.
Key Transformations Since NEP 2020
Since its introduction in July of 2020, the National Education Policy has induced several structural changes to all education levels. Classroom learning has been given a new meaning with the advent of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) in 2023, based on the principles of NEP. More than 1.5 crore students have been impacted by the changes in the curriculum, which have been implemented under this framework.
Important milestones have been the introduction of the 5+3+3+4 structure, incorporation of vocational education at Grade 6 and the NIPUN Bharat Mission to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3. Moreover, flexibility in higher education has been instigated through things such as the National Credit Framework (NCrF) and Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). In the 2024 report put out by the Ministry of Education, more than 30 lakh students have already enrolled to get credit transfers in ABC.
Foundation and ECCE Outcomes
One of the founding blocks of NEP 2020 has been its focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) with the help of a 5+3+3+4 curricular design. In July 2021, the NIPUN Bharat Mission was rolled out and aimed to make the entire country literate and numerate in terms of foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by 2026 - 2027. According to a review in 2024 by the Ministry of Education, the FLN programme has covered more than nine crore children in 28 states and union territories.
Besides this, over 8,000 Balvatika classrooms have been incorporated into Kendriya Vidyalayas to enhance pre-primary education. According to the 2023-24 State of Foundational Learning Report issued by the NCERT, there was a 20 per cent rise in the reading proficiency of students in the 3rd grade and a 17 per cent jump in the development of their numeracy ability in states where the programme was followed to the T.
Enrollment Growth & Inclusivity
During the last five years, NEP 2020 contributed to the high increase rates in school and higher education attendance, especially among the disadvantaged groups. Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2022-23 shows that the gross enrollment ratio (GER) in higher secondary classes has increased to 57.6 per cent as compared to 51.4 per cent in 2019 - 2020. On a primary level, there was a cross-sectional GER of 104.4, meaning that access and retention had improved.
A quantifiable change towards inclusivity has taken place as well. The number of women in the higher education system increased 12 per cent, either moving into the system, or remaining in higher education, in 2019 - 2020 to 2021 - 2022 (now totalling 18.2-20.4 million women). The number of SC/ST students in higher education of the country increased by over 11 per cent and 9 per cent respectively in the same period. The efforts of the government, such as gender inclusion funds, special education zones, and more outreach in scholarships, have helped resolve the overall equity gaps among states.
Flexibility, Credit System & ABC
With NEP 2020, structural flexibility was introduced in higher education, which promoted interdisciplinary learning and free movement of academics. Amongst the major reforms, there has been the introduction of the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). At the current stage, there are over 4.3 crores student accounts created with the framework of ABC based on the information of the University Grants Commission (UGC) as of 2024.
With the Multiple Entry and Exit System ( MEES ), students have been able to take breaks and access education later without losing their former learning. A certificate is obtained after a year, a diploma after two years and a degree after three or four years, depending on where one exits. This strategy has been very useful to the first-generation learners and also to the learners in the economically weaker sections, as they frequently encounter disturbances in the formal learning process.
Medium of Instruction & Multilingual Policy
Among the most revolutionary actions that NEP 2020 has taken has been its focus on paying much attention to both mother tongue and regional languages as the instructional medium, particularly those at the foundational and primary levels. By the year 2024, 22 Indian languages will have been inducted as both school and college mediums of instruction by the Ministry of Education through the program of Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 repeated what was said in the NCF 2005 that in the early years, concepts are best learnt when they are explained in the mother tongue. Adoption of multilingualism has trickled down to college education, where in many more than 160 colleges today offer technical and professional courses in regional languages, with IITs and NITs being no exception.
In addition, Anuvadini (AI) translation tool, digitally initiated as part of Digital India, is facilitating the removal of linguistic boundaries by providing real-time support for translation of textbooks and lectures. All this endeavour is meant to enhance inclusivity as well as the quality of learning, especially among second-language speakers.
Higher Education Governance & Regulatory Reform
India is undergoing a structural reform in the governance of higher education in adherence to the vision of NEP 2020 in simplifying the regulatory architecture. Amongst the most important of the developments that will come to pass is the proposal to establish the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) along with the annulment of the current commissions such as UGC, AICTE and NCTE. The operation of this umbrella regulator will be based on four verticals: NHERC, NAC, HEGC and GEC, all of which are focused on regulation, accreditation, funding and learning outcomes, respectively.
The draft bill of HECI has, since June 20,22, gone through the stakeholder consultations and is anticipated to be brought to parliament during the next sitting of the parliament. At the same time, more than 400 single-discipline institutions have set out to change into multidisciplinary universities following the NEP proposal that HEIs should be large multidisciplinary institutions with 3,000+ students by 2030.
Further, the National Credit Framework (NCrF) and the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) have also been inculcated in over 300 universities and allow students and their credits to be transferable among different universities. The reforms are indicators of transparency, duplication prevention and a learner-centred education ecosystem.
Digital & Technological Integration
In the previous five years, NEP 2020 has expedited the way education in India shifts towards a digital culture. More than 25 states and UTs have adopted the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) to ensure the ease of harmonising digital platforms for learning and governance. In 2024, the DIKSHA platform alone recorded 1.6 billion learning sessions with the content being multilingual and available in 36 languages and supporting over 100 million users. It has also embraced online materials not only for Classes 1 to 12 but also to enhance accessibility and equity.
The programs such as PM eVidya and Swayam have extended coverage on TV and radio, as well as online. So far, Swayam has 2,000+ online courses and 12 Swayam Prabha channels transmitting curriculum-based content 24/7. With the introduction of the tools within the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), such as the AI chatbots and the e-assessment systems, the institutions are acquiring the tech-led approaches to learning on a national scale.
State Implementation Trends & Challenges
After five years of implementation of NEP 2020, states have been taking up the policy at varying paces, depending on infrastructure, administrative capacity, and political affiliation. Even though more than 30 States and UTs have designed State Curriculum Frameworks (SCFs), the rate and extent of change are disproportional. Major State-based Implementation Highlights are stated below.
- Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh: These were the first movers with particularly robust alignment on foundational literacy, and ECCE in accordance with NIPUN Bharat.
- Tamil Nadu and Gujarat: More than 80 per cent of trained teachers are under NISHTHA, which indicates a good professional development system.
- Bihar & Jharkhand: According to the Ministry of Education, by 2024, under 45 per cent of the government schools will be digitally ready to support blended learning.
- North-Eastern States: Most of them have experienced Skill Hub portal roll-out delays because of a gap in funding and trained personnel.
- Delhi & Maharashtra: Good increment in multilingual education and curriculum redesign, but slackness in any full-scale tangible implementation of the Academic Bank of Credits.
Overall, the process still has a number of systemic barriers despite the improvements: digital access disparities, slow funds release, and how to localise the national policy to local requirements. There will be a continual need to address these gaps through maintained coordination and innovation at the state level.
Success Stories & Best Practices
Through disproportionate realisation, some states and institutions have turned out to be models in the process of NEP 2020 goals translation into practice. These are success stories that demonstrate how local adaptation, consistent governance, and community participation can have a tangible outcome. Successes in Various Parts of India:
- Karnataka: Becomes the first state to implement Balavatika in more than 20,000 Anganwadi centres, part of NIPUN Bharat that will incorporate play-based foundational learning with trained ECCE workforces.
- Tamil Nadu has launched the Nan Mudhalvan Scheme to increase the activity of career guidance and career skill development in the students of schools and colleges, much in line with the interest of NEP in vocational training.
- Madhya Pradesh: Rolled out localised DigiLEP (Digital Learning Enhancement Program) and ensured that learning does not stop when schools close, and eliminated the urban-rural digital divide.
- Odisha: Made considerable strides in its teacher training under Mo School Abhiyan, and the alumni and the community were involved in improving the school infrastructure and the digital learning associated with the Mo School Abhiyan.
- Delhi: First introduced the Happiness Curriculum and Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum, both of which are being used in the national level curriculum dialogue to develop a complete education.
- Himachal Pradesh: Successful implementation of integrated mother-tongue-based multilingual education, especially in primary education and good results of learning are reported in tribal areas.
These cases show that there is no need to force standardisation of the implementation of NEP; it flourishes in innovations, great political will, and harmonisation with the realities on the ground.
What Lies Ahead: Bridging NEP’s Potential and Practice
With NEP 2020 turning five, the destiny that awaits requires a more significant emphasis on translating the vision of the policies into long-term, on-the-ground impact. Although the framework has established a detailed road map, the efforts to cut off the divide between ambition and implementation will have to be done coordinately and collectively across sectors. Priority areas in the Future:
- Funding Reform: Government spending in the education sector has remained at 2.9 percent of GDP, which falls much short of the goal of 6 percent stated by NEP. The increased budgetary engagement and optimal funds usage are important.
- Teacher Capacity Building: Teacher capacity building programs such as NISHTHA 2.0 need to be scaled nationally on an ongoing basis with consistent digital training because the completion rates of the training program, even in underserved districts, are still not at 50 per cent.
- Institutional Autonomy: Regulatory authorities such as the soon-to-be-established Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) have to guarantee smoother regulation without affecting academic freedom and institutional variety.
- Multilingual Education Implementation: Translation of the textbooks, teacher guides, and learning materials in regional languages should be faster, especially in the tribal and border areas.
- Tracking & Assessment: Real-time dashboards and third-party independent assessments can be used to measure results of the initiative, such as NIPUN Bharat, PM SHRI, and Skill India.
- Digital Divide: Only with good digital infrastructure is it possible that blended learning will flourish. According to government records (2024), there is access to basic internet in more than 40 percent of rural schools.
Based on how successfully policies are owned, contextualised, and maintained by the states, districts, and schools, realising the transformative promise of NEP will not be based only on the national policy but also on international policies.
Final Thought
The National Education Policy 2020 shook up Indian education by redefining it five years after its introduction. NIPUN Bharat now has over 1.5 crore students enrolled in their foundational programs, and over 800 universities and 40,000 colleges have conformed to changes such as the Academic Bank of Credits. Hubs like SWAYAM and DIKSHA open the door to assist more than 2.5 crore learners, which is an indication of a robust introduction to digitalisation.
Nevertheless, the path to come is not easy. In low-income areas, as of 2024, only about half of the schools are blended learning ready. The states have also shown a wide-ranging progress in terms of teacher training and localised curriculum. In the future, funding, coordination, and monitoring will be vital to ensuring that the inclusive change is progressed as outlined by NEP in its broad vision.
