Two realities of NEP: Sensory classrooms & hi-tech labs, to kids sitting on floor & no teachers

The Print

2 days ago

The room was alive, brimming with laughter and conversation as they matched cardboard cutouts depicting people of different occupations with the tools they use.
New Delhi/Ferozepur Jhirka (Haryana): In a swanky activity room designed for young children, filled with educational toys, colourful charts, and interactive activity corners, four-year-olds Mehar and Arayna sat deeply engrossed in their daily lessons on a June morning.
This is Part 2 of a four-part series. You can read Part 1 here .
When the teacher showed them the cutout of a doctor, Mehar matched it with the corresponding medical equipment. When shown a picture of a cook, Arayna quickly grabbed the cardboard utensils.
This was the scene at the kindergarten or pre-primary wing—referred to as 'Balvatika' under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020—at ITL Public School in Dwarka, a leading private school in Delhi piloting various schemes under the policy.
'Now we introduce everything to students via storytelling. For example, while teaching Mathematics—say, addition—we tell them a story like: there were two friends, one had five balloons and the other had two. So how many balloons were there in total? This way, they take more interest in learning,' said Tabitha Hamilton, headmistress of the wing.
NEP introduced major changes in pre-primary education, placing strong emphasis on early childhood care and learning, and advocating for learning through play and experiential methods, rather than relying solely on traditional book-based instruction. The policy also mandates three years of pre-primary education, or 'Balvatika', in schools.
But about 100 km away from the national capital, a government school in Haryana's Nuh district tells a starkly different story.
Four-year-old Gudiya and Chinki are forced to sit on the floor of a small, unpainted courtyard-turned-classroom with a tin roof—disconnected from all the development envisioned under the NEP 2020.
This makeshift space has served as the Balvatika classroom since last year for the government primary school in Dhond-Khurd, a locality in Ferozepur Jhirka—a subdivision in Nuh. The room also doubles up as the kitchen and serving area for mid-day meals.
The school has 210 students, just one formal classroom, a courtyard, a makeshift structure, and only one teacher for all students of Balvatika, and up to Class 5.
Ahmed Hussain, the teacher, said that the school has received experiential toys under NEP 2020 from the state education department and the 'Jadui Pitara'—a kit developed by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) that offers a wide array of interactive and engaging learning materials, including animated stories—but they are unable to put them to use.
'I'm the only teacher for five different classes and 13 Balvatika students. How can I manage so many children and still provide play-based learning? It's impossible. Even today, I sent a request to the education department to deploy another teacher here,' he told ThePrint. 'Since we don't have enough space, we have to make the Balvatika students sit in this courtyard-turned-classroom, where the mid-day meal is also cooked. It is unsafe for the children, but what to do? I'm constantly worried about their safety.'
The shortage of teachers does not plague this school alone. According to data presented by Haryana Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda in the state assembly in March, over 15,659 teaching posts—13.57 percent of total sanctioned posts—were lying vacant across the state.
And Haryana's government schools are not the only ones struggling due to patchy implementation of NEP 2020. Government school teachers from other states, including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and even Delhi, told ThePrint that for them, the policy's implementation largely remains on paper, with the schools continuing to deal with basic infrastructure issues and a lack of resources.
To understand how NEP 2020 is being implemented across different settings, ThePrint visited a model private school in Delhi, and two government schools in neighbouring Haryana—one primary and one senior secondary.
It was found that despite the government's clear intent to implement the policy, the dilapidated infrastructure and severe shortage of human resources in the public school system present daunting barriers.
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Infra challenges: Major obstacle to FLN goals
NEP 2020 replaced the previous 10+2 school structure with a new 5+3+3+4 model, under which, the first five years form the Foundational stage, including three years of pre-primary education (or Balvatika), and Classes 1 and 2. The Preparatory stage covers Classes 3 to 5, Middle stage includes Classes 6 to 8, and Secondary stage comprises Classes 9 to 12.
Foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) is recognised as an 'urgent national mission' in the policy. To achieve this, the Union Ministry of Education launched the NIPUN Bharat initiative in 2021 to ensure all children attain FLN by the end of Class 3 by 2026–27 through targeted teacher training, clear learning goals, regular assessments, and community participation.
In 2022, the ministry and NCERT released the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for the Foundational stage, which recommended play-based learning for students up to Class 2, using conversations, stories, toys, music, art and craft.
