Parliament Question: NEP, 2020 implementation

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1297 ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026 NEP, 2020 implementation 1297 Shri G.C. Chandrashekhar:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

(a) the major commitments announced under NEP, 2020 and the physical milestones targeted for the period 2021-22 to 2024-25;

(b) the milestones actually achieved as on 31 December, 2025, component-wise; and

(c) whether any mid-term evaluation or internal review has assessed the implementation gaps? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a) to (c): Implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is a continuous process. NEP 2020 provides different timelines as well as principles and methodology for its implementation.

Accordingly, Ministry of Education, State Governments, education-related Ministries, the regulatory and implementing bodies of school and higher education such as University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, National Council for Teacher Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Central Board of Secondary Education, Universities/Colleges/Schools etc. have started taking initiatives for implementation of NEP 2020.

Further, implementation of NEP 2020 is a continuous process.

A number of transformative changes have taken place both in school and higher education for its implementation.

In School Education, a series of significant initiatives have been undertaken in line with the vision of NEP 2020 such as:- Samagra Shiksha, an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre- school to class 12 aims for improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes. The structure has been modified from 10+2 to 5+3+3+4 corresponding to Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary stages.

Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme has been revamped and extended to cover students of Balvatika in addition to students of Classes I-VIII in Government and Government-Aided Schools.National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF FS) was launched on 20th October,

2022. Based on this, Learning Teaching Material (Jadui Pitara) and Textbooks for classes I and II have been released.

National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), aligned with the NEP 2020, released on 23.08.2023, addresses the entire educational journey from the foundational to secondary stages. Textbooks for classes 3 to 8 as per NCF-SE (2023) have been released.

National Mission for universalizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN BHARAT) was launched on 5th July 2021.

Vidya Pravesh (VP), a 3 Months Play Based School Preparation Module was developed and launched on 29th July, 2021. The module is of 12 weeks with developmentally appropriate instruction for the children entering of Grade I to bolster a child’s pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, cognitive and social skills. Vidya Pravesh is now an annual calendar, and more than 4.2 crore children in Grade I have been benefited from VP.

Norms and standards for 4-year integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) has been notified vide gazette notification dated 22.10.2021 by NCTE. From 2023-24 to 2024-25, 64 institutions granted recognition for 4-year integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) with an intake of 6,100.

Vidya Sameeksha Kendra (VSK) was launched on 06.09.2020.VSK has been established centrally at the NCERT, CBSE and all the States/UTs except kerala.

National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) launched on 21st August 2019 and extended to cover teachers at all levels of schooling including training of master trainers for ECCE.

PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) was set up on 8th February, 2023, to fulfil the objectives of setting norms, standards, guidelines and implement activities related to student assessment.

PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan was conducted on 4th December 2024 covering the entire spectrum of schools, including Government Schools (Central and State Government), Government-Aided Schools, and Private Schools across all 36 States and UTs. The primary aim of this nationwide survey was to assess the foundational, preparatory, and middle stages of schooling by assessing sampled students in Grades 3, 6, and 9.

National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) defines the work of teachers and makes explicit elements of high-quality, effective teaching in 21st century schools that will improve educational outcomes for students. NCTE has developed a guiding document that outlines the competencies that teachers should possess to effectively perform their roles. NPST guiding document released on 9th March 2024 and is now available in 22 Indian Scheduled languages and Braille Version & Audio format.

Under PM e-VIDYA, DIKSHA is the one nation, one digital education infrastructure. All states/UTs have been onboarded in DIKSHA. This digital infrastructure is artificial intelligence based and is highly scalable. This infrastructure is also being utilized for creating Energized Textbooks (ETBs) and presently 7,497 ETBs are published on DIKSHA. There are total of3,74,460 e-contents available on DIKSHA and eContent available in 135 languages (128 Indian + 7 Foreign Languages).

DTH Channels of SWAYAM PRABHA have been expanded to 200 channels and are for School Education, meant to support and reach those who do not have access to the internet with a total of 1,04,737 Video Contents equals 31,034 hours of telecast received from States/UTs/ABs in 45 languages.

PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme was launched on 7th September 2022 with an aim to develop more than 14500 selected schools as exemplar schools that offers leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood, showcasing all the initiatives of NEP 2020.

ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Adult Education, aligns with NEP 2020 and aims to provide educational opportunities to the non-literates of aged 15 years and above. A dedicated Mobile App was launched on 29.07.2023 for registering learners and volunteer teachers and also enable teaching learning process by providing access to primers in 27 languages. More than 3.13 crore Learners and 46.95 lakh Volunteer Teachers (VTs) have been registered. Till date, 6 States/UTs i.e. Ladakh, Goa, Mizoram, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh have been declared fully literate.

A series of transformative reforms and initiatives have also been undertaken in the Higher Education sector under the vision of NEP 2020.

In the area of academic frameworks and standardisation, significant steps have been taken such as the implementation of the National Credit Framework (NCrF) and its Standard Operating Procedure to enable seamless integration of academic, vocational, and experiential learning across levels of education. Further, National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) aims to standardize qualification levels across academic and vocational streams for equivalence and comparability.

The introduction of the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR ID) provides students with a lifelong academic identity to track their learning journey from pre-primary to higher education. Over 2600 universities and HEIs have been onboarded on the ABC portal, and more than 4.50 crore students are already registered.

To improve access and affordability, the PM Vidyalaxmi Scheme has been launched, enabling meritorious students to avail collateral-free, guarantor-free education loans through a simple, transparent, and digital process.

