National Education Policy falls short 6 yrs after landmark reform: Experts

Six years after NEP 2020, experts say uneven funding, institutional capacity gaps and unfinished reforms continue to slow its implementation across India

Six years after the Centre approved its most ambitious education reform in more than three decades, implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 remains uneven with funding shortfall and inadequate institutional capacity coming in the way of achieving its full promise, experts said.

 

While schools and universities have embraced multidisciplinary learning, competency-based education and greater academic flexibility, funding constraints, uneven institutional capacity and unfinished structural reforms continue to slow progress.

 

The NEP replaced the 1986 National Policy on Education.

 

It introduced the 5+3+3+4 school structure, multidisciplinary higher education, multiple entry and exit, the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), greater autonomy and a focus on research, internationalisation and vocational education. 

 

While several reforms have been introduced, educators say implementation remains uneven, with institutions struggling to translate policy changes into outcomes.

 

One of the biggest constraints, experts say, is funding. 

 

"Implementing the NEP remains the biggest challenge. The NEP states education spending should be increased to 6 per cent of GDP, but we still are at 3.5-4 per cent of GDP. About 80 per cent of this spending goes in teachers' salaries with nothing left for infrastructure development and upgradation," said Syed Sultan Ahmed, chairperson at The Association of International Schools of India (TAISI).

 

Poornima Gupta, Program Director - Post Graduate Diploma in Management at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, said the Academic Bank of Credits and multidisciplinary learning have the potential to give students greater flexibility by allowing them to pursue courses across institutions.

 

However, she said seamless credit transfer remains difficult because institutions continue to follow different curricula, evaluation systems and credit structures, limiting one of NEP's flagship reforms.

 

“What hasn't materialised is the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), the single regulatory body meant to replace the current tangle of University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and other councils, and ease the compliance burden on institutions. Six years on, that promise still awaits legislative action,” she added.

 

Gupta also flagged uneven progress in industry internships and research due to gaps in participation, faculty development, infrastructure and funding. 

 

In higher education, experts argue that universities have largely complied with the policy's framework without fundamentally changing how institutions function. While multidisciplinary education and flexible academic regulations have become more common, faculty development, research capacity and industry engagement continue to vary significantly across institutions.

 

Professor Keyoor Purani, Vice Chancellor of Prestige University, Indore, argued that universities have largely adopted the framework of NEP without fundamentally changing how they function. 

 

“Many universities have adopted multidisciplinary curricula, flexible regulations and credit structures. Far fewer have redesigned how students learn, how faculty teach or how institutions engage with industry and society. The next phase should therefore reward educational outcomes rather than regulatory adoption,” he added.

 

Purani said autonomy should be measured by whether universities can build distinctive academic models. 

 

"Universities often ask for greater autonomy from regulators. Equally important is academic autonomy within universities themselves. Faculty cannot innovate if governance merely replaces one form of compliance by another," he said, adding that true autonomy lies in enabling institutions to build distinctive models and foster experimentation, not just reducing regulations . 

 

School education has witnessed a comparable trend. Ganesh Tiwari, Principal of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Kanpur, said competency-based learning and experiential education have entered mainstream discussions, but implementation varies due to differences in resources, teacher preparedness and leadership. 

 

"Schools operate under very different circumstances, so implementation is naturally progressing at different speeds. The next phase should focus on strengthening institutional capacity so that good policy translates into better classroom experiences for every child," said Tiwari.

 

Manisha Malhotra, Director-Principal, Satya School, Gurugram, said the policy had encouraged question-led learning and exposure to emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, but teacher capacity remained critical. 

 

“The real opportunity now is capacity-building: making sure every educator feels as equipped for this pedagogy as they are committed to it. A policy is only as strong as its most supported classroom. The next phase must invest in teacher capacity, mentoring, and assessments that value understanding over recall while giving schools room to adapt reform to their own context,” she said.  

Miles to go

 

Provisions implemented

 

• Academic Bank of Credits (ABC): Allows students to store and transfer academic credits
• 5+3+3+4 structure: Schools are moving towards stage-based learning and competency-based education

 

Provisions that remain pending

 

• Higher Education Commission of India: The proposed single higher education regulator is yet to be established
• 6% of GDP spending target: Public education expenditure remains below the NEP target

 

Challenges in implementation

 

• Funding gaps: Limited resources constrain infrastructure, research, and teacher training
• Capacity constraints: Institutions face gaps in faculty, teachers, and implementation support