From cosmos to classrooms, the Kasturirangan impact

Hindustan Times

27-04-2025

With the many roles he played in India's space missions, including the success of Mangalyaan, K Kasturirangan will be remembered as the man who took India closer to the stars. What is less well known is that his quiet brilliance also shone in another direction. His most enduring legacy may lie not in the cosmos but in the classrooms of India, where his work through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 continues to shape the lives of millions.
As chairperson of the NEP drafting committee, Kasturirangan recognised that the key to India's growth lay in empowering its youngest minds with the foundational skills necessary for a prosperous nation. NEP laid the groundwork for a future where foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) are not aspirational but guaranteed for every child.
The impact of his work, particularly through initiatives like the National Initiative for Proficiency with Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Mission, is already being felt across India. He may have laid the foundation for a developed India built on the knowledge and capabilities of those who are children now.
Kasturirangan's deep commitment to education was apparent long before his role as the chief architect of NEP 2020. In 2008 he was appointed chairman of the Karnataka Knowledge Commission. In that role and as a board member of institutions such as IIT Roorkee, IIT Madras, and IISc Bangalore, Kasturirangan was instrumental in shaping curricula and guiding strategic decisions in India's higher education system.
If students do not achieve the first milestone of reading and numeracy by Grade 3, they fall behind not just in school but in life. This would have profound implications for their ability to engage in higher-level learning and, ultimately, for their success in life.
FLN eventually became a movement across the country. Over 15 states have launched FLN missions and programmes, and NISHTHA FLN (a programme that aims to improve teacher training and education quality) has been adopted by 90% of states and Union Territories. It even made it to the G20 Summit in 2023 where Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted NIPUN Bharat and G20 took up FLN as an international priority.
Green shoots from the FLN drive are beginning to show in survey data. According to the latest Annual Status of Education (Rural) Report (ASER), literacy levels in government schools have gone up from 20.9% (2018) to 23.4% (2024) and numeracy from 20.9% (2018) to 27.6% (2024) at the national level -- the highest ever outcomes at a Grade 3 level.
Another NEP breakthrough has been recognising the importance of strong early years and play-based learning for children in the 3-6 years age group. This has been institutionalised in the form of Balvatika (pre-primary) and Vidya Pravesh (transitioning from pre-primary to primary) programmes, a total of 72% of students were covered under Vidya Pravesh by 2023.
Another cornerstone of NEP 2020 is the creation of large, integrated school complexes — a move away from fragmented, under-resourced institutions toward more cohesive, resource-efficient hubs. The PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme, launched in 2022, represents a major step forward in implementation, where 14,500 schools are meant to be transformed into model institutions. These schools are meant not only to embody NEP's pedagogical ideals but also to serve as demonstration and anchor schools within their clusters.
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) has also been revamped under Kasturirangan's leadership for a better fit with NEP 2020 goals. It restructures schooling into four stages — foundational, preparatory, middle, and secondary — aligning curriculum and pedagogy with child development milestones. It also shifts focus from rote memorisation to building core skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and the application of knowledge; emphasises FLN, experiential learning, and a reform of assessment methods to measure conceptual understanding rather than just exam performance.
Kasturirangan may no longer be with us. But his legacy lives on through the transformative changes he initiated in India's education system. His work continues to push Indian education toward greater inclusivity and innovation, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive in a rapidly evolving world.
Ashish Dhawan is founder-CEO and Bikkrama Daulet Singh is operating partner, The Convergence Foundation. The views expressed are personal