At the government primary school in Dhond-Khurd, the harsh reality of infrastructural neglect and lack of teachers is hard to miss. While Class 1 students share a cramped, tin-roofed courtyard with Balvatika children, those in Classes 2 and 3 sit on mats in the veranda—without even a blackboard to learn from.
Despite undergoing NIPUN Bharat training as part of the government's efforts to implement the mission, Hussain, the teacher, finds it nearly impossible to apply what he learned.
'The children are literally cramped into this tiny space, sitting on the floor because we have no benches—and even if we did, where would we put them?' he remarked. 'In this situation, I have no option but to give them written work in their notebooks just to keep them occupied. Even then, it becomes impossible for me to check each and every notebook on my own. It is impossible to keep track of their progress.'
Back at Dwarka's ITL Public School's pre-primary wing, the learning is all play-based. The school has also adopted the Holistic Progress Card (HPC), a multi-dimensional progress monitoring system recommended under NEP, moving beyond traditional academic scores to assess children's development across cognitive, affective, socio-emotional and psychomotor domains.
'HPC tracks domain-wise, competency-based assessments. Even small developments, like self-awareness, hygiene practices, recognition of body parts, and use of different body movements are monitored. Teachers provide detailed feedback in each domain. Parents' feedback is also included in the card, along with self-assessments by the students,' said school principal Sudha Acharya.
At the Dhond-Khurd government school, even the teacher was unaware of the concept of HPC under NEP. 'Even if the government implements it, how will a single-teacher school track the progress of each and every student?' Hussain asked.
The results of PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan—formerly known as National Achievement Survey (NAS)—released in July revealed that students in government schools lag significantly behind their private school counterparts in foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
It showed that the performance of students in junior classes has improved from the last time the survey was held due to the NIPUN Bharat initiative. However, the performance was observed to decline in senior classes.
Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja, CEO and MD of Central Square Foundation—a non-profit organisation focused on school education—said the implementation of the policy faces several challenges, including infrastructure gaps and the strain of managing an extensive and complex school network.
'State departments of school education are overburdened with multiple responsibilities—running government schools, formulating policy, and regulating all schools, including private ones. This excessive centralisation of authority has led to ineffective school system management, a concern the NEP itself acknowledges. Expecting already stretched education departments to also oversee NEP implementation in private schools is neither realistic nor fair,' she said.
To address this, Kukreja pointed to a critical structural reform proposed under Section 8.5(c) of the NEP—the establishment of an independent State School Standards Authority (SSSA).
'The SSSA is intended to take over the regulatory role from the education department, ensuring that all schools—government and private—meet consistent, transparent, and professional standards, especially related to learning outcomes. This separation of powers allows the Department to focus on policymaking, the Directorate on improving government schools, and the SSSA on regulation and accountability,' she said, adding that bridging the implementation gap in NEP 2020 requires reforming governance structures.
'We need a dedicated, neutral regulatory body like the SSSA to oversee implementation across all schools, regardless of management. Only then can the intent of NEP 2020 translate into meaningful change on the ground.'
Practical learning in preparatory stage
NEP 2020 recommends that every school should have adequate resources, like a library, science and computer labs, skill labs, playgrounds, sports equipment, and other essential facilities, pushing for experiential and practical learning in the preparatory stage as well.
However, another school in Ferozepur Jhirka, the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, lacks a functional science lab as the room designated for it is filled with cartons and miscellaneous items, making it more of a storeroom than a laboratory.
'We have received new equipment from the state education department for Science practicals, but we don't have space to even unpack and store them since there are no lab tables constructed in the room. As a result, we haven't been able to conduct any practical classes for the senior students…and forget about juniors,' the school's Science teacher Meenakshi told ThePrint.
There have been no Physics and Chemistry practical sessions for Class 11 and 12 students. In their makeshift Biology lab, the school has only permanent slides and no functional microscopes.
'Even a single working microscope would make a huge difference—we could conduct so many practicals,' the teacher said. 'Once, I had to demonstrate flower dissection. First, I had to arrange a flower from outside because the school doesn't have a garden. Then, I placed the microscope under sunlight just to make the lens visible for the students.'
Meanwhile, when ThePrint visited Delhi's ITL Public School, a section of Class 4 students were attending a practical Science class, learning how to separate insoluble impurities (like mud) from water.
'We can see a layer of mud at the bottom of the water, which shows it is not soluble,' said an eager Devansh, a student in the group. 'We wait for some time and let the mud settle—this process is called sedimentation.'
