2024: Top Trends In Indian Education

The year 2024 remained a challenging year for the Indian education system, where news of paper leaks, examination delays, student protests over demanding transparency and fairness, targeting of the Madrassa education system, and attempts to make changes in textbooks and history overshadowed the positive developments by the educational agencies and government. Here is the list of trends that remained in the news and influenced the accountability of the government by putting in student’s demands.

Abolition Of ‘No Detention Policy’ (NDP) 

The Union Ministry of Education abolished the ‘No Detention Policy’ (NDP), a decision aimed at enhancing children’s educational outcomes. Under the new rules, students in Classes 5 and 8 who fail their annual exams will no longer be automatically promoted. Instead, they will have the opportunity to retake the exam within two months. However, they will not be promoted to the next grade if they fail again. The decision ensures that schools cannot expel students until after the 8th grade, offering some leeway to students and schools in addressing academic challenges. The move is aimed at ensuring better academic performance and reinforcing the importance of meeting essential educational milestones.

Paper Leaks And Question Over NTA’s Efficiency

Huge controversy sprung out and the education minister and National Testing Agency (NTA) were targeted when several cases of back-to-back paper leaks emerged at the national level. The NTA came under scanner and significant changes were made to improve the functioning of the testing agency including the removal of its chairman.

NEET UG Controversy: Initially, the exam was conducted and several students secured rank 1, and arbitrary marks were given to multiple students. After a significant protest and intervention of the Supreme Court, NTA announced that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2024 for undergraduate admission will be reconducted for 1,563 candidates who faced time loss during the exam.

NEET PG: The examination is conducted by the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences to pursue medical postgraduation courses. The examination was initially scheduled for March 3 and later postponed to July 7. It was again rescheduled on June 23 but nearly 12 hours before the exam was postponed. This caused panic and anger among the aspirants.

UGC NET: The examination was conducted by NTA for eligibility for assistant professor posts and PhD programs. The exam was scheduled for June 18 and conducted on the same day. On June 19, the education ministry notified the cancellation of the examination due to the suspicion of a paper leak.

CSIR-UGC-NET: The Joint CSIR-UGC-NET is conducted to determine eligibility for junior research fellowship and assistant professorship and admission to PhD programs in science. CSIR-UGC-NET June 2024 scheduled from June 25 to June 27 also got postponed.

AMU Minority Status Ruling

A seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ruled that the minority status of the Aligarh Muslim University cannot be lost merely because it was created with a statute. The Court added that the minority claim is to be decided based on who established the institution. The verdict comes after decades of legal disputes over the minority status of the AMU. In the 1967 Azeez Basha case, the Court ruled that AMU denied the minority status, saying that the institution cannot claim the status as it was established by a statute.

The university was founded in 1875 as Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. In 1920, it was transformed into a university under British rule. Notably, the NDA government under Prime Minister Modi had earlier opposed the 1981 amendment made by the then UPA government, which helped the institution in its pursuit of minority claims.

Forcing Madrasa Education Reforms

An Allahabad High Court’s judgment struck down the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 and a petition was filed against the court order in Supreme Court. The NCPCR filed a report and raised various objections to the Madarsa system calling it non-compliant with the Right to Education Act. In response to the stand taken by the National Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR) against the Madrasa education system, the Supreme Court asked the commission whether it has taken a similar stand against the other institutions of other religions as well. Supreme Court asked NCPCR whether it had studied the entire syllabus and understood the religious instructions.

Dissolution of Maulana Azad Education Fund (MEF)

The Maulana Azad Education Foundation is a voluntary, non-political, non-profit making social service organization, established to promote education amongst educationally backward sections of the Society. It is fully funded by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt. of India. Notably, MAFE was created by the Central Waqf Council (CWC) which reported ‘conspicuous financial discrepancies’ in the audit to the Ministry of minority affairs. Acting on it, on February 7, 2024, the Ministry communicated the approval for the closure of the foundation.

Changes In NCERT Textbooks

Congress party has raised concerns over alleged reports of removing the Preamble of the Constitution from the class 3 and 6 NCERT textbooks in the Parliament and other platforms. However, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan clarified that the new books of NCERT for Class 6th have all the preamble, fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and National Anthem.

