Parliament Question: National Education Policy, 2020 in MP

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2327 ANSWERED ON- 04/08/2025 National Education Policy, 2020 in MP 2327. Shri Mahendra Singh Solanky: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the National Education Policy 2020 has been effectively implemented in the Dewas and Shajapur districts of Madhya Pradesh; (b) if so, the key initiatives undertaken in the school and higher education sectors in these districts; (c) the details of progress made under foundational literacy and numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) and vocational education integration in Government Schools; and (d) the steps taken to improve teacher training, digital infrastructure and multilingual education in the said districts? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) announced on 29.07.2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century and aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our country. The Policy proposes the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century education, including SDG-4, while building upon India’s traditions and value systems. NEP 2020 provides different timelines as well as principles and methodology for its implementation. Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and the majority of Schools/Higher Education Institutions are in the domain of the respective States/UTs and major responsibility of implementation of NEP 2020 following prescribed norms and standards falls under the domain of the States and UT Governments including Madhya Pradesh and its Dewas and Shajapur districts. (b) A number of transformative changes have taken place in School Education after announcement of NEP 2020 such as alignment of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha with the recommendation of the NEP; National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) for ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 2;Vidya-Pravesh Guidelines for Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module; PM e-VIDYA to unify all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable coherent multi-mode access to education; DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) as One Nation One Digital Platform having e-Books and e-Contents; launch of National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) and Jaadui Pitara for play-based learning teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3 to 8 years; National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF- SE) to address the entire educational journey up to secondary stage. PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development); NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement) Elementary, Secondary, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) & Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE); Vidya Samiksha Kendra; Integrated Teacher Education Programme; National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST); National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) for creating a unifying national digital infrastructure to energise and catalyse the education ecosystem, implementation of a scheme “New India Literacy Programme or ULLAS” targeting all nonliterates age 15 years and above, etc. Furthermore, Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) Scheme has been launched with an aim to develop more than 14,500 selected schools as exemplar schools that offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood, showcasing all the initiatives of NEP 2020. These schools reflect all components guided by the NEP 2020. In Higher Education, various initiatives / reforms have been carried out such as National Credit Framework (NCrF); National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF); Curriculum and Credit Framework for Undergraduate Programme; Multiple Entry and Exit in Academic Programme offered by Higher Education Institutions; Transforming HEIs into multi-disciplinary Institutions; pursuing two Academic Programme simultaneously; Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR ID) of individual student which will act as lifelong identity to track their educational journey and achievements from, pre-primary to higher education; introduction of PM-Vidyalaxmi scheme to provide financial support to meritorious students inter-alia enabling collateral free, guarantor free loan through a simple, transparent, student-friendly and entirely digital application process; revised regulation of ODL / Online Education; permitting up to 40% credits in regular courses using SWAYAM platform; launch of new SWAYAM Plus portal with aim to enhance skill and upskilling and reskilling of existing manpower employed in different sectors; Integration of technology in administration of HEIs from admission to grant of degree through SAMARTH; guidelines on Professor of Practice to enable HEIs to work with industry experts; guidelines for supernumerary seats for admitting students from abroad in Indian HEIs; Academic collaboration between Indian and Foreign HEIs to offer Twinning, Joint Degree and Dual Degree Programmes; Regulation for permitting Foreign HEIs to setup campuses in India; enhanced reputation of the Indian HEIs in international ranking; embedding of Indian Knowledge system in the education etc. (c) As per the recommendation of NEP 2020, a dedicated mission National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy‟ (NIPUN) Bharat Mission was launched by the Government of India on 5th July 2021, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 2. This Mission has been set up under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha- an integrated scheme for School Education. Under Samagra Shiksha, all 36 States/Union Territories are implementing NIPUN-Bharat Mission. It is thefirst time that the age group of 3-6 years has been included in the school continuum in foundational stage in 5+3+3+4 structure consisting of 3 years of Balvatika and Grade 1 & 2. PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) has been setup under National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) by Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L). The primary objective of this survey is to evaluate the learning competencies of students in Foundational Literacy, Foundational Numeracy, Language and Mathematics at the end of each of the educational stages i.e. Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle in Grades 3,6 &9. Conducted every three years, with annual State Educational Achievement Surveys in between, the latest national survey PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 took place on December 4, 2024. Results show notable improvement in foundational skills, especially in rural Grade 3 students, reflecting the impact of the NIPUN Bharat Mission. PARAKH aligns with NEP 2020’s focus on competency-based learning. The Department of School Education and Literacy supports the centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha scheme, which integrates Vocational Education into general academics in Secondary and Senior Secondary schools. The aim is to enhance employability, entrepreneurship, and career awareness among students. The scheme covers Government and Government-aided schools and offers vocational exposure from Classes VI to VIII, helping students make informed subject and career choices. From Classes IX to XII, NSQF-aligned vocational courses are offered as optional at Secondary (IX–X) and elective at Senior Secondary (XI–XII) levels. Currently, 138 job roles are approved. Upto March 2025, 3,84,267 school students in 2282 schools have been given exposure to skill education for the State of Madhya Pradesh. (Source: Data furnished by the State Government of Madhya Pradesh via Quarterly Progress Report). (d) The Ministry, through National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT) has launched a National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA – National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement under Samagra Shiksha. NISHTHA is a capacity building programme for teachers, head teachers, teacher educators and education administrators in the school education sector. NISHTHA empowers the teachers and school heads with the digital skills that can be further used to enhance digital literacy of students. NISHTHA (Elementary, Secondary, FLN and ECCE) covers various courses in Indian languages. Under this, ICT in teaching-learning including Artificial Intelligence is one of the courses covered. It is to be mentioned that all the NISHTHA integrated Teacher Training Programmes have dedicated course modules on use and integration of technology in school education – teaching learning and assessment. To ensure digital education across rural areas, a comprehensive initiative called PM e-Vidya was initiated as part of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education across the country. The PM e-Vidya initiative is supported through a budget allocated under the Samagra Shiksha scheme and implemented with the support of NCERT. The components of these initiatives are available to all the students across all the States/UTs free of cost. States/UTs collaborate with NCERT to utilise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives as per their requirements. NCERT also providesregular guidance/ feedback to States/UTs on the quality of these initiatives. The key components of PM e-Vidya are also aligned towards enhancing digital literacy and include: DIKSHA- One Nation, One Digital platform: Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) the Nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades. Overall, 564.05 crore learning sessions have been completed on DIKSHA by students, teachers and other stakeholders. Further, the courses on Computer Sciences on the DIKSHA platform for Class XI and Class XII include Digital Literacy components. Keeping in view, the recommendations of the NEP 2020, 117 Indian Language Primers have been released with a focus on enabling young learners and adults to access education in their mother tongue. To promote crucial critical thinking skills and to give space for creativity, more than 300 Virtual Labs have been created and made available on the DIKSHA platform. Further, to promote multilingual education, the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, as per the Budget announcement 2025–26, has been envisaged to provide textbooks across various school and higher education subjects in 22 Indian languages in digital format. 200 DTH TV Channels: These channels were launched on 9th March, 2024. As per the Union Budget announcement for Financial Year 2022-23, the 12 DTH Channels have been expanded to 200 PM e- Vidya DTH TV Channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages including for classes 1-12. The channels have been allocated to the States/UTs and Autonomous bodies under MoE and other ministries and are operational. Further on 6th December, 2024, in consonance with the NEP 2020 recommendation for promotion of Indian Sign Language (ISL) and to ensure extensive reach of the learning-teaching material in ISL to a wider audience, a dedicated initiative promoting inclusive education through accessible learning resources for the hearing-impaired community through a dedicated PM e-Vidya DTH Channel (Ch. No. 31) has been launched. One hour of content on Digital Literacy is broadcasted by NCERT daily on DTH Channels and YouTube to enhance the digital literacy of students and teachers in rural areas. Digital education has been strengthened through the integration of the SWAYAM platform, which now allows up to 40% of total programme credits to be earned through online courses. A total of 388 universities have adopted SWAYAM, with more than 5 crore cumulative enrolments and around 10 lakh certifications per year. To support skill development, the SWAYAM Plus portal has also been launched, focusing on upskilling and reskilling the workforce. Over 3.26 lakh students have registered so far. *****