(a) the salient features of New Education Policy;
(b) whether the Government has fixed a target of setting up Bal Bhavans in all the districts
throughout the country under the said policy;
(c) if so, the details thereof including Ganganagar and Dausa districts of Rajasthan;
(d) the details of the amount earmarked for this purpose; and
(e) the time by which these are likely to be set up?
MINISTER OF EDUCATION
(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL ‘NISHANK’)
(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the table of the House.\
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 267 TO BE ANSWERRED ON 15TH MARCH, 2021
REGARDING BAL BHAVANS ASKED BY SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA AND SHRI
NIHAL CHAND, Hon’ble MPs:
(a): National Education Policy 2020, paves way for transformational reforms in school and
higher education systems in the country. The salient features of New Education Policy (NEP)
2020 are as follows :-
I. New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and HEs; Wherever possible, the
medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will
be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language; National Institute
for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set
up.
II. New Policy aims for Universalization of Education from pre-school to secondary level
with 100 % GER in school education by 2030
III. New 5+3+3+4 school curriculum with 12 years of schooling and 3 years of Anganwadi/
pre-schooling
IV. Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no hard separation between academic
streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in school ; Vocational Education to start
from Class 6 with Internships
V. Assessment reforms with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card and tracking Student
Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes. A National Assessment Centre, PARAKH
(Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic
Development), to be set-up as a standard-setting body for transforming Assessment
VI. Setting-up of State School Standards Authority (SSSA) to establish a minimal set of
standards based on basic parameters (namely, safety, security, basic infrastructure,
number of teachers across subjects and grades, financial probity, and sound processes of
governance), which shall be followed by all schools.
VII. Teacher education to move into a multi-disciplinary environment and four year
B.ED integrated to become a minimum degree qualification for school teachers by 2030.
VIII. Achieving 100% youth and Adult literacy
IX. GER in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035
X. Higher Education curriculum to have Flexibility of Subjects,
XI. Multiple Entry / Exit, and transfer of credit through an Academic Bank of Credits
XII. National Research Foundation to be established to foster a strong research culture XIII. Light but Tight Regulation of Higher education, single regulator with four
separate verticals for different functions- the Higher Education Commission of India
(HECI).
XIV. A stage-wise mechanism for granting graded autonomy to colleges, through a
transparent system of graded accreditation, will be established.
XV. NEP 2020 advocates increased use of technology with equity; National
Educational Technology Forum to be created
XVI. NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education
Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups
(b) to (e): Para 7.11 of NEP 2020, recommends that every State will be encouraged to
strengthen existing or establish “Bal Bhavans” where children of all ages can visit once a week
(e.g., on weekends) or more often, as a special daytime boarding school, to partake in art-related,
career-related, and play-related activities.
It would be pertinent to mention here that Education is in the Concurrent list of the
Constitution of India and setting up of the schools and related institutions are in the jurisdiction
of the State and UTs. Therefore, it is for the respective State Government to take decision on
setting up of Bal Bhavans within its jurisdictional area.
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