Salient Features of National Education Policy

Apart from due emphasis on governance issues and an implementation framework, some distinct features of the policy are mentioned as under:

I. Access & Equity 
Dakar EFA Goals and MDGs relating to Education shall be achieved by 2015.  
Introduction of Early Childhood Education (3‐5 years) and encouraging inclusive and child‐friendly education.  Primary education official age shall be 6 to 10 years.  
Equity in Education (gender, geographical Urban‐Rural areas) shall be promoted.  
Grades 11 and 12 shall not be part of the college education and merged into the school education.  
Governments shall establish “Apna Ghar” residential schools in each province to provide free high quality education facilities to poor students.  
Every child, on admission in Grade I, shall be allotted a unique ID that will continue throughout his or her academic career.  
The definition of “free education” shall include all education related costs.  
Waiver of maximum age limit for recruitment of female teachers, wherever required.  
Access will be extended by ensuring availability of Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) at district and tehsil levels. Relevance to Labour Market shall be ensured.  
Enrolment in higher education sector shall be raised from existing 4.7 percent to 10 percent by 2015 and 15 percent by 2020.

II. Governance, Quality & Relevance: 

The Government shall allocate 7% of GDP to education by 2015 and necessary enactment shall be made for this purpose. 
Sector Planning in Education shall be promoted and each Provincial/ Area Education Department shall develop its sector/ sub‐sector plan, with facilitation and coordination at federal level.  
A system for donor harmonization for aid‐effectiveness and improved coordination between development partners and government shall be developed. 
Fragmented governance of education at federal and provincial levels including literacy shall be managed under one organization.
Separate academic & educational management cadres with specified training and qualification requirements shall be introduced.
  In order to bridge Public‐Private divide, governments shall take steps to bring harmony through common standards, quality and regulatory regimes.   Deeni Madaris shall be mainstreamed by introducing contemporary studies alongside the curricula of Deeni Madaris.   Minimum National Standards for educational inputs, processes and outcomes shall be established.   Inter‐Provincial Education Ministers’ (IPEM) forum shall be institutionalized, with legal mandate to oversee implementation of NEP and making amendments in it, when required.  
Teacher training arrangements, accreditation and certification procedures shall be standardised and institutionalised.  
Governments shall take steps to ensure that teacher recruitment, professional development, promotions and postings are based on merit alone.  
The curriculum development and review process shall be standardised and institutionalised.   Use of Information Communication Technologies in Education shall be promoted.  
Curriculum Wing of Ministry of Education and provincial textbook boards shall ensure elimination of all types of gender biases from textbooks. Also adequate representation of females shall be ensured in all curriculum and textbooks review committees.  
A well regulated system of competitive publishing of textbooks and learning materials shall be introduced.  Examinations systems shall be standardised to reduce differentials across students appearing in different boards of examinations.  
Career Counselling at secondary and higher secondary level shall be initiated.
Matric‐Tech stream shall be re‐introduced and scheme of studies revised accordingly. 
Sports activities shall be organized at the Secondary, Higher Secondary, College and University levels.   Matching with labour market, develop linkages with industry, innovation and promotion of research and development (R&D) culture are hall marks of NEP 2009.  
The policy proposes National Qualifications Framework (NQF) with a changed program structure that encompasses all qualifications in the country, both academic and vocational/technical.