National Education Policy 2020: Challenges and Opportunities

The present paper attempts to examine the challenges and opportunities in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and its impact on foundational literacy, numeracy and skill development. The study is descriptive and the analytical research employs data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+)1, the Ministry of Education, and the Department of School Education and Literacy. Various literature, including research papers, articles, and reports have been used for the study. The study finds that the performance gap, particularly among students from marginalised backgrounds, indicates that there are systemic issues that adversely affect government schools, including inadequate resources and poorly-trained teachers. The high dropout rates, especially among girls and in government secondary schools, further exacerbate these challenges and hinder the development of a skilled workforce. The study finally concludes that while NEP 2020 provides a framework for educational reforms, its successful implementation hinges on addressing deep-rooted inequalities and systemic challenges within the education sector.