[27] TRANSLATING POLICY INTO PRACTICE: TEACHER PREPAREDNESS AND STRUCTURAL REFORMS UNDER NEP 2020
How to Cite the Article: Biswajit Biswas (2025). Translating Policy into Practice: Teacher Preparedness and Structural Reforms Under NEP 2020. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews. 4(3). 291-302. https://doi.org/10.56815/ijmrr.v4i3.2025.291-302
Abstract
The National Education Policy 2020 represents an important development in Indian school education, incorporating a range of interconnected policy elements, such as curriculum, teacher education and professional development, assessment, digital technology and school governance. This paper’s primary research question is, how do teacher readiness and structural reforms advance classroom enactment of NEP 2020’s policy vision? This study employs qualitative policy analysis, drawing on secondary data, especially the UDISE+ 2024-25, National Curriculum Framework, NCTE’s Integrated Teacher Education Programme and National Professional Standards for Teachers, and Ministry of Education records on NISHTHA, DIKSHA, Samagra Shiksha, NIPUN Bharat and PARAKH. The analysis contends that NEP 2020 is not a curriculum reform alone, but also a capacity-building initiative in which teachers are cast as primary change agents. UDISE+ data show that India has surpassed the one crore teacher milestone in 2024-25 and that the pupil-teacher ratio improved at all school levels, providing a better quantitative foundation for educational reforms. However, the transformation from policy to practice is more complex than simply increasing the number of teachers. It involves practice-oriented preservice teacher education, context-responsive and practice-oriented in-service teacher education, mentoring, professional development through technology, and supportive school leaders. The author argues that NEP 2020 can meaningfully transform classroom practices only through integrated systems of structural reforms, rather than piecemeal reforms. Teacher readiness and structural reforms emphasize the need for focused, coordinated, and evidence-based policy implementation.
