The National Education Policy 2020 is a welcome and ambitious re-imagination of India’s education system into a modern, progressive and equitable one. Successful execution of this policy calls for dramatic simplification of decision-making structures and re-prioritization of budgetary resources in months and years to come.
Given that there are around 350 million Indians today in school-going or college-going age groups, the NEP calls for a large-scale implementation of a magnitude never before attempted anywhere in the world.
Here are 6 major challenges in the implantation of NEP 2020:
1. Opening universities every week is a herculean task:
India today has around 1,000 universities across the country. Doubling the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education by 2035 which is one of the stated goals of the policy will mean that we must open one new university every week, for the next 15 years.
Opening one University every week on an ongoing basis is an undoubtedly massive challenge.
2. The numbers are no less daunting in reforms to our school system:
The National Education Policy 2020 intends to bring 2 crore children who are currently not in schools, back into the school system. Whichever way you look at it, accomplishing this over 15 years requires the setting up of around 50 schools every week.
This certainly requires a substantial amount of investment in classrooms and campuses.
Given that many teaching positions are going unfilled even in existing schools, this becomes a particularly interesting challenge.
3. Funding is a big challenge in the Covid era:
From a funding standpoint, this is not a challenge for the faint-hearted. The National Education Policy 2020 envisages an increase in education spending from 4.6% to 6% of GDP, which amounts to around INR 2.5 lakh crores per year.
This money will be well-spent building schools and colleges across the country, appointing teachers and professors, and for operational expenses such as providing free breakfast to school children.
What makes things tricky is that this policy comes into being at a time when the economy has been battered by Covid-19 related lockdowns, government tax collections are abysmally low, and the fiscal deficit was high even pre-Covid.
4. Current focus on healthcare and economic recovery to lower the execution speed:
Economists have been calling for large stimulus packages amounting to double-digit percentages of GDP, despite the strain on the exchequer.
While the National Education Policy is a 20-year journey, one worries that we may be off to a stumbling start over the next 2-3 years, when government and budgetary priorities are claimed by the more urgent but equally important needs of healthcare and economic recovery.
5. Need to create a large pool of trained teachers:
In school education, the policy envisages a sweeping structural re-design of the curriculum a very welcome step.
Many of the curricular changes require substantial mindset shifts on the part of teachers, as well as parents.
6. Inter-disciplinary higher education demands for a cultural shift:
In higher education, the National Education Policy 2020’s focus on inter-disciplinary learning is a very welcome step. Universities, especially in India, have for decades been very silo-ed and departmentalized.
For the entire higher education system to be composed of “exceptions” professors who are curious about, respect and lean into other disciplines while being experts in their own is no easy task. This requires a cultural shift in the entire higher education ecosystem, over the next 15-20 years.

Under British rule, modern education began in India. India had its education systems like Gurukuls and the Madrassas before the British. During their first 60 years of rule in India, the East India Company did not care much about the education.

Improvement of Modern Education:
The British India company wanted some trained Indians who could help them manage the land. They also wish to study the customs and laws of the community well.
In 1781 Warren Hastings founded the Calcutta Madrassa for the teaching of Muslim law for this purpose.
In 1791, Jonathan Duncan began a Sanskrit College for the study of Hindu philosophy & laws in Varanasi.
William Carey, the Baptist missionary, had come to India in 1793 and by 1800 there was even a Baptist mission in Serampore, Bengal, as well as several primary schools and in surrounding communities.
The Charter Act of 1813 was the very first step towards the education being made a goal of the government.
The medium of communication also had another challenge; some preferred Indian languages are known as vernaculars to be used, whereas others chose English.
The Elphinstone College of Bombay and the Medical College of Calcutta were founded in 1835.
Sir Charles Wood was the President of the company’s Board of Control in 1854 when he sent a dispatch to Lord Dalhousie, then Governor-General of India. It is named as the Magna Carta of English education in India.
The company undoubtedly expanded western education among Indians; however, the literacy rate during British rule was abysmally poor.

Human beings depend upon the natural resources for their development activities. If the resources are not used wisely, it would create an imbalance in the environment. Thus would head us in opposition to an eco-friendly atmosphere. The need for conservation arises from the significance of natural resources. It is as follows-

Water is a renewable natural resource. We use it for drinking, producing electricity, irrigation, in various industries and for a number of activities. Its scarcity would cause loss of vegetation, adverse effect on flora and fauna, erosion of soil, etc.