Additionally, the regulatory frameworks for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online Education have been revised to ensure quality and parity with regular programmes. As of now, 126 HEIs are offering nearly 802 online programmes and 121 HEIs are running around 1699 ODL programmes.

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 over the next three years.

Further, UGC allows that students can write the answers in local languages in examinations even if the programmes is offered in English medium and promote translation of original writing in local languages and use of local language in the teaching-learning process at universities. 41 Institutions are offering Engineering Courses across 10 States in 12 regional languages. CUETconducted in 13 Languages and participated by around 240 Institutions. JEE (Mains) and NEET

(UG) conducted in 13 languages involving about more than 30 lakhs students.

Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) launched in collaboration with IIT Madras, hosts content curated by premier institutions and is available free of cost with the approach of “Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime” Learning. More than 4400 unique courses have been delivered with cumulative enrolments of more than 5.64 Crores. To support skill development, the SWAYAM Plus portal has also been launched, focusing on upskilling and reskilling the workforce. At present, over 480 Courses across 16 sectors are available on the platform.

For realizing the vision of "Make AI in India and Make Al work for India", the Government had approved establishment of three Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a total financial outlay of Rs. 990.00 Cr over the period of FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28. Ministry of Education approved three academic institutions for establishment of three Centres of Excellence

(CoE) – CoE of AI in Health at IISc Bengaluru, CoE of AI in Agriculture at IIT Ropar and CoE of AI in Sustainable Cities at IIT Kanpur. Further, a new Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Education announced in Budget 2025-26 for a total outlay of Rs. 500.0 Cr, is being led by IIT Madras.

Promoting internationalisation of education, the Government has enabled the setting up of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions (FHEIs) in India. 14 Letters of Intent have been issued to FHEIs from Australia, Italy, United Kingdom and USA to set up their campuses at various places in India including Bengaluru (Karnataka), Delhi NCR, Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

Among these, University of Southampton, UK commenced its courses in August, 2025 at its campus in Gurugram, Haryana. Under International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Regulations 2022, approvals have been accorded to 5 universities from UK, Australia and Northern Ireland for operating offshore branch campuses in GIFT City SEZ, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Among these 5 universities, Deakin University, Australia commenced its courses in July, 2024, and University of Wollongong, Australia commenced its courses in November, 2024. In addition, Indian institutions are also establishing a global presence, with IIT Delhi’s campus in Abu Dhabi, IIT Madras in Tanzania and IIM Ahmedabad at UAE. These steps support the goal of making India a global hub for education.

Additionally, regulatory provisions now allow for Twinning, Joint Degree, and Dual Degree Programmes through academic collaboration between Indian and foreign HEIs, with 103 institutions currently offering such programmes out of 230 eligible universities.

India’s standing in global rankings has significantly improved, with 54 Indian HEIs featured in the QS Rankings 2026, as compared to 11 in 2015. The QS Subject Rankings for 2025 included 79 Indian HEIs, an increase of 10 from the previous year's 69. As per QS Asia ranking 2026, 294 Indian Higher Education Institutions features.

To promote industry-academia collaboration, the Professor of Practice scheme has been introduced, facilitating the engagement of around 18,596 domain experts across 537 HEIs.

Efforts are also being made to strengthen cultural and traditional knowledge systems, with the systematic integration of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) into higher education curricula to promote Indian values, heritage, and indigenous knowledge. IKS Scheme has been extended from 2025-26 to 2029-30 with a financial outlay of Rs. 405.78 Crore to bridge the gap betweenscientifically evidenced and researched tradition Indian knowledge systems and contemporary knowledge systems.

According to Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +) 2024-25, India’s school education system saw measurable improvements across key educational indicators. The academic year 2024–25 has seen a notable reduction in dropout rates across the Preparatory (from

3.7% to 2.3%), Middle (from 5.2% to 3.5%), and Secondary levels (from 10.9% to 8.2%) as compared to 2023-24. Student retention improved across all levels in 2024–25. The foundational level increased from 98.0 percent to 98.9 percent. The preparatory level increased from 85.4 percent to 92.4 percent. The middle level increased from 78.0 percent to 82.8 percent. The secondary level increased from 45.6 percent to 47.2 percent. The academic year 2024–25 recorded an increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio at the middle and secondary levels. The middle level rose from 89.5 percent to 90.3 percent. The secondary level rose from 66.5 percent to 68.5 percent.

This growth reflects enhanced access to education and increased student participation in higher grades. “PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024” was conducted across India on 04.12.2024, to understand the baseline performance in development of competencies among the students at the end of the Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle stages (Grades 3, 6, and 9 respectively). Nationwide over

21.15 lakh students and 2.70 lakh teachers from more than 74,229 schools across 781 districts from all States/UTs participated in the survey.

In higher education, an annual web based ‘All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)’ is a comprehensive data source on higher education. AISHE 2022–23 (provisional) reports rise in number of University / University Level Institutions and Colleges from 760 to 1213 and from 38498 to 46624 respectively, as compared to AISHE 2014-15. Enrolment in higher education has risen from 3.42 crore in 2014-15 to 4.46 crore in 2022-23, with female enrolment from 1.57 crore to 2.18 crore. The enrolment of SC students is 69.13 Lakh in 2022-23 as compared to 46.07 Lakh in 2014.15. The enrolment of ST students has increased to 28.72 Lakh in 2022-23 from 16.41 Lakh in 2014-15. Total STEM enrolment stands at 99.76 lakh. Number of faculty has also increased from 14.73 lakh in 2014-15 to 16.64 lakh in 2022-23, with number of female faculty increased from 5.7 lakh to 7.36 lakh. Overall GER has improved from 23.7 in 2014-15 to 29.5 in 2022-23.

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