NEP 2020 reshapes India’s education system with focus on foundational learning and inclusion

India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has moved from policy vision to tangible changes across the country’s education sector in six years since its introduction, a report has stated.

It noted that from strengthening foundational literacy and competency-based learning to promoting multidisciplinary higher education, research, digital inclusion and internationalisation, the policy is steadily transforming India’s education system and approach to human capital development.

“Six years after its launch, the National Education Policy 2020 is beginning to move from policy architecture to change at the institutional and classroom levels. Its biggest achievement is fundamentally altering how India thinks about education, shifting from rote learning and rigid disciplines to foundational learning, multidisciplinary education, research, technology, and global integration,” a report in the Sri Lankan newspaper ‘Daily Mirror’ detailed.

According to the report, the trajectory is increasingly positive, with several reforms reaching substantial scale even as some of the more ambitious institutional changes are still underway.

Overhauling an education system serving hundreds of millions of students and involving millions of teachers across the Union and State governments is inherently a long-term endeavour. What stands out, however, is the decisive shift in India’s educational policy direction, it mentioned.

“One of NEP 2020’s most visible departures from the past is replacing the traditional 10+2 structure with the 5+3+3+4 curricular and pedagogical framework. The reform brings children aged three to eight into the foundational stage, giving early childhood care and education a much more central role. This represents more than an administrative restructuring. It recognises that the foundations of cognitive, linguistic and social development are laid well before a child enters conventional primary school,” the report stated.

“The NIPUN Bharat Mission, which aims to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by 2026–27, has become a central pillar of this transformation. According to government data released in July 2025, NIPUN Bharat and the Vidya Pravesh initiative together reached more than 4.2 crore students across 8.9 lakh schools,” it added.

Highlighting that the emphasis towards a more inclusive education system is another visible outcome of NEP, the report said, government programmes supporting the policy have opened up greater educational opportunities for children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and girls.

NEP-linked programmes have reportedly enabled over 1.15 lakh children from disadvantaged groups to enrol in residential schools, alongside 7.58 lakh girls.

“Technology is increasingly integral to this inclusion agenda. The PRASHAST application has enabled disability screening, and digital infrastructure has expanded substantially. Government estimates place school internet connectivity at around 72 per cent in 2025. Teacher capacity remains equally important. More than four lakh teachers have undergone training through NISHTHA, reflecting recognition that no education reform can succeed without transforming teachers' capabilities,” the report noted.

“Except for the headline, no changes have been made to the story by Education Post staff.”