Image Source: Hindustan Times

Agencies:

NEW DELHI: The new National Education Policy approved by the Union Cabinet today is set to usher in a slew of changes with the vision of creating an education system that contributes directly to transforming the country, providing high quality education to all and making India a global knowledge superpower.

The draft of this policy by a panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief "Kasturirangan" and submitted to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal when he took charge last year.
The new policies replaces the one formulated in 1986.

Some of the key highlights of the New Education Policy are:-
The Policy aims to enable an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deeper level and also develop character, scientific temper, creativity, spirit of service and 21st century capabilities across a range of disciplines including science, social science, arts, humanities among others.

It identified the major problems facing the higher education system in the country and suggested changes such as moving towards multidisciplinary universities and colleges, with more institutions across India that offer medium of instruction in local/Indian languages, a more multi-disciplinary undergraduate education among others. The governance of such institutions by independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy has also been suggested.

Under the suggestions for Institutional restructuring and consolidation, it has been suggested that by 2040, all higher education institutions shall aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students and by 2030 each or near every district in the country there will be at least one HEI.
The basic aim will be to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in HEIs including vocational education from 26.3 % (2018) to 50 % by 2035.