Education Reform in India: Renewing the Learning Compact
Education Crisis: Context and Background
- India has the world’s largest youth population, yet a significant share of graduates emerge unfit for gainful employment, pointing to a deep quality gap rather than a quantity problem.
- ASER 2024 revealed that a large proportion of Class 8 students cannot read a Class 2-level text or perform basic arithmetic, exposing a persistent foundational learning deficit.
- Only 27% of engineering graduates are considered directly employable by industry without further retraining, underlining the widening skilling and industry-readiness gap.
Key Aspects: Urgent Education Reforms Proposed
Early Childhood Education
- NEP 2020 introduced a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure, replacing the earlier 10+2 framework, with a dedicated Foundational Stage covering ages 3–8 that recognises early childhood as a critical learning window.
- The Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi initiative integrates nutrition and early learning within Anganwadi centres, linking child health outcomes directly with school readiness.
School Education
- NEP mandates that the mother tongue or regional language serve as the medium of instruction until Grade 5, aiming to strengthen conceptual understanding at the foundational level.
- PM SHRI Schools are being upgraded as exemplary institutions that showcase full implementation of NEP principles, intended to serve as models for other schools.
- The NIPUN Bharat Mission targets universal foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by the end of Grade 3.
Higher Education
- NEP proposes a four-year undergraduate programme with multiple entry and exit points, offering greater flexibility to learners.
- The Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) enables students to accumulate and transfer academic credits across institutions.
- The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), with a corpus of ₹50,000 crore, has been set up to fund research across disciplines.
- Foreign universities can now establish campuses in India under the new regulatory framework, expanding access to global higher education within the country.
Challenges in India’s Education System
Learning Crisis
ASER data reveals a persistent gap between enrolment and actual learning outcomes across grades.
Teacher Shortage
India faces a shortage of approximately 11 lakh teachers across school levels, straining classroom ratios.
Teacher Quality
Regular teacher absenteeism and inadequate training continue to undermine classroom effectiveness.
Infrastructure Gap
Many government schools still lack basic toilets, libraries, laboratories and digital connectivity.
Gender Barrier
Girls from marginalised communities face higher dropout rates beyond the primary level.
Skilling Disconnect
Higher education remains disconnected from industry requirements and labour market realities.
Regulatory Fragmentation
Multiple overlapping bodies, including UGC, AICTE, MCI and BCI, create confusion in governance.
NEP Implementation Gap
States often lack adequate financial resources and trained capacity to implement NEP mandates fully.
Way Forward: Education Renaissance for India
Budget Enhancement
Increase education spending to at least 6% of GDP as mandated by NEP 2020.
NIPUN Scale-Up
Ensure NIPUN Bharat Mission targets foundational literacy in every government school urgently.
Teacher Reform
Establish a National Mission for Mentoring and fill all teacher vacancies on priority.
Industry-Academia Bridge
Mandate structured internships, apprenticeships and curriculum co-design with industry.
Digital Equity
Expand PM eVIDYA and DIKSHA platforms to ensure quality digital content reaches every learner.
Single Regulator
Establish a unified Higher Education Commission replacing fragmented regulatory bodies.
Outcome Focus
Shift assessment from rote learning to competency-based evaluation aligned with NEP 2020.
State Capacity Building
Provide dedicated implementation grants to states for NEP rollout and infrastructure.