Also, the revised Class 12 political science textbook has changed the Ayodhya section from four to two pages, removed references to BJP’s ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath to Ayodhya, involvement of ‘Kar Sevaks’, communal unrest following the demolition of Babri Masjid, deleted the Babri Masjid’s name and referred it as ‘Three-dome Structure’, imposition of President’s rule in the BJP governed states and BJP’s regret about the events in Ayodhya. Also, terms such as Ram temple and Ram Janmbhoomi have been included in the updated textbooks.

Restoration Of Two Attempts in JEE Advanced 2025

The Joint Admission Board (JAB) has restored the eligibility criteria related to the number of attempts in JEE Advanced 2025. Earlier in a notification released on November 5, 2024, the admission board announced that candidates can appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) thrice, however now taking a U-turn board has said that the attempts criteria have been restored to the original. Now a candidate can attempt JEE Advanced a maximum of two times in two consecutive years.

Now, following the recent announcement, candidates who appeared for JEE Advanced 2024 will be eligible to sit for the JEE Advanced 2025. Those who appeared for the JEE Advanced 2023 will not be able to sit for the exam.

Twice A Year Admission Process

The University Grant Commission (UGC) has made significant changes to transform education in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).  According to the new regulations students can get admission twice a year, in July/August and January/February sessions. However, the student intake capacity will be determined by the institution considering several factors such as physical facilities, and student-teacher ratio among others.

Another major regulation provides an opportunity for students to be admitted into any discipline after clearing the University level entrance examination irrespective of the stream taken by the student in class 12 schooling or level 4. Similarly, students will be allowed to take admission into PG courses irrespective of major or minor disciplines taken by the student in the UG program.

Also, UGC has provided multiple exit systems to students from their graduate and undergraduate courses. The new regulations provide freedom of exiting and rejoining the course at a later stage with a minimum number of credits earned and a timed duration of the course.

One Nation One Subscription’ (ONOS) Scheme

The central government has approved the ‘One Nation One Subscription’ (ONOS) scheme designed to support the research environment in India. Under the newly launched scheme, the scholars will be provided with access to high-impact scholarly research articles and journal publications all across the nation. The scheme will be implemented over three years – 2025, 2026, and 2027 with a budget outlay of Rs 6,000. The Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an inter-university center under the University Grant Commission (UGC) will oversee the scheme. The ONOS initiative is built upon the existing government efforts to maximize the quality of education opportunities for researchers in India. It supplements the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) initiative, that focuses on research and development.

Shorten Or Extend UG Course Duration

Under the new initiative of the University Grant Commission (UGC), undergraduate students in India will be able to shorten or extend their degree durations. The Accelerated Degree Programme (ADP) and Extended Degree Programme (EDP) will allow students to tailor their course durations. The UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said that the ADP will allow students to complete three-year or four-year degree programs in less time by earning additional credits per semester. Institutions will form committees to select eligible students for these programs. 10% of the student intake will be considered for ADP and EDP.

CBT Mode of CUET – UG And Wider Student’s Choices For Stream Selection

• The exam is to be conducted once a year in Computer Based Test (CBT) Mode.
• The candidates will be allowed to appear up to a maximum of five (05) subjects.
• The candidates will be allowed to take subjects in the CUET irrespective of the subjects opted in Class XII, within the permissible limit of five subjects.

Largescale Student’s Protest Against UPPSC and BPSC

A huge student protest was observed in the UPPSC and BPSC exams where the Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the protestors gathered in front of the Public Service Commission offices demanding to hold exams in a single day. They were protesting against the normalization of the exam and to conduct the exam in a single shift on a single day. Later the demands of the students were accepted and the exam was conducted on the same day.

Controversy Over Trainee IAS Officer Puja Khedkar

The Union Public Service Commission canceled controversial trainee officer Puja Khedkar‘s candidature and debarred her from all future exams. The developments come amid allegations of forging fake certificates to avail the advantages of the special category in the Civil Service Examination. The IAS trainee was accused of misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civil services exam.

PM Internship Scheme

The PM Internship scheme aims to skill 10 million youth by providing them with support for professional development over the next five years. The scheme also held reservation policies for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). Those who are eligible will get an opportunity to enroll for a 12-month internship in one of the top 500 companies in India. Under the scheme, interns will get a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000. Out of the total stipend Rs 4,500 will be supported by the government and Rs 500 will be contributed by the corporates under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.