New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) India’s education sector has seen remarkable progress in 2025, driven by reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, expansion of institutions, and global recognition.

In accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ideals of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas”, the Union Budget 2025-26 allocated Rs 1,28,650 crore — which was 6.22 per cent more than the budget estimate of 2024-2025 — to the Education Ministry to minimise the skill gap in the country by making quality education accessible.

The Union government increased allocations for expanding broadband and internet connectivity in government schools, proposed the establishment of 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs for innovation skills like design mindset, computational thinking, and adaptive learning.

It also proposed infrastructure support to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Tirupati, Dharwad, Palakkad, Jammu, and Bhilai to accommodate an additional 6,500 students, and for an extra 10,000 seats for undergraduate and graduate programmes in medical colleges.

The budget included provisions for promoting digital classrooms and e-content in Indian languages as well as strengthening teacher training and skill development.

In December, the Parliament passed an important piece of legislation to facilitate institutions becoming independent, self-governing bodies and promote excellence through a robust and transparent system of accreditation and autonomy, among other fields.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, establishes a single, overarching commission to regulate higher education institutions across India, addressing long-standing issues of regulatory overlap and fragmentation by replacing multiple bodies with a unified framework.

It aligns with NEP — a transformative roadmap for India’s education system — the vision of separating regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard-setting into distinct, empowered bodies to foster innovation and quality.

Over the past decade, India has undertaken transformative reforms under NEP 2020 to strengthen both school and higher education.

Groundbreaking initiatives like the ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy’ (NIPUN) Bharat Mission, PM SHRI (Schools for Rising India) scheme, National Curriculum Framework, and National Credit Framework promote flexibility, multidisciplinarity, and internationalisation of education, thereby improving quality across thousands of institutions.

NIPUN Bharat Mission was launched in 2021 to ensure that every child attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3 by 2026-27, while PM SHRI in 2022 was intended to improve the quality of education and infrastructure in schools by implementing the scheme in more than 14,500 schools across 2022–23 and 2026-27.

The number of institutes for higher education increased by 13.8 per cent, rising from 51,534 in 2014-15 to an impressive 70,018 as of June 2025.

Colleges grew from 38,498 in 2014-15 to 52,081 as of June this year, while universities went up from 760 in 2014-15 to 1,338 in the same period.

In 2014, there were 16 IITs, and this number rose to 23 as of June 2025.

Similarly, the number of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) grew from 13 to 21, and the number of AIIMS increased from seven to 20 during the same period.

In a significant decision to ease the pressure on students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct Class 10 exams twice beginning next year. The first phase of the examination will be held in February and the second in May.

While the first will be mandatory, the other is optional for students wishing to improve their marks in any three subjects among science, mathematics, social science and languages. The results will be announced in April and June, respectively, for each phase.

Meanwhile, the launch of Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 became a defining highlight this year. The initiative encouraged school students who participated in tens of lakhs to solve real-world problems, develop critical thinking and creativity, work on STEM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) projects, and collaborate and innovate at a young age.

The exercise reflected the nation’s shift towards experiential and project-based learning under India’s evolving school education system.

–IANS

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