School principal Acharya said that since the launch of NEP 2020, the focus of education has shifted towards learning by doing and an interdisciplinary approach. 'We are no longer solely dependent on textbooks. Even junior students visit the labs every week for practical classes.'
However, the girls' school in Ferozepur Jhirka has 1,100 students with just 23 teachers—a pupil-teacher ratio of approximately 48:1, which is significantly higher than the ideal ratio of 30:1 recommended under NEP for the primary level. It has only 12 classrooms, resulting in some classes being overcrowded with more than 100 students. In fact, many classes are conducted in the corridors, where students are forced to sit on mats.
'How can we introduce concepts through activities in this shortage of space? We also face a severe dearth of teachers—we don't have a Computer teacher or even a Physics teacher at our school. In this situation, pursuing practical and experiential learning is simply impractical,' school principal Syed Mohammad Inaam told ThePrint, who is tirelessly working to enrol girls from nearby villages at his school.
However, Charan Dev, Block Education Officer, Ferozepur Jhirka, said that the education department is working to support schools facing such severe staff shortages. 'We are making efforts to assist schools that have no teachers or only one teacher,' he told ThePrint. 'The government is continuously working to improve school infrastructure, and those that are still left out will also receive the necessary support.'
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'How to use technology without resources?'
NEP 2020 places strong emphasis on the use of technology in education, and advocates for the phased introduction of smart classrooms and digital pedagogy.
At Ferozepur Jhirka's senior girls' school, the use of technology remains a distant dream. Although one classroom has a digital board, it lacks basic furniture. Ironically, students sit on the floor to learn about technological advancements.
'In the absence of a proper electricity connection, having a smart board or not doesn't make much difference. It mostly lies unused. Also, in this small room, we have to seat 100 students together. How can you expect them to learn anything, let alone through digital means?' said Shashikant, a Hindi teacher at the school.
Although a computer lab exists in the school, it is gathering dust. All computers are non-functional, and the school hasn't had a computer teacher for several years. As a result, Shaheen, a Class 12 student, has not done a single computer-based practical since she joined the school last year. The school also lacks Wi-Fi connectivity.
'I don't know how to operate a computer. If we had a functional lab, we could have learned a lot about modern technology,' said Shaheen, who wants to become a doctor in future.
In contrast, all classrooms in ITL School are equipped with smart boards and there are two functional computer labs. 'There is a junior lab for students up to Class 5, and a senior lab for Classes 6 to 12. Besides, we also have a language lab with 40 additional computers,' said principal Acharya. The school uses digital pedagogies in the teaching-learning process on a daily basis.
'Multilingualism needs more than just good intentions'
NEP places strong emphasis on promoting multilingualism, with specific focus on strengthening the use and proficiency in Indian languages across all levels of education.
In ITL School's language lab, students learn correct pronunciation and diction in various Indian and foreign languages, for which specialised software has been installed. Each computer is equipped with headphones, allowing students to listen to proper pronunciation and practice effectively.
Principal Acharya told ThePrint that several teachers at the school, and even parents of many students, speak multiple Indian languages, and they are engaged in teaching students basic words and sentences in those languages. The school has also conducted language mapping, as prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education, to identify the various languages spoken by students.
'At our school, we've decided to dedicate one month to one state, and teach students some basic words and sentences in the languages spoken there. This month, we are celebrating Sikkim, where the widely spoken languages include Nepali, Lepcha and Bhutia. One of our teachers, who is well-versed in these languages, recently created a video for students covering basic vocabulary and sentences,' she added.
The school is also planning to introduce four regional languages—Assamese, Odia, Himachali, and Malayalam—representing East, West, North and South. Students from Classes 6 to 8 will be encouraged to choose one of these indigenous languages.
'This way, we will be fulfilling the multilingualism goal of NEP 2020. But all of this is possible only because we have enough well-trained staff, who are not only taking initiative, but also involving parents,' Acharya said.
Meanwhile, at the government girls' school in Ferozepur Jhirka, teachers struggle to teach even two languages—Hindi and English.
'At our school, we generally teach in Hindi, even the books that are in English are taught in Hindi. But teaching multiple languages isn't possible in these settings, where teachers are doubling up. Who will teach those languages?' said principal Inaam.
Inaam and his colleagues now hope that they will soon get additional space or rooms, so they can implement the policy in both letter and spirit. 'Without additional infrastructure and manpower, the implementation of the policy will continue to remain only on paper, no matter how hard we try. And it will be unfair to our students,' he said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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