NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION/NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY, 1986

One most unfortunate aspect of our country is the failure to evolve fundamental policies in any
field. The result is that with the change of the government, the policies and program also do change.
It was felt by Mr. Rajiv Gandhi (the then P.M) that education in India stands at the crossroad. Thus it
should be re-examined and re-organized. But neither this time neither any commission was appointed
nor any committee was formed. First of all, a survey of the existing system of education was
conducted and it was published in August 1985 entitled ‘Challenge of Education: A policy
perspective’. On the basis of these suggestions, the central government prepared a new education
policy and presented in its budget session of the parliament, 1986. Thereafter it was declared in May,
1986 and consequently declared its Plan of Action (POA), which was first of its kind.

Features of National Policy on Education, 1986

1. Administration of education will be decentralized: Emphasis has been placed upon
decentralizing the administration of education in the tenth part of the policy and for the
formation of India education service at the national level; state education service at the provincial
level and district education board at the district level has been declared.
2. Sufficient resources will be made available for the organization of education: It has accepted
that education helps in the material and spiritual development of human being and it is
profoundly necessary for our cultural and economic development, to develop democratic values
and to achieve the national goals.
3. 10+2+3 pattern of education will be implemented in the whole country: The first ten years of
education will be common for the whole country ant there will be a core curriculum for it. At the
+2 stage, talented students will be prepared for the university education and the rest would be
directed towards vocational education according to their interest and abilities. At the +3 stage,
higher knowledge will be provided which will be helpful in the preservation of the culture and
modernization of the country.
4. Education at different levels will be reorganized: Emphasis has been placed upon
reorganizing education at every level; to reform the curriculum and raised the standard of pre-
primary, primary, secondary, and higher education. On the one hand education of social and
cultural values and on the other hand the education of science, mathematics and computers, etc.
has been emphasized at every level of education.
5. The goal of free and compulsory education will be achieved as soon as possible: Primary
education will be made universally available. The condition of primary education will be
reformed. At present(then) education is available to 90 percent children within a radius of 1 km,
for the rest of 10 percent, it will be made available by 1990. By 1995 senior primary education
will also be made available to each child in the 11-14 years of age group.
6. Secondary education will be reorganized: It has been declared that secondary education will
be made available to every interested student. At this level 3 language formula will be
implemented and the education of mathematics, science, social science, history, constitution, and
citizen rights and duties, cultural heritage, etc. will be made compulsory. At +2 stage, along with
general education, region specific vocational education will be organized.
7. Higher education will be expanded and uplift: The policy clarified that through higher
education, specialized knowledge and skills will be developed in the students who in turn will
help in the development of the nation. Its present curriculum will be reformed and teaching will
be made through provocation. UGC will be made responsible to maintain the standard of higher
education.
8. Technical and management education will be reformed: Accepting the importance of
technical and management education, this education policy emphasis its proper implementation.
Technical and management education will be planned anticipating the future needs and full
facilities of technical education will be providing to women and children of the weaker section of
society. To raise the standard of this education their curriculum will be updated and more
weightage will be given to the practical skills rather to theoretical knowledge.
9. Examination system and evaluation process will be uplifted: The NPE 1986 emphasis to
bring reformation in the existing examination system and evaluation process. It is declared that
evaluation will be made a continuous process and internal evaluation will be given more
importance than the external evaluation. Examination will be made reliable and valid, focus on
objectivity and grading system in place of division will be implemented.
10. Standard of teachers and teacher training will be uplifted: Teachers will be selected on the
basis of their qualification. To raise the standard, their pay scales will be increased and service
conditions will be made attractive. District Institute of Education and Training(DIET) will be
established in every district. To exercise control over all the institutions and to guide them, the
National Council for Teacher Education(NCTE) will be given more power.
11. Adult education program will be extended: Adult education will be included to the national
goals and to educate the adults within the age group of 15-35 years. Industrial and commercial
organizations will be made responsible to educate the illiterate adults working in their
organization.
12. Continuing education will be organized: To provide update information to the youths,
housewives, farmers, traders, and person engage in different profession, continuing education
will be organized and for distance education and open education will be organized and the means
of mass communication will be used for this purpose.
13. Special attention for women education: No discrimination will be made in the education of
women. For the development of women education efforts will be made right from the beginning.
Women will be encouraged in science and technical education and as well as in vocational
education.
14. Education for minorities: Schools will be opened for ST and SC children in cities, towns and
villages. Special attention will be paid on the education of children belonging to backward
section of the society. More schools will be opened in these areas, the economic aid will be given
and at the same time scholarship will be given to them.

Merits of NPE, 1986.

1. Education as subject of national importance: In NPE, 1986 education is declared as a subject
of national importance. This policy was accepted as the best investment and 6% of the national
budget was decided to spent on it.
2. Plan of Action and financial arrangement: The NPE, 1986 is the first education policy for
which a complete plan of action(POA) was presented in detailed and at the same time necessary
finance was also arranged.
3. Common educational pattern: In this NPE,1986 the 10+2+3 pattern was declared and
emphasized to implement in the whole country.
4. Operation black board plan for primary education: The proposal to make primary education
free and compulsory has been so repeatedly talked about. To achieve this, operation black board
plan was made and implemented.
5. Establishment of pace setting schools: In NPE, 1986, pace schools were declared to be
established at the secondary level and NovadayaVidyalayaswere established. The talented
students of rural areas, SCs, STs and OBCs are provided opportunities of admission in those
schools.

In retrospect one may say that the document of National Education Policy, 1986 does contain
lots of measures and suggestions for reform but policy related declarations are few. As a result, there
was an expansion of women education and education STs, SCs, OBCs and children of minorities
group and their employment has increased. Though whatever steps have taken to achieve the equality
of educational opportunities are mostly based on the politics of vote bank. In this education policy,
emphasis has placed upon making administration effective, fixing the accountability of teachers and
making the students aware about their duties.
 Revised (National Education Policy, 1986) Formation, 1992.

In the NPE, 1986 it was declared that the implementation and the result of this policy would be
reviewed after every 5 years. On the basis of Ram Murti Review Committee and Janardan Reddy
Committee, the government introduced some amendments in the National Education Policy, 1986
and proclaimed it under the title ‘National Policy on Education 1986, with Modifications
Undertaken in 1992’. This is also known as Plan of Action, 1992.

The main objective of the National Policy of Education of 1986 and Programme of Action, 1992
was to establish a national system of education implies that all students irrespective of caste, creed,
sex, and religion have access to education of a comparable quality. 

After going through the recommendations of NPE, 1986, the revised formation laid down the
following recommendations, which were the main features of its modified policy in 1992.

1. Early Childhood Care and Education: Integrated Child Development service, Pre-Primary

schools of the State government and Municipalities, Day-care centers and training institutes of
teachers and the existing facilities of pre-primary education should be strengthened and should
receive increased attention from the Government. Besides these, the system of monitoring and
evaluation should be strengthened.

2. Elementary Education, Non-Formal Education and Operation Blackboard: National Policy

of Education and its modified policy emphasized on elementary education as (i) universal
enrolment and universal retention of children up to 14 years of age and (ii) a substantial
improvement in the quality of education. Besides these, this policy also calls for drive for a
substantial improvement of the primary schools and provision of support service. Even some
measures have been proposed for securing participation of girls and of children from the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes families, other educationally backward section and
minorities. 

3. Vocationalisation of Education: From classes 1 to 5, Socially Useful Productive Work/ Work

Experience creates an integral part of the curriculum in many states. At the middle stage, the work
experience programme should aim at developing confidence and sufficient psychomotor skills to
students through certain occupational training courses.

4. Higher Education: The National Policy of Education of 1986 and its revised policy, which is
known as Programme of Action of 1992 had laid importance on higher education, particularly on
graduate, post-graduate and research work. It suggested that Autonomous Colleges should be
established according to UGC directives. Technical institutes like medical, engineering,
agriculture universities etc. should be set up and development of Vocational skill was to be
stressed upon.

5. Open University and Distance Education: Open University and distance education have been
designed to promote the accessibility of education at higher stage as well as making higher
education as flexible as is required by the learners. The Central Open University, which is known
as Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), has been assigned the responsibility to
coordinate the distance learning system in the country and determines its standards in order to
develop and strengthen the Open University system. The National Policy of Education and its
Revised Policy have to develop conditions relating to the Open University system and distance
mode of learning.

6. Rural Universities and Institutes: The National Policy of Education of 1986 and its Revised
Policy of 1992 envisaged that the rural universities and institutions should be developed in rural
 areas after studying the needs of such pattern of educational institutions in rural communities as
well as also strengthening the programme of Gandhian Basic Education.

7. Technical and Management Education: Regarding the Technical and Management Education

system, the policy stated that technical and management education system should be clustered
with reference to the interrelated objectives, priorities and programmes of the key functional areas
like development of human resource development spectrum with great potentials for adding values
to products and services and for contributing to the national economy and improving quality of life
of the people.

8. Making the system work: The National Policy of Education and its Revised Policy, which is
known as Programme of Action referred to the necessity of introducing discipline into the present
system of education. It had also been referred to by the NPE and POA that the teacher’s
accountability towards the profession should be developed on behalf of improving the students’
service and the behavior of the students should be promoted in accordance with acceptable norms;
and also better facilities for the educational institutions should be ensured in order to derive the
performance of the institutions.

9. De-linking of Degrees from Jobs and Manpower Planning: The National Policy of Education
and its revised policy envisaged that some job-oriented degree courses as well as skill-oriented
courses should be made for promoting human capital in the state as well as in the nation.

10. Women Education: The N.P.E. and POA laid stress on the problems of universalization of
elementary education as, in essence, the problem of the girl child and on the increasing
participation of girls at all stages of education, particularly in streams like sciences, vocational,
technical and commerce education. The POA also stressed the need for reorienting the education
system to promote the women’s equality in education. It advocated the need for institutional
mechanism to ensure that gender sensitivity be reflected in the implementation of all national
programmes. The national education system should play a positive role in the empowerment of
women and contribute towards the development of new values through redesigned curricula and
textbooks with women’s studies being promoted as part of the various courses.

The National Policy of Education of 1986 and Programme of Action of 1992 provided a
significant formulation regarding the content and process of education. Emphasis was given on the
values of secularism, socialism, democracy to be imbibed by the citizens of the country. The
Programme of Action (POA) 1992 aimed to fulfill the objective of universal enrolment and retention
of children and successful completion of education upto 14 years.The NPE and POA emphasized on
the importance of technology and formulated policy regarding the utilizations of computer education
in our country.