India's NEP 2020 shifts focus from access to learning outcomes

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 replaces the 1986 framework and restructures schooling into a 5+3+3+4 model that integrates early childhood education, foundational literacy and numeracy, and a shift toward competency‑based assessment. The policy expands preschool into the formal system, reduces rigidity of subject streams and introduces earlier vocational exposure.

Six years after launch, implementation highlights include the Vidya Pravesh programme, which has reached 4.2 crore children across 8.9 lakh schools, and the NIPUN Bharat initiative prioritising foundational learning. Over 12.9 lakh teachers have completed NISHTHA‑FLN training, and 121 multilingual primers have been produced. New mechanisms for credit mobility, multidisciplinary education and digital resources are being rolled out, while states and boards grapple with resource constraints that will determine the policy’s full impact.