A child’s first years in an Anganwadi became part of the school curriculum’s formal design under the National Education Policy approved on 29 July 2020. Its five-year foundational stage joined three years of pre-school with Classes 1 and 2, within a wider 5+3+3+4 structure covering ages three to eighteen. [1]
The change reached beyond the timetable. The foundational-stage curriculum framework arrived in 2022 and the school education framework in 2023, turning the policy into guidance for teaching and textbooks. The Union government’s July 2025 account described play, activity and experience as central to the early years. Those frameworks were concrete products of the reform; their publication did not mean every classroom had changed at the same pace. [2]
An earlier policy, a new direction
NEP replaced the 1986 education policy. Committees chaired by T.S.R. Subramanian and K. Kasturirangan, followed by a 2019 draft and consultations, preceded Cabinet approval under Narendra Modi. The policy recommended teaching in the home, local or regional language at least through Grade 5, wherever possible, and greater freedom to combine academic and vocational subjects. [1]
It also set future goals: higher-education gross enrolment of 50% by 2035 and public education investment reaching 6% of GDP. These were commitments requiring resources and subsequent action by the Centre, states and institutions. They were not results delivered by the Cabinet decision. [1]
From a framework to teaching
NIPUN Bharat, launched on 5 July 2021 under Samagra Shiksha, gave foundational literacy and numeracy a dedicated national mission. In July 2026, the education ministry reported implementation in all states and Union Territories and described play-based textbooks for Classes 1 and 2 shared with states. These included Sarangi, Mridang and Joyful Mathematics. [5]
The mission’s later formulation emphasised proficiency by the end of Grade 2. The original NEP approval had called for universal foundational learning by Grade 3 by 2025. The wording and timetable matter: establishing a mission and distributing material cannot by themselves establish that every child has acquired those skills. [1] [5]
Credits that can travel
In higher education, the December 2022 undergraduate curriculum framework provided for flexible subject combinations and qualifications at different exit points. The Academic Bank of Credits supplies a digital record through which earned credits can support movement between institutions. [3]
A July 2025 government review reported 153 universities offering multiple-entry options and 74 implementing multiple-exit pathways. These figures describe institutional adoption at that checkpoint. Whether an individual student can return, transfer credits and finish a degree still depends on the receiving institution and the courses available. A credit record supplies part of that process. [3]
What children could read
ASER’s independent 2024 rural household survey found that 23.4% of government-school children in Standard III could read a Standard II text, compared with 16.3% in 2022 and 20.9% in 2018. That was a recovery above the pre-pandemic level, alongside a substantial remaining gap. [4]
The survey measures children’s performance, rather than isolating NEP’s effect from school reopening, state programmes or other influences. Its findings give the curriculum changes a practical destination: more children able to read the text placed in front of them. [4]