Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal releases ‘indicative’ implementation plan for National Education Policy

Ramesh Pokhiyal

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal was held a high level meeting on implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare, School Education Secretary Anita Karwal and other senior officials also attended the meeting.

After the meeting, an indicative and suggestive implementation plan for school education called ‘Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education’ or SARTHAQ was released by Pokhriyal.

“SARTHAQ was launched in pursuance of the goals of NEP2020 and to assist states and union territories (UTs) in this task,” Pokhriyal said.

He added that the plan will “pave the way for children to meet the diverse national and global challenges” and help them “imbibe 21st century skills along with India’s tradition, culture and value system as envisioned in NEP 2020.”

SARTHAQ would benefit all stakeholders including 25 crore students, 15 lakh schools, 94 lakh teachers, he added.

As per an official statement from the ministry the plan has been framed keeping in mind the concurrent nature of education and as such states and UTs are given the flexibility to adapt and modify it to local context as per their needs and requirements.

“This implementation plan delineates the roadmap and way forward for implementation of NEP, 2020 for the next 10 years, which is very important for its smooth and effective implementation," it added.

As per the statement, SARTHAQ was developed through wide and intensive consultative process with states and UTs, autonomous bodies and suggestions received from all stakeholders; around 7177 suggestions/inputs were received from them.

A special teacher’s fest ‘ShikshakParv’, organised from September 8-25, 2020 to discuss various recommendations of NEP 2020 and its implementation strategies, attracted around 15 lakh suggestions, it added.

"Like the policy, the plan is also interactive, flexible and inclusive. The major focus of SARTHAQ is to define activities in such a manner which clearly delineate goals, outcomes and timeframe i.e., it links recommendation of NEP with 297 tasks along with responsible agencies, timelines and 304 outputs of these tasks", Pokhriyal stated.

He added that attempt has also been made to propose activities in a manner that builds upon existing structures rather than creating new ones. “SARTHAQ takes care of the spirit and intent of the policy and is planned to be implemented in a phased manner,” he noted.