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A mischievous impression, guided by partisan consideration, is being made out as if the education system has veered off in the last eleven years of Modi Government. In fact, nothing could be more ironical and further from truth than this. The country that witnessed the monumental neglect of the education system by the previous Congress Governments is deeply aware of the unpleasant truth. While nations across the world reimagined education for a rapidly evolving world, India’s educational framework remained trapped in a time capsule, with the last major policy update coming in 1986, marginally amended in 1992. This was a deliberate perpetuation of colonial mindsets that undermined India’s rich knowledge traditions, besides insulating the country from rapid technological charges taking place in the world.
Corruption and governance deficit were the defining features of the country’s educational past. Public universities were systematically starved of funds.
Unregulated private institutions mushroomed into degree mills. Those who suffer from selective amnesia need to be reminded of the infamous Deemed University scandal of 2009 that exposed how university status was granted to 44 private institutions without proper evaluation, many later found guilty of financial irregularities. Political interference in education was rampant. The University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education became instruments of control rather than enablers of excellence. Appointments of University leadership were based on political loyalty. Textbooks deliberately downplayed the contributions of revolutionaries like Shahid Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Veer Savarkar and others while portraying uncomfortable historical truths about foreign invasions.
Historical narratives were carefully curated to serve political interests. India’s diverse cultural and intellectual traditions were systematically marginalized. All of these contributed towards creating an education system that remained disconnected from our glorious past and devoid of civilizational ethos.
The National Education Policy of 2020 represents a decisive break from this inglorious past. It was a product of the most extensive democratic consultations in India’s policy history. Dr. K. Kasturirangan, a leading scientist and former ISRO Chairman, spearheaded the process of consultation and engaged lakhs of stakeholders across States and UTs as the chairperson of the Committee that drafted the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Based on five pillars of access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability, NEP 2020 is a policy of the people, by the people and for the future of the people.
One of the primary objectives of NEP 2020 is to correct structural inequities inherited from centralized, rigid and elitist frameworks. As a result of this transformative approach, enrolment of SCs in Higher Education has increased by 50%, STs by 75%, and OBCs by 54% since 2014-15. In tribal areas, specialized residential schools have increased literacy rates and special scholarships for tribal students have increased their retention in higher education.
Women’s empowerment stands at the heart of these reforms with unprecedented strides in gender parity across education sectors. Female enrollment across all categories has grown by an impressive 38.8%, crossing 2.18 crore in 2022-23. Among Muslim minority students, female enrollment rose by 57.5%. In Board examinations, the number of girls scoring over 60% in Class 10 and 12 has risen by 72% and 77%, respectively. In higher education, Ph.D. enrollment among women has increased by a whopping 135%. Most remarkably, women in higher education STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) fields now constitute 43%, thus shattering glass ceilings in domains previously dominated by men. Female teachers, now constitute 44.23% of the teaching workforce, up from 38.6% in 2014, transforming academic leadership landscapes. These represent a fundamental shift in India’s academic ecosystem, with women reclaiming their rightful place in our nation’s intellectual journey.
These gains reflect a fundamental shift in priorities. Per-child government expenditure has increased by 130%, from 10,780 in 2013-14 to 25,043 in 2021-22. The Government is prioritizing early childhood education and foundational learning and numeracy for a child’s overall development, cognitive growth, and future learning. Government schools are being upgraded with modern infrastructure, holistic pedagogy and other support system. As a result of concerted efforts, the number of our Out-of-School children as also the drop-out rates have decreased; Pupil Teacher Ratio has improved; and most importantly, learning outcomes have been steadily improving.
The NEP 2020 has introduced futuristic elements like coding from middle school, multidisciplinary approaches to problem-solving, and innovation hubs in rural areas. Over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs are nurturing innovation at the grassroots level.
One of the primary objectives of NEP 2020 is to correct structural inequities inherited from centralized, rigid and elitist frameworks. As a result of this transformative approach, enrolment of SCs in Higher Education has increased by 50%, STs by 75%, and OBCs by 54% since 2014-15
More than 3,000 skill centers are bridging the gap between education and employability. These initiatives represent a fundamental reimagining of education for India’s future, not mere incremental changes to an outdated system. The youth of India deserve more than recycled manifesto and outdated slogans- they deserve vision, courage and action. The NEP 2020 has introduced futuristic elements like coding from middle school, multidisciplinary approaches to problem-solving, and innovation hubs in rural areas. Over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs are nurturing innovation at the grassroots level. The Government has plans to add 50,000 more ATLs with broadband Internet connectivity in schools in the coming five years. These initiatives represent a fundamental reimagining of education for India’s future.
In higher education, sustainable revenue models have freed universities from resource dependency. India now has 11 Universities in the QS World Ranking’s top 500, a remarkable improvement over the past. Research publications have increased by 88% since 2015, propelling India to 39th in the Global Innovation Index, up from 76th in 2014. Anusandhan – National Research Foundation is nurturing industry-academia collaboration, positioning India as an emerging knowledge economy and a global destination for learning.
Most significantly, the policy has restored dignity to all Indian languages and knowledge traditions that were systematically handicapped by decades of ‘English-first’ policies. Through the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) initiative, over 8,000 higher education institutions have adopted IKS curricula. Through the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Yojana, 15,000 original and translated textbooks in 22 Indian languages will be published, benefitting millions of young minds to express themselves in their mother tongues.
The Government’s commitment to social justice was reflected by the enactment of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019 for reservation of teaching positions in central educational institutions for SCs, STs, and others by treating the ‘Institution as one Unit’ rather than a grossly flawed system of treating ‘each Department as one Unit’. Similarly, the Government dispensed with the mischievous practice of declaring “None Found Suitable” in university recruitments to reject candidates from SC/ST/OBC categories and converting these as non-reserved posts, in the interest of making reservation truly meaningful.
These achievements represent millions of individual stories of empowerment and opportunity. A tribal girl in Odisha accessing quality digital education, a first-generation learner in Rajasthan pursuing advanced research, a student in Tamil Nadu studying engineering through her mother tongue—these are the real outcomes of a policy that views education as a force for national transformation.
Our government remains focused on building a Viksit Bharat where education truly liberates and empowers. The coming decade will witness an educational renaissance that honors our past while fearlessly embracing the future. India’s education system has finally broken free from colonial shadows and ideological captivity. It now stands poised not just to fulfill the dreams of millions of Indians, but to offer the world a model that harmonizes tradition with innovation, inclusion with excellence, and national pride with global relevance. This is not merely education reform—it is the intellectual decolonization that India has waited for long which would catapult India into the comity of developed nations.
(The writer is Union Minister of Education, Government of India)