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that teachers should be deployed with a particular
school complex for at least five to seven years. Further,
teachers will not be allowed to participate in any non-
teaching activities (such as cooking mid-day meals or
participating in vaccination campaigns) during school
hours that could affect their teaching capacities.
For teacher training, the existing B.Ed. programme
will be replaced by a four-year integrated B.Ed. pro-
gramme that combines high-quality content, peda-
gogy, and practical training. An integrated continu-
ous professional development will also be developed
for all subjects. Teachers will be required to complete
a minimum of 50 hours of continuous professional
development training every year.
The draft Policy recommends separating the regu-
lation of schools from aspects such as policymaking,
school operations, and academic development. It sug-
gests creating an independent State School Regula-
tory Authority for each state that will prescribe basic
uniform standards for public and private schools. The
Department of Education of the State will formulate
policy and conduct monitoring and supervision.
HIGHER EDUCATION
According to the All India Survey on Higher Edu-
cation, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher
education in India has increased from 20.8 per cent
in 2011-12 to 25.8 per cent in 2017-18. The Committee
identified lack of access as a major reason behind low
intake of higher education in the country. It aims to
increase GER to 50 per cent by 2035 from the current
level of about 25.8 per cent.
The Committee noted that the current higher edu- While the proposed
cation system has multiple regulators with overlap-
ping mandates. This reduces the autonomy of higher new policy is yet to be
educational institutions and creates an environment
of dependency and centralized decision making. finalized to enhance
Therefore, it proposes setting up the National Higher
Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA).
This independent authority would replace the ex- multidisciplinary
isting individual regulators in higher education, in-
cluding professional and vocational education. This approach in teaching the
implies that the role of all professional councils such
as AICTE and the Bar Council of India would be lim- new generation, Artificial
ited to setting standards for professional practice. The
role of the University Grants Commission (UGC) will Intelligence has been
be limited to providing grants to higher educational
institutions. introduced as a subject
Currently, the National Assessment and Accredita-
tion Council (NAAC) is an accreditation body under
the UGC. The draft Policy recommends separating in schools across the
NAAC from the UGC into an independent and autono-
mous body. In its new role, NAAC will function as the country from 2019-20
top-level accreditor, and will issue licenses to differ-
ent accreditation institutions, who will assess higher

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