Inclusion discourse and inequality in NEP 2020

This paper critically analyses the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, a Government of India (GOI) initiative aimed at creating an equitable and inclusive educational ecosystem in the country through the theoretical lens of Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital. Our study explores how NEP 2020, through its curriculum reform, deals with different forms of cultural capital which often facilitate students’ academic growth. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a topic modelling tool, was employed to identify recurring topics in this policy text. The topics were then grouped into meaningful and interpretable themes. Following this process, the themes were further analysed using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings suggest that, although the NEP 2020 is framed as a transformative effort aiming to promote equity and inclusion, the policy may contribute to the continuation of structural inequalities rather than their elimination. Our study contributes to debates on education policy by demonstrating how discourse and hidden power relations shape policies as well as highlighting the need for reforms that address unequal access to capital, so that education can function as a tool of empowerment rather than social exclusion.