Plants and animals provide a wide range of industrial and biological materials. Also, it assists in the manufacturing of medicine and for various other uses.
It takes millions of years for the formation of natural resources.

Fossil fuels are of great importance. A lot of energy is produced from coal, oil and natural gas all of which are fossil fuels.

Forest is the most important natural resource which helps in economic development. Forest provides paper, furniture, timber, medicine, gum, etc. Also, it maintains a balance in the ecosystem. Moreover, it prevents soil erosion and protects wildlife.

Land resources support natural vegetation, wildlife, transport. The land also provides us food, cloth, shelter, and other basic needs.

The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj meaning to bind, join, attach and yoke, to direct and concentrate one’s attention on, to use and apply. It also means union or communion. It is the true union of our will with the will of God. ‘It thus means,’ says Mahadev Desai
in his introduction to the Gita according to Gandhi, ‘the yoking of all the powers of body, mind and soul to God; it means the disciplining of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, the will, which that Yoga pre-supposes; it means a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects evenly.’
Yoga is one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy. It was collated, co-ordinated and systematised by PataiijiHi in his classical work, the Yoga Sutras, which consists of 185 terse aphorisms. In Indian thought, everything is permeated by the Supreme Universal Spirit
(Paramatma or God) of which the individual human spirit (jivatma) is a part. The system of yoga is so called because it teaches the means by which the jivatma can be united to, or be in communion with the Paramatma, and so secure liberation (moksha).
“Yoga” also refers to an inner science comprising of a variety of methods through which human beings can achieve union between the body and mind to attain self-realisation. The aim of Yoga practice (sādhana) is to overcome all kinds of sufferings that lead to a sense of freedom in every walk of life with holistic health, happiness and harmony.

The basic aim and objective of NEP 2020 are to make education universally accessible from primary to secondary level by the year 2030. It helps in building a relationship between the learner and society at large. Every child is special and has the right to get basic education, for which the government should make better provisions.

Early childhood care and education: The early child developmental stage encompasses physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development between 0-8 years of age. As early education lays the foundation for education to be undertaken later in our lives and also plays a major part in the development of the cognitive capacity of an individual, so there has to be the provision of high-quality education Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE). Here attention needs to be laid on socially backward regions.

Foundation Literacy and Numeracy: NEP 2020 envisions the attainment of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by all learners up to 3rd grade.
Curtailing drop-outs rates and ensuring universal access to education at all levels:
This new education policy of 2020 has focused on two things:
to lessen the drop-outs by ensuring proper infrastructure facilities.
by providing appropriate training to the teachers.

Also, to encourage students to continue their studies. The students are also monitored and facilitated with the proper educational environment. Also, the ones who had dropped out of school earlier are given adequate guidance to be on par with their peers.

Curriculum and pedagogy in schools: Learning of any sort should be holistic, integrated, enjoyable, and engaging to hold the attention of any learners towards the subject matter. NEP 2020 is a policy that emphasizes understanding the topic rather than an evaluation of rote learning, and for that, experiential learning is promoted at all stages.

Equitable and inclusive education: NEP 2020 policy stresses education accessibility to one and all and that all should be similarly looked upon. Students with special needs are also benefitted from this policy as several schemes are running under this policy that enables specially-abled students to be part of the education system. This aspect coincides with the SDG.

Efficient resourcing and effective governance through school complexes: The policy focuses on using teaching aids to make education in India pally with world-class standards. It also emphasizes proper governance of the educational institutions for which the teacher are provided with proper information and training time and again.
Standard setting and accreditation for school education: The policy envisions setting up the standard to be followed at all stages of education, including preschool to higher levels. This caters to the quality of infrastructure, the educational level of teachers, and the knowledge level of the students as well. This also helps in lesson assistance with adequate usage of teaching aids.

Technology in Education: There has been a lot of development in the space of technology where the teaching aids are also getting developed along with the digitalization of classrooms where lectures are taken virtually, and attendance is also taken virtually.

Reimagining vocational education and skill building: For holistic development, every student needs to work on his skills constantly, like-communication skills, presentation skills, etc. Vocational Training is also encouraged so that there is a better employment opportunities for people who do specific skill-based jobs.