1. The New Academic Structure

The National Education Policy 2020 proposes a change in how we structure school education. It suggests schools shift from the old 10+2 education system to a new 5+3+3+4 pedagogical model to implement different techniques for different age brackets and make learning and teaching more age-appropriate. Below is a quick breakdown of the new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure:

Foundational Stage

• 5 Years (Pre-school (Age 3-6) + Class 1-2 (Age 6-8))
• Focuses on child’s overall development and well-being
• Learning will be flexible, multi-level, theme/play/activity-based

Preparatory Stage

• 3 Years (Class 3-5 (Age 8-11))
• Emphasises developing children’s basic numeracy and literacy skills
• Activity-based learning through interactive classrooms

Middle Stage

• 3 Years (Class 6-8 (Age 11-14))
• Focuses on developing students’ core academic and life skills
• Discussion and activity-based learning through an interdisciplinary and experiential pedagogical approach

Secondary Stage

• 4 Years (Class 9-10 + Class 11-12 (Age 14-18))
• Emphasises improving students’ problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Follows a multi-disciplinary approach
• Students can select from a broad range of subjects

Thus, with the new education structure, the number of years spent in each stage of education will be reduced while students will spend more time in school.

2. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

The National Education Policy 2020 strives to ensure universal access to high-quality, safe, and free Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for all children from 3 to 6 years across the country. The new pedagogical model lays a strong foundation for ECCE with the types of learnings below:

• Flexible
• Play-based
• Inquiry-based
• Activity-based
• Multi-faceted
• Discovery-based
• Multi-level

Moreover, it also focuses on developing:

• Ethics
• Courtesy
• Sensitivity
• Good behaviour
• Social capacities
• Teamwork and cooperation
• Personal and public cleanliness

In short, ECCE aims to foster a child’s physical, motor, cognitive, artistic/cultural, and ethical-emotional development.

3. Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)

The National Education Policy 2020 aims to ensure every child achieves Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (the ability to read and comprehend basic text) by setting three Developmental Goals for 3-9 years old children from preschool to Grade 3:

• Become effective communicators.
• Maintain good health and well-being.
• Connect with the environment and become evolved learners.

The National Education Policy 2020 recommends that schools add the following components of FLN to the curriculum to ensure that students meet each of these goals:

• Coding
• Writing
• Patterns
• Vocabulary
• Reading Comprehension
• Phonological Awareness
• Data Handling
• Pre-number Concepts
• Measurement
• Shapes and Spatial Understanding
• Numbers and Operations on Numbers
• Reading Fluency
• Mathematical Communication
• Oral Language Development

To help schools achieve this, an interim 3-month play-based ‘school preparation module’ will be developed by NCERT and SCERTs for Grade 1 learners, and a national repository of high-quality FLN resources will be made available on the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA).

4. Inclusion of Essential Subjects, Skills, and Capacities

The National Education Policy 2020 strongly emphasises the importance of preparing students for today’s highly competitive corporate world. Therefore, it aims to equip them with 21st-century skills, such as:

• Creativity
• Teamwork
• Multilingualism
• Intellectual curiosity
• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Scientific temper
• Digital literacy
• social responsibility
• Moral awareness
• Higher-order cognitive capacities

Additionally, it also suggests schools include contemporary subjects in the curriculum, including:

• Design Thinking
• Organic Living
• Artificial Intelligence
• Holistic Health
• Environmental Education
• Global Citizenship Education (GCED)
• Subjects based on mathematics and computational thinking

The purpose is to turn students into highly productive, innovative, adaptable, and successful global citizens.

5. Assessment & Examination Reforms

The National Education Policy 2020 recommends schools take the following initiatives for assessments to make them ‘as’, ‘of’ and ‘for’ learning:

• Competency-based assessments
• Subjective and objective papers in board exams
• Online summative assessments and examinations
• Holistic report card

By reforming assessments, the National Education Policy 2020 attempts to nurture 21st-century skills among learners. 

6. Online and Digital Education

The National Education Policy 2020 proposes that all schools embrace EdTech solutions to facilitate online and digital learning for students. It suggests they utilise modern tools and technologies to ensure uninterrupted learning and teaching. For this, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends the following key initiatives:

• Use of LMS, ERP software, assessment platforms, etc.
• Extension of existing eLearning platforms.
• Use of digital devices, such as preloaded tablets.
• Investment in an open, interoperable, and scalable public digital infrastructure.
• Creation of digital repositories and virtual labs for hands-on practical learning.
• Use of student-appropriate apps and games to promote fun-based learning.
• Rigorous training to help teachers become high-quality online content creators.

By promoting online and digital education, the new education policy endeavours to make learning accessible to all at every stage of education.

LEAD, India’s largest School EdTech company, offers a broad spectrum of solutions to help schools recognise and foster the unique capabilities of each student. These include but are not limited to the following:

• International Standard Curriculum
• 100%  Smart Classrooms
• Smart TVs with audio-visual content
• Multimodal, Experiential, Activity-based Learning
• Practice books and grade-wise activity kits
• Coding & Computational Skills
• Innovative programmes like Sampoorna Hindi and ELGA
• LEAD Masterclass
• LEAD Summer Camp
• LEAD Championships
• Student Led Conferences (SLCs)
• A CPA (Concept-Pictorial-Abstract) approach
• Learn-by-Doing module
• Extracurricular Activities