The president and the prime minister did not go to English medium schools

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW DHARMENDRA PRADHAN | Union minister for education and skill development and entrepreneurship

- SNEHA BHURA

The National Education Policy which was introduced on July 29 2020 was the third in India. Two years later, it is growing fast. From launching 200 virtual labs for schoolchildren to introducing multidisciplinary four-year undergraduate degrees with several exit options, a national test for college admissions to offering engineering courses in regional languages, the higher education landscape in India is being readied for a new generation of learners who grew up navigating the internet on smartphones. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan takes stock of the corners turned and the road ahead. Excerpts:

Q. Since the rollout of the NEP in 2020, what would you like to highlight as key milestones achieved so far?

A. As we look back on the NEP’s second anniversary, it has generally been a satisfactory journey. Even though we lost one year to the pandemic, several features of the NEP are being implemented, like working towards a new curriculum in school education, introducing early childhood care and education as a new concept in formal schooling (a role earlier filled by anganwadis and play schools).

The timeframe that was recommended for the National Curriculum Framework—which includes processes like building steering committees, focus groups, position papers and involving stakeholders— are all on track. The big challenge lies in building a curriculum in a 21st century where everyone’s looking at India in the new geopolitical order. In this new world order, there is innovation driving industrial revolution 4.0, climate concerns and SDGs (sustainable development goals). These disruptive forces, when mapped onto the NEP, entail a paradigm shift in education.