Education Overhaul: NEP 2020's Complete, Game-Changing Push

Following the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, skill-based and experiential learning has become a regular feature of both school and higher education. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, skill education is now a standard part of the curriculum for students from Class VI through Class XII. For Classes VI to VIII, this takes the shape of pre-vocational education, which includes 10 bagless days, a separate experiential learning programme that sits outside the regular textbook curriculum, and Kaushal Bodh, NCERT’s activity-based textbook series.

Contents

Building Skills Through NEP Bringing Digital Learning Through NEP DIKSHA: One Platform, Millions of Learning Sessions Expanding Connectivity to Rural Schools Closing the Urban-Rural Education Gap Digital Access in Higher Education

For Classes IX to XII, students get access to skill courses aligned with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF), offered as an additional subject at the Secondary level and as an elective at the Senior Secondary level.

Building Skills Through NEP

Higher education has its own set of avenues for skill-based learning, including Community Colleges, B.Voc. Degree Programmes, and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Centres for Knowledge Acquisition and Upgradation of Skilled Human Abilities and Livelihood. Alongside these, the UGC and AICTE issued Guidelines for Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP), 2025, applicable to higher education programmes under each body’s respective jurisdiction. AEDP, paired with the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS), lets students combine classroom learning with structured apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and direct industry exposure.

Skill-based learning also extends into emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cyber Security, Quantum Technology, Space Technology, Sustainable Energy, Internet of Things, Robotics, and Semiconductors. Taken together, these initiatives are meant to foster experiential, skill-oriented, industry-connected learning, while building up students’ employability and entrepreneurial capabilities.

Bringing Digital Learning Through NEP

The Ministry of Education runs ICT and digital initiatives, including PM eVidya and DIKSHA, under Samagra Shiksha, aimed at strengthening digital learning in Government schools nationwide, including in rural, remote, and tribal areas. The goal behind these efforts is to improve the quality of education by weaving technology into how teaching and learning actually happen. Under the scheme, funds are released for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms, based on what each state requests through its Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B).

PM eVidya itself was launched on May 17, 2020, as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, bringing together every effort related to digital, online, and on-air education under one comprehensive initiative, so that education can reach people through multiple modes of access across the country. States and UTs work with NCERT to use, monitor, and assess how effective these initiatives are, based on their own local needs. Digital literacy sits at the core of PM eVidya’s key components, which include 200 DTH TV channels and 400 Radio channels, letting every State and UT deliver supplementary education in various Indian languages for Classes 1 to 12.

DIKSHA: One Platform, Millions of Learning Sessions

Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) serves as the country’s single, unified digital platform for delivering quality e-content in school education across States and UTs, complete with QR-coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for every grade. States, UTs, and Autonomous Bodies have together contributed over 3.67 lakh pieces of content in mother tongue, local, and regional languages, supporting multilingual learning on the platform.

Altogether, 579.41 crore learning sessions have been completed on DIKSHA by 2.29 crore users, spanning students, teachers, and other stakeholders. These users also get access to more than 836 Virtual Labs on the platform, which simulate real-world laboratory environments. DIKSHA works both online and offline, so learners can download content and keep learning even without an internet connection. Collectively, these digital initiatives give students, parents, and teachers free access to curriculum-aligned e-content as supplementary academic resources.

Expanding Connectivity to Rural Schools

In Budget 2025, the Government of India announced plans to provide broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary schools in rural areas, delivered through BSNL’s ‘BharatNet’ project, with digital infrastructure in remote areas being rolled out in a phased manner.

Closing the Urban-Rural Education Gap

Samagra Shiksha places a strong emphasis on bridging the urban-rural divide in education, working toward equal schooling opportunities, equitable learning outcomes, and closing social and gender gaps to ensure equity and inclusion in school education. The spread of digital learning platforms, smart classrooms, and other technology-enabled resources helps make educational content accessible across regions, regardless of where a student is located.

Digital Access in Higher Education

Higher education has its own digital ecosystem, with platforms like SWAYAM, SWAYAM Prabha, e-PG Pathshala, and the UGC e-resource portal offering access to courses and educational content. The UGC e-resource portal’s integration with the Digital Seva Portal means these resources can now be accessed through Common Service Centres, extending reach into rural areas too, and the portal also offers select digital content in regional languages. On top of this, the regulatory framework for Open and Distance Learning and Online Education opens up additional pathways into higher education, while the Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme builds faculty capacity through technology-enabled and ICT-based teaching methods.

The Union Budget 2026–27 announced Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and capital support for girls’ hostels in Higher Education STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) institutions, with plans to cover every district. Budget 2025-26 had earlier announced the Bhartiya Bhasha Pustak Yojana (BBPY), aimed at providing digital-format Indian language books for both school and higher education. Together, these measures are designed to widen access to education and digital learning opportunities across all regions of the country.

Key Takeaway: The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisions a more flexible, inclusive, and technology-driven education system by integrating skill-based and experiential learning across school and higher education while expanding access to digital resources nationwide. Through initiatives such as Samagra Shiksha, PM eVidya, DIKSHA, NSQF-aligned skill courses, Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programmes (AEDP), BharatNet connectivity, SWAYAM, and other digital learning platforms, the government aims to strengthen employability, industry readiness, multilingual education, and equitable access, particularly for students in rural and underserved regions.

Complemented by recent budgetary measures supporting STEM education, digital learning, and Indian language resources, these reforms reflect a comprehensive effort to modernize India’s education system in line with the objectives of NEP 2020.

M.C.Q.

Question 1: With reference to the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, consider the following statements:

Skill education has been integrated into school education through Samagra Shiksha.
NSQF-aligned skill courses are offered to students of Classes IX to XII.
PM eVidya was launched as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 only
B. 1 and 2 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

Question 2: Which one of the following digital platforms serves as India’s national digital infrastructure for school education, providing QR-coded Energised Textbooks and multilingual e